Best Watches for Chefs (with Examples from Culinary Masters)

We peer briefly into the kitchens of some internationally acclaimed chefs and find out which watches make them tick

In the past, watch lovers have spoken in breathy overtones about the essential role that timekeeping plays in every culture from motorsports to the military, yet one realm that is now under discussion with increasing regularity is that of the professional chef. To the astute observer, this should hardly come as a revelation: precise timing is a crucial factor in so many culinary traditions (of both the hawker stall and Michelin-starred variety); and chefs almost always operate in an environment where one’s professional attire is standardised. 

That leaves the wrist as one of the few remaining spaces for unbridled self-expression – an opportunity that many important figures in the culinary world (evidently) find it hard to pass up. Going beyond the space’s splashiest ambassadors – the Thomas Kellers and Eric Riperts of the world - this week in Culturecheck we take a brief peek at some top chefs and their vastly different approach to collecting watches. From the archetypal pragmatist to lovers of modern design suffused with old soul, one thing is certain - to create the ultimate collection, each of these individuals has their own recipe. 

Hugh Acheson

An Ottawan transplant who now primarily works and resides in Atlanta, Acheson will be a familiar face to those who tune in regularly to the popular US television series Top Chef. Best known for his now-landmark dining establishment  Empire State South - where he trains a thoughtful, polished lens on classic southern dishes - the 50-year-old chef, TV personality and restaurateur is every inch the essentialist when it comes to the discipline of cooking. He is a fan of “good, well-made stuff”, plain and simple: whether that’s a glass of Volnay Pinot Noir or the pioneering American Wagyu of Snake River Farms. That welded-in regard, for recipes that are equal parts comforting and comprehensible, handily manifests itself in Acheson’s watch bug. 

Largely a fan of robust quartz designs from Timex and Casio, it’s clear that the timepieces in Acheson’s collection spend more time on his wrist than inside a safety deposit box – and with good reason. Relatable and inexpensive, they embrace a ‘get the job done’ ethos that makes total sense in a professional setting where intense heat and exposure to abrasion are the norm. That isn’t to say that Acheson’s tastes are pedestrian by any means: his personal Timex Mod (designed in collaboration with CFDA winner Todd Snyder) leans heavily into the iconography of mid-century modern, with a rather intuitive bullseye dial treatment that incorporates the colors of the University of Georgia. Go dogs, sic ‘em. 

Guillaume Galliot 

Widely celebrated as one of the Hong Kong restaurant industry’s favourite (adoptive) sons, Galliot is the Chef de Cuisine at Four Seasons’ emblematic Caprice restaurant - an opulent harbourfront temple, all gilded ceilings and crystal chandeliers, to hyper-fine French cookery. There, Gaillot bends his considerable skill – honed over many years at such iconic gastronomic destinations as Jardin des Sens and the Raffles Singapore – to the challenge of contemporising staples of haute cuisine (e.g. tartare and Pâté en croûte) with ‘global accents’. This singular focus – on fusing modernity with tradition – has earned Caprice three Michelin stars every year since 2019; and, as it turns out, exerts quite the influence on how Galliot approaches watches.

Having collected designs like the Hublot Classic Fusion and ADLC-coated Santos de Cartier in the past, it’s clear that Galliot’s appreciation for watchmaking, whilst classically grounded, always skews left-of-field. These are watches that have clearly descended from a traditional form language and settled engineering principles; and yet their look, heavy on monochrome and material innovation, speaks to a perspective that is forward-looking. Sounds familiar? 

Lately, this hybrid philosophy has been most prominently on display in Galliot’s Maestro – a unique piece from indie watchmaker Christophe Claret. The watch combines a design language and themes that at first seem traditional (it is, to be reductive for one moment, a round watch displaying the time and date), yet these are expressed in a manner that embraces the creative whimsy at the heart of most successful independents today. Aside from its self-explanatory time-telling capabilities and signature ‘memo’ function, this Maestro incorporates a trio of Michelin star motifs on the dial - a discrete touch that speaks to the unique journey of somebody who was already a very interesting collector. 

Masaharu Morimoto

A 41-time champion of the popular Japanese cooking show Iron Chef and its hit spin-off in the US, few culinary personalities loom larger in America’s popular consciousness than Masaharu Morimoto. Although the ‘Iron Chef’ closed his eponymous contemporary Japanese restaurant in New York in 2020, he has busied himself with the challenge of single-handedly breaking the internet – appearing in every notable food media outlet from Munchies to Andrew Rae’s burgeoning YouTube series, Binging with Babish. 

