Our Favorite Watches Worn in Movies

Obviously, we love watches here at Worn & Wound. But many members of our team also have a shared passion for movies, and we’ve found that there’s a lot of crossover between these two worlds. “Watch spotting” in movies is a pastime many of us hold dear and have become quite proficient at. Since we’re at the height of the summer blockbuster season, we thought now would be a good time to check in with the team and ask them identify their favorite watches featured in movies. 

This is an extremely broad challenge, and the choices from our staff reflect the many ways watches work themselves into the art of filmmaking. Some choices are truly iconic and feature watches as actual plot points, while some are completely obscure and will likely be news to many readers, even the most accomplished cinephiles. 

We’d love to know your favorite watches found in movies (or TV shows) so let us know in the comments below. 

Zach Weiss 

The opening sequence of Apocalypse Now is a hallucinogenic montage of haunting imagery layered over The Doors’ “The End,” setting the tone for one of the most brilliant yet brutal films ever made. There is no easing into the story; the scene that immediately follows features the protagonist of the film, Captain Willard, portrayed by Martin Sheen, having a mental breakdown in a hotel room in Saigon. As a way to introduce a character, it’s deeply unsettling. Drunk, manic, and eventually stripped naked, he loses his grip on reality to such an extent as to split his hand open by punching a mirror and then proceeds to cover himself in blood. The kicker? The actor really was that drunk and really did split his hand open.

But, none of that has to do with the fact that if you were a watch enthusiast, you might have been too distracted by the rather awesome watch on his wrist: the famous Seiko 6105-8110/9 “Willard.” A rugged tool dive watch, it wasn’t just an apt choice given the arc of Willard through the film, which certainly required a capable water-resistant timepiece, it was a watch that was popular among soldiers during the Vietnam war, having been available at PX stores. The right watch for the job. That’s good casting.

Taking a step back, as a longtime Seiko fan, the 6105 has always just been one of those watches I, like most enthusiasts, can’t help but admire. Seiko through and through, its strange shape, off-set crown, crown guards, stop light seconds, relatively large size, etc, give it a charm that other divers of the era don’t have. And to be clear, I don’t mean charm in a sweet way, 6105s are bad ass looking. Slap them on a slightly frayed green nylon mil-strap or a period correct waffle strap and you too can channel the insanity and horror of Apocalypse Now.

For more on 6105’s check out Christoph McNeill’s article from 2014 here.

Rich Chau 

One of my favorite movies of all time is Alien (1979), with one of the coolest protagonists of all time donning a really interesting piece. Ripley’s watch went unnoticed by me for a very long time, as there were a few more terrifying things on the screen to take my attention. However, it finally caught my eyes on a recent rewatch (ha) and I immediately searched up where I could get my own. 

Turns out I can’t. Not the exact watch, at least. Ripley’s watch in Alien is a product of the prop department taking two Casio F-100s and slapping them together to look as sci-fi as possible. And this watch in the Alien universe went unnamed from 1979 all the way to 2014, when Ripley’s daughter wears the same watch known as “Samani E-125” in the game Alien: Isolation. 

I don’t know when I’ll get around to it, but I plan on getting two Casio F-100s myself as a weekend project to make my very own Samani so that I can pretend to be as cool as Ripley fighting an Alien while I fight spreadsheets.

Devin Pennypacker 

“Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true”, words to live by. So, when Zach Kazan sent out the editorial request for movie watches, I wasted no time staking my claim on what is undoubtedly my favorite watch-spotting movie moment of all time. The best part is that it happens right at the beginning of the film and is prominently shown on screen to be easily identifiable for the watch enthusiast/cinephile. Seen on the wrist of U.S. President Ronald Reagan is the classic 1990s Breitling reference 3100 Navitimer, often referred to as the Pluton. Reagan checks the watch, delivers the classic line “little hands says it’s time to rock and roll” before bursting into the bank, gun in hand, demanding everybody freeze and get down on the ground. No, it’s not a period piece about our president; the movie is the 1991 action film Point Break.

