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Photographs: Getty Images, Audemars Piguet; Collage: Gabe Conte
While we’ve spotted all manner of compelling chronos, meteorite-dialed novelties, and ultralight tourbillons at the 2024 Summer Olympics, the new Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked ref. 15407ST seen on the wrist of Serena Williams has to take the cake for Dopest Parisian Wrist Candy. Released in July, her steel model is one of three new 41-mm Balance Wheel Openworked references. And frankly, as nice as the black ceramic and 18k yellow gold versions are, this one—with its mix of steel and skeletonized, pink gold-tone movement—has to be the coolest.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
A longtime partner of Audemars Piguet, Williams has worn just about every desirable AP on earth. But there’s something about the ref. 15407ST that encapsulates everything attractive about the brand and its modern watchmaking ethos: First, there’s the skeletonized cal. 3132 with its double balance wheel visible via both sides of the case; some openwork watches take on a cheap-looking feel, but that’s never the case with respect to AP, which here balances a fascinating look into the beating heart of the watch with Gérald Genta’s beloved integrated-bracelet Royal Oak design from 1972.
Williams’s Royal Oak bracelet also helps define what makes AP so special. The band, which is nearly as recognizable as the watch, makes use of both polished and satin-brushed surfaces to play with light in a way that simply can’t be appreciated via a digital image displayed on a phone or laptop. The design of the case, which blends into the bezel with its eight signature screws, still feels futuristic over 50 years after its debut, while the 18k white-gold hour indices and hands provide contrast against the skeletonized movement and match well visually with the steel of the case. I could go over the specs all day but it’s simpler to say this is just a cool watch. And with a case thickness under 10 mm, its 41-mm profile works on a wide variety of wrists. So if you’ve got $76,400 and a great relationship with your local AP boutique, we say: Why not?
The ref. 15407ST is, as we’ve mentioned, merely the latest in a long string of excellent APs we’ve seen Williams wear over the years, from a beautiful blue-dialed, time-and-date Royal Oak worn on The Tonight Show, to a sporty, diamond-bezel Offshore at the US Open, to the Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon complete with mini Wakandan superhero in the dial center that she rocked back in 2021. In fact, she actually played with the quartz-powered Offshore on-wrist back in 2022—a move that’s very much not a given in tennis and in which she’s joined by Rafael Nadal and his tech-forward Richard Mille models. Williams’s relationship with AP runs so deep that the brand customized the watch for her, flipping the crown to the left side of the case to make it more comfortable to wear during matches.
James Devaney
Jennifer Aniston’s Santos de Cartier
Seen filming an episode of The Morning Show—while also possibly conjuring the spirit of a deceased Brazilian aviation pioneer whom her watch is named after—was Jennifer Aniston rocking a solid-gold Santos de Cartier. Having been spotted in all manner of beautiful Cartiers in the past, this particular model looks the part on her wrist, despite its presence here no doubt dictated by a horologically savvy prop master. It seems that Aniston is wearing the Medium model, which has a 31.5-mm case diameter, an automatic 1847 MC movement, and a matching yellow-gold bracelet.
Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
In an emotional moment, French cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was seen crying tears of joy after taking home the gold medal in cross-country mountain biking. Meanwhile, watch collectors were seen weeping tears of envy at her wrist candy, another beautiful Audemars Piguet Royal Oak at the Summer Games. While she didn’t wear the watch during competition, it was a fitting prize to strap on while celebrating a win that eluded her at the 2012 Olympics. (It also doesn’t appear to be Ferrand-Prévot’s only AP—she posted a pic on Instagram back in 2023 with a diamond-bezel RO with the caption, “No excuse, can’t be late anymore.”) The Royal Oak line appears to be the choice of premier athletes at the Paris Olympics. In addition to Ferrand-Prévot’s and Williams’s choices, Simone Biles celebrated getting one just ahead of becoming the winningest American gymnast in history.
Tom Cruise’s Rolex Day-Date Meteorite Dial
The 2024 Olympics are proving fertile ground for celebrity watch spotting—case in point, Tom Cruise is this handsome Rolex Day-Date with a meteorite dial taken from multi-billion-year-old space rock. Fashioned from white gold and measuring 40 mm, the reference 228239 features the Crown’s classic day-and-date complication, fluted bezel, and “President” bracelet—plus, if you look closely, applied diamond hour indices. It’s also not Mr. Cruise’s only meteorite-dial Rolex: We’ve previously seen him wearing a Cosmograph Daytona with a similar dial on a black rubber Oysterflex bracelet.
NDZ/Star Max
Casey Affleck’s Grand Seiko Tentagraph
Rocking up to the New York premiere of The Instigators was none other than Casey Affleck in a distinctly “watch guy” sort of timepiece, the Grand Seiko Tentagraph. Released at Watches & Wonders 2023, it’s Grand Seiko’s first mechanical chronograph (if you can believe it), and was one of that show’s biggest hits. (The name is derived from its feature set: 10 beats per second, three-day power reserve, automatic chronograph. It also boasts a dual-barrel design with an impressive three-day power reserve even with the chronograph engaged.) Affleck the Younger isn’t necessarily known as a watch collector, but we’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on him after this choice.
Oren Hartov is a GQ contributor covering all things horological. He’s written extensively about celebrity watch culture, waxed poetic about the GMT complication, and railed against case sizes larger than 40mm. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music and a military veteran, he can be found playing the guitar,… Read more
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