WATCHSPOTTING: 6 award-winning watch choices at the 70th Primetime Emmys

Felix Scholz

As far as journalism goes, writing about watches isn’t really the sort of high-pressure, down-to-the-wire sort of experience that is common in more mainstream platforms. News rarely breaks in spectacular fashion, and reporting live is uncommon. One exception is seeing what the beautiful people wear on the red carpet. There’s much scouring of images, trying to find wristwear unobstructed by cuffs. And then there’s the next challenge — working out what those watches actually are. It’s hardly the same as reporting on the latest internal machinations of our government, but it’s a change of pace. So, today Dan and I hunkered down and spotted six interesting watches, straight from the 70th Primetime Emmys in Los Angeles.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and his Breitling Transocean Chronograph Unitime in rose gold

Of course Jaime Lannister is wearing a gold watch. Of course. Bonus points for the Danish Dreamboat managing to continue the gold theme with that gold-ish toned velvet tuxedo jacket from Eidos. The only thing that would complete the look? A golden hand, Cersai optional. But seriously, the Breitling is a solid choice. I can imagine the worldtime gets a workout with his punishing work travel schedule.

Sterling K. Brown and his Chopard L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru

Here’s a spot quiz for you – can a diamond watch ever be understated? Well, it’s a hard ask, but Chopard’s exceptional Heritage Grand Cru, with baguette-set diamond bezel, manages to walk that fine line very nicely indeed. It’s also a wonderful choice for black tie. Interesting enough to draw the eye, but not in a bad way. Exhibit A? Sterling K. Brown from This Is Us, above.

 

O.T. Fagbenle and his Panerai

Confession time. I’m not actually sure what particular Panerai O.T. Fagbenle, who plays Offred’s husband Luke in The Handsmaid’s Tale, is wearing. It’s very difficult to play spot the difference from a distance. So we’ve picked a placeholder watch that fits the bill fairly closely, a 45mm Panerai Luminor Due in steel. We’re not sure, but the Luminor case and dressy strap are surely a fit, and O.T. is six-feet tall, so the size looks right on him. It’s also the Panerai we’d wear with black tie.

Kenan Thompson and his Cartier Santos

Nothing funny about Saturday Night Live stalwart Kenan Thompson’s choice of Cartier Santos, especially in this full-on yellow gold offering. After all, it’s like I’ve always said, if you’re going to wear a gold watch with a tux, make it as gold as possible.

 

Justin Hartley and his Chopard L.U.C Quattro in rose gold

While it’s entirely possible that This Is Us have a package deal with Chopard (see Sterling K, above), we’re hoping that fine watchmaking is one of Justin Hartley’s passions, because it is, without doubt, a very beautiful and very underrated choice.

Colin Jost and his Rolex Milgauss

Colin Jost, co-host of the Emmys (along with fellow SNLer Michael Che), played it straight with his choice of wristwear, opting for a classic Rolex. That said, he was wearing a Milgauss, one of the quirkiest models in the current catalogue. But I’m sure he felt better knowing that the watch could handle any high magnetic fields he encountered on stage or at the afterparty.