Bodhi, portrayed by Patrick Swayze, sports the watch when he means business, bursting onto the scene, demanding money from small banks. It’s a bit of an odd choice given that in the rest of the movie, the character often wears very little, let alone a watch, but it symbolizes his shift in personality both inside and out. It is, however, the perfect watch for someone needing a capable tool watch by day that can stand up to the rigors of big wave surfing, end-over-end skydiving, and the occasional scuffle on the beach. Built on an ani-digi platform, the 3100 feels very much of the time and well-suited for an action flick, which is probably why we saw its cousin, the Chronosport UDT, on the wrist of one John Rambo. However, with John being just a working-class soldier and Bodhi having a bit of heist money, Bodhi could splurge for the flashier name brand rather than the military-issued badging. 

To this day, we still don’t know if that was a bit of Breitling ad placement or just a genuine piece of costuming that happened to work out. We see the watch make a few more small appearances here and there, but never to the same scale, so your guess is as good as mine. Still, the Pluton remains my first choice when chatting about watches in movies, both for its prominent placement and for the sheer fun of the film it is in. I still go back and watch Point Break from time to time (the 2015 remake included). As a kid who grew up enamored with action sports and a bit of violence, it’s the perfect culmination that teaches you that it’s ok to rob banks as long as you are cool. Despite the fact that I still fall off my 9-foot foam surfboard on small rolling waves, I still repeat quote after quote from the movie in my head as if I am surfing right along with them, while Pappas paces on shore waiting for us to come in. 

Alec Dent

There have been actors with better Bond movies, but nobody is a cooler James Bond than Pierce Brosnan. And no watch — with sincere apologies to the Submariner — has looked cooler on Bond’s wrist than the Omega Seamaster Professional 300M Ref. 2541.80.00 from Goldeneye. (Well, technically the Seamaster 2531.80.00 looked as cool since it’s basically the same watch with an automatic movement instead of a quartz, but for the purposes of this article I’ll be sticking to the original Bond Omega.)

Bond adopted the Omega Seamaster at a time when the brand was radically redesigning the model, giving the Professional line the helium escape valve, scalloped bezel, and blue wave dial that have become hallmarks of the watch. The result was a sport watch that looks right at home on Bond’s wrist as he bungee jumps off a dam, drives through St. Petersburg in a tank, and, of course, orders a vodka martini, shaken not stirred. His Seamaster Pro 300 is rugged, it’s elegant, it’s a perfect GADA watch — virtues the model available to the general public possess even though it doesn’t come equipped with a laser or a detonator.

Zach Kazan

I’m cheating a little here and picking a television show. In fairness, it’s a very cinematic television, helmed by a filmmaker who has made a number of features at this point, and always takes a similar detail oriented and immersive approach. Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher, his Netflix limited series from 2023, is one of my favorite Flanagan projects, and I’m a pretty big fan in general. Edgar Allan Poe’s short story has always been a favorite, so you could say this one was always right in my wheelhouse.

The watch spot in question is the use of Konstantin Chaykin’s “Joker” on the wrist of Leo Usher, one of the many doomed members of the wealthy Usher family. It’s an inspired choice. Leo is a flashy, hedonistic character with a youthful sensibility. The Joker is similarly flashy – it’s certainly an easy watch to spot on the show if you’re inclined to be looking. 

But the really cool thing about this choice, I think, is that it’s a watch made by a true independent watchmaker. This just isn’t something we see very often in pop culture. There are, of course, lots of Rolexes used in TV and film, and we sometimes see popular tool watches to signal a character is a man of the people (think Robby’s Seiko 5 in The Pitt). Seeing the Joker on the wrist of Leo, though, implies all kinds of things about his personality that aren’t directly communicated in the text of the show. That’s the power of choosing a watch from an independent brand – it’s a type of subliminal character development that will only reveal itself to people like us. 