As a chef who achieved initial success amidst the halcyon days of Japanese fusion cuisine (i.e. the early 2000s) it makes a lot of sense that Morimoto has a soft spot for watch brands synonymous with that era – including Rolex, Franck Muller and Panerai. Over the years, he has been spotted on numerous occasions repping the classic Luminor 1950 – a military-inspired diver that is versatile enough to be worn whilst breaking down seafood or on the press junket for a nationwide chain of ramen joints. 

In recent years, Morimoto has become a vocal proponent of watchmakers from his home country - specifically Grand Seiko. His interest in the Japanese marque’s designs was in fact seeded at a very young age (albeit in the guise of the more affordable Seiko mainline). During high school in his native Hiroshima, Morimoto raised enough money to buy his first mechanical Seiko; pooling together the wages he earned on a paper route in order to do so. Clearly, that initial purchase left a lasting impression, as Morimoto has since deepened his connection to the artisanal end of Seiko’s watchmaking. Lately, his favoured daily wearer appears to be the ‘Lion’ GMT: a beefy, 44.5mm sports watch that combines a chronograph, dual timezone and the characteristic Spring Drive technology that has been so instrumental in solidifying Grand Seiko’s horological bona fides outside Japan.

Alton Brown

Not a ‘chef’ in the traditional restaurant-manning sense, you’ll still be hard-pressed to name an individual who has done more to further the cause of American cooking in the last 30 years than Alton Brown. His first - and by some assessments, still best - TV series Good Eats is regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of food journalism: so much so that it was recognised by both the James Beard Foundation and Peabody Awards. Introducing a rigorous scientific approach to millions of viewers across North America, it’s hardly a stretch to say that Brown’s impact on an entire generation of home cooks in the 2000s can be compared to that of Julia Child. 

Intriguingly, over the course of the original 14-year run of Good Eats, enthusiasts have identified that Brown wore a different watch every season. That obsessive passion for mechanical watchmaking clearly extends into Brown’s personal life - a factoid that was confirmed in ‘Talking Watches’ (Hodinkee’s long-running, much-watched interview series) in 2017. Like all dyed-in-the-wool watch guys, Brown never misses an opportunity to fuse horology into the superstructure of daily life: whether it’s celebrating a birth year, timing his contestants or whilst piloting a Cessna 414. 

One can get a sense of Brown’s eclectic, far-reaching taste simply by glancing at his wrist. To be sure, tool watches manufactured in stainless steel are a recurrent theme, but that can hardly be a surprise considering that the man is a licensed pilot, habitual traveler and one-time motorcycling enthusiast. Even within that familiar rubric (of braceleted sports watches) Brown makes astute decisions: his de rigeur diver is a Tudor Ref. 7021, as opposed to the usual glut of modern 6-serial Rolex; and when international travel is in the cards, he favours a US$40 Casio World Time. Despite the humble price tag, it’s got an arsenal of functions that are handy in the kitchen – embodying Brown’s lifelong crusade against the dreaded ‘unitasker’. 

The Roca Brothers

Though profiles spanning the entire length of a New Yorker interview could be written about any one of the Roca Brothers (Joan, Jordi, and Josep) each is at their best when working shoulder-to-shoulder: as anybody who has made the pilgrimage to El Celler de Can Roca can attest to. The trio’s monolithic Girona restaurant is a regular fixture on both Michelin Guides and World’s 50 Best lists: so much so, that in the latter publication it’s now barred from competing as a regular numbered entry (instead, alongside other culinary gamechangers like Mirazur and Noma, it is honoured in a separate ‘Best of the Best’ list). Renowned for Catalan cuisine that is thoughtful and poignantly presented – taking such myriad forms as an armillary or Partagas cigar – and service “so welcoming, it [may] as well be the Rocas’ living room”, it’s small wonder why the brothers gravitate in their other endeavours to artisans who share those values. Variously, these have included whisky distillers, chocolatiers and [cue mock suspense] a certain watchmaker from the Vallée de Joux.  

Though Joan (the Head Chef and eldest brother) is a known enthusiast of Rolex divers, the trio’s most visible association in the world of horology is with Audemars Piguet. That has been the case since 2014: when the Rocas were invited to cater a dinner celebrating the launch of AP Contemporary. Since then, the trio’s interest in fine watchmaking has only deepened – as you can see from their appearance in the Talent Stimulates Talent documentary series below: 

For their part, each Roca brothers is a big proponent of the Royal Oak in its various guises, ranging from pâtissier Jordi’s robust Ref. 15450s to the occasional, burly Offshore number worn by Joan. Their visibly high regard for this watershed of horological design and engineering is easy to understand. Simply put: it is an object steeped in history and the unique cultural rhythms of its birthplace, made by individuals who strive for perfection by availing themselves of all the tools of the 21st century –not dissimilarly to the brothers themselves.