Brett Braley-Palko 

Like clockwork, every summer a contingent of the #Menswear crowd begins posting photos of Jude Law from the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley. Whether Law’s Dickie Greenleaf is blowing into a saxophone, brewing an espresso, or smiling devilishly at Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley, it seems that every frame is perfectly poised to be screenshotted, shared, and captioned with “Summer Goals.”

The magnetism Jude Law brings to the role is one part natural charisma, two parts costuming. Every detail in his wardrobe has a sense of loucheness, hanging off his frame just so, perfectly encapsulating the playboy charm of the character. And this, too, is why Tom Ripley becomes so enamored with Dickie: it’s the idea of him, the trappings of a character who wants for nothing, surrounded by his Italian-cut suits, his Montblanc pens, and his Rol–wait a minute.

You’d be as surprised as I was to learn that Dickie’s preferred watch isn’t a Rolex at all. Or, for that matter, a luxury watch. It is, in fact, a quartz watch made by Swanson Japan on a mesh bracelet. A bit anachronistic, perhaps, yes (not to mention the late 1950s setting pre-dates the invention of quartz technology) but the real surprise is just how, well, ordinary it is. A watch like this can be found on eBay for less than $50, and yet here we have Jude Law incorporating it into his otherwise pitch-perfect costume.

And that’s exactly why I love it. Too often, the menswear crowd puts more weight on brands than on style, and in doing so, they miss out on an entire world of vintage, quirky, or downright unexceptional watches that may lack cultural cachet but absolutely get the job done. Something like this often gets lost in execution: real style is the gestalt of the outfit, and no one becomes stylish by simply wearing a luxury brand.

So the next time you see me in a quartz watch from some unknown brand I found on eBay, try not to judge me too harshly. I’m just pretending I’m in Mongibello on holiday, waiting for my second Aperol of the evening. Join me if you’d like, of course, but please try not to murder me on a boat after falling in love with me.

Elodie Townsend 

Maybe it was a blunder canonically-speaking, but the first film in the Alien franchise that I saw as a kid was 1986’s Aliens. As such, it remains my favorite in the series, and that favoritism leaks over into the character costumes, too. The Seiko 7A28-7000 was one of famed Italian car designer Giorgetto Guigaro’s first watch designs, and its funky, almost tacked-on rectangular extension (housing the pushers and crown) made it a perfect fit for the set and world design of the Alien franchise. 

In 2015, a reissue version called the Seiko x Guigario Design “Seiko Spirit” SCED035/SCEDO37 (also known as the “Daughter of Ripley”) was released, emulating the original design as closely as possible, with three subdials, an added date window, and a Seiko caliber 7T12 movement. Both the original 7A28-7000 and the reissue Seiko Spirit capture the chunky techno-industrial dystopia of the film, and elevate the decent functionality of the chronograph to a satisfyingly tactile tool watch level. 

I actually own a SCED035, and find the design to be shockingly ergonomic; the rectangular portion doesn’t dig into the wrist at all, and gives the watch a unique profile that catches people off guard. At 40mm in diameter and 42mm lug-to-lug, it’s a decently big watch, but the silver color and blocky aesthetic keeps it looking sporty on the wrist. The Daughter of Ripley may not turn you into a xenomorph-fighting badass, but it sure does stand out from Seiko’s other quartz offerings, and captures the feeling of dark-futurism that Guigaro’s original design so perfectly put forth.

Meg Tocci 

Though many movies feature watches as an important part of costuming decisions, very few use them as an integral segment of the film’s narrative arc. However, the Hamilton Khaki Field ‘Murph’ is an intentional driver of action, direction, and storytelling in the 2014 award-winning film Interstellar.

The watch is used as a plot device, first and foremost, seeing Cooper using it to communicate through space and time with his daughter. However, it’s also used as a vehicle by which the audience can trace the character development of Murph, herself. At the beginning of the film, she throws the watch across the room in a rejection of her father’s abandonment of her in the name of the mission. The watch sits locked away throughout the years, only to be retrieved by Murph much later as an adult. Cooper uses the watch to convey quantum data necessary to save humanity from the brink of collapse – data which Murph uses in her work as a scientist to enable colonies to survive in space before the ecological destruction of the earth. 

I applaud the use of a watch to build up a strong female lead (in 42mm, no less). However, I also love that the Hamilton Murph became a sort of feedback loop for the watch community. The enthusiast crowd was so taken by the watch in the film that the brand released it for sale five years after the movie’s debut, emphasizing Hamilton’s responsiveness to their customers’ voices. This happened again when Hamilton released a 38mm version for a more inclusive wearing experience. All of these factors make the Hamilton Khaki Field ‘Murph’ my favorite movie watch and also make it a solid contender for one of the best film watches of all time.

Griffin Bartsch 

Let’s be honest. Anyone who picked anything but a spy watch for this list is fooling themselves. It’s a truth so recognized, it almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it here anyway: Spies get the best watches. At least, they do on screen. But while Bond’s Seamasters and Rolexes (especially Daniel Craig’s 2220.80 — a watch I own — and Richard Lazenby’s Ref. 6238 Pre-Daytona — a watch I decidedly don’t) and Jason Bourne’s TAG Heuer Link may have helped hone my taste in sports watches, the cinematic spy watch that had the greatest impact on me couldn’t even tell the time.

I’m talking, naturally, about the absolutely incredible gadget watches from Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. If you’re a young millennial, I’m going to assume you know exactly what I’m talking about, but for anyone not born in the years immediately around 1996, or for those not otherwise familiar with Robert Rodriguez’s masterpiece of a cinematic trilogy, a quick primer: Spy Kids is all about kids who are spies, got it? Also, their parents are spies… and George Clooney is their boss. Oh, and their uncle, Machete (played to perfection by Danny Trejo), is their version of Q, keeping them up to date with all the latest gadgets — including, appropriately, spy watches.

Of course, no great gadget comes without some drawbacks, and while the Machete Spy Watch had pretty much everything you could ever want from a spy watch — including a built-in cell phone, internet access, and satellite TV — it glaringly omitted the clock (as you can see in this scene). But despite this supposed deficiency, I was (and somewhat still am) smitten by this watch, and I still have vivid memories of bombing around my childhood playroom, playing Spy Kids with my younger brother, two Timex Ironmans strapped to my wrist in a vain attempt to emulate the look of the Cortez’s spy watch, falling in love with watches, and the adventures that come with them.

Tommy DeMauro

Arnold Schwarzenegger is such a lucky guy. Sure, he had a successful career as both a body builder and actor (and governor if you want to throw that in), but I believe his most outstanding accomplishment is that he has two different watches nicknamed after him. The Seiko Arnie I’ve talked about in a previous article and absolutely adore, but the Casio Arnie is one I haven’t touched on during my time with Worn & Wound. Let’s change that. 

Released in the early 1990s, it’s a remarkable watch for the money and is timeless in its design. While its ~46mm case may scare away some potential buyers, it somehow conforms to the wrist in a way that somewhat hides its oversized dimensions. In my opinion, the AMW-320 is one of the most sturdy and well-built analog/ana-digi divers Casio has ever made. The stainless-steel case feels like a tank on wrist but is conservative enough in its styling to not stick out like a sore thumb with a casual outfit. The gold dial really gives the watch a great pop of color in direct sunlight, but if this colorway doesn’t fit your needs, there’s also blue, black, and white dial variants floating around the secondhand market. 

Its inclusion in the 1993 action-comedy Kindergarten Cop is more so a pause-the-movie-and-look-at-the-frame-type feature rather than holding any sort of serious plot line, but it can be seen in enough scenes to warrant watching the movie just for the watch. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 54%, I wouldn’t say it’s any sort of groundbreaking film by any means, but it’s a wholesome and lighthearted watch that will make a lot of viewers feel somewhat nostalgic for either its time period or for its heavy themes of childhood. Oh, and if you’re interested in the AMW-320 but don’t see the appeal of Kindergarten Cop, this model can be seen in dozens of films and television shows from the 1990s and 2000s if you look hard enough. In fact, just the other day I was watching the sitcom Reba (Season 4 Episode 15 to be exact) and spotted an AMW-320 on the wrist of one of the main character’s friends. It’s an iconic watch with enough unique design elements to make it noticeable from afar––a fantastic trait to have for a watch to be screen ready.

Nathan Schultz

In most movies and TV shows where a watch plays a central role, its functionality helps further the plot- think the Speedmaster in Apollo 13 used to precisely time a manual burn, or Walter White’s Monaco used to time a series of brutal prison assassinations. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure makes a distinguishable use of watches in film and challenges the idea of cinematic tool watches being… well, functional, by turning a dead watch into a central part of the plot.

We all know the famous quote: “Don’t forget to wind your watch!” Of course, as anyone that has seen the time travel masterpiece disguised as an 80’s stoner flick knows, strange things were afoot at the Circle K and Ted did forget to wind his watch, an error that ultimately allowed Bill and Ted to pass their oral history exam, save the band, and even get the girl in the process. While we could go in circles all day contemplating if he truly forgot to put some power in the main spring or if he was always destined to do so, one thing is clear: no matter how cool Speedmasters and Monacos are, only one watch can tackle the complicated concept of time loops while also pondering if free will exists. And apparently, that’s a job best suited for an unwound, and seemingly unidentifiable (drop a comment if you have guesses) generic three hander on a black leather bund strap. I’ve never once made a pro-bund argument before and find them to be most non-triumphant, but it can’t be denied that the divisive strap option was the most excellent choice to complete Ted’s devil-may-care attire. 

Costume design aside, considering his forgetful tendencies, a self winding watch would have been more practical for Ted’s character. Better yet, considering the movie was released in 1989, a quartz Swatch- no doubt a funky one with Wyld Stallyn vibes existed. But then again, did Ted ever have the free will to consider a rotor or battery?

Christoph McNeill 

When I read the prompt for this group editorial, Pulp Fiction immediately popped into my head. This was the only choice for me, even though you can find references to watches in lots of movies and shows. First of all, Pulp Fiction is an absolute classic film made by one of the great filmmakers of all time. More pertinent to this article though, there is a watch featured in the movie that is central to the storyline, and it directly affects the course of events for one of the main characters. It isn’t often that a watch is so directly involved in the outcome of the movie, and as a watch enthusiast I truly enjoyed this part of the story arc.

Butch is a crooked boxer on the lam from gangster Marsellus Wallace after not throwing a fight. As he’s preparing to flee, he clearly instructs his girlfriend to retrieve his watch from his apartment. Later when Butch is with his girlfriend he finds out that she forgot the watch, much to his dismay. When he goes back for it, Marsellus’ henchman Vincent Vega is there, whom he kills. Events eventually lead to Butch and Marsellus encountering each other on the street, and they end up captured by the psychotic Zed. I won’t elaborate on that scene, you’ll have to watch for yourself if you haven’t already. Except to say that things lead to Butch helping Marsellus and Marsellus allowing Butch to leave LA. Whew! All this because his girlfriend forgot to grab Butch’s watch.

As great as this part of the movie is, the absolute best part and the main reason I chose this movie is an earlier scene in which Butch has a flashback to when he received the watch as a child. Christopher Walken plays Captain Koons, who was imprisoned in Vietnam along with Butch’s father. He delivers one of the all-time great movie monologues, explaining how Butch’s father hid the watch from his captors (in the only place he could…) for five years, eventually giving it to Captain Koons to deliver to Butch. This scene is brilliant, as is Christopher Walken’s delivery. 

It can be said that the watch and the story behind it represents the past and Butch’s arc as he goes from crooked boxer, to standing up against Marsellus, to going through capture and torture to eventually redeeming himself and becoming a free man, and I wouldn’t disagree. I think there is definitely something to that, but for me I just like to enjoy the story as it unfolds in the movie, with the watch playing a central role.