The Hottest Watches in TV Shows

While good television keeps you entertained with a solid plot, great television gets the details right, fully immersing you in the world of its characters and the lives they live. With this in mind, there’s nothing that spikes a watch enthusiast's heart rate quite like spotting a tasty timepiece on the wrist of a compelling character, as it doesn’t just show the prop department is doing its job properly but offers an insight into who they are and how they carry themselves in the world.

TV shows and films don’t always get it right, mind you, which is why it’s all the more interesting when the watch isn’t just appropriate, but the real McCoy. While I thoroughly enjoyed the rough-and-tumble laughs served up in The Hitman’s Bodyguard, I just couldn’t take Ryan Reynolds's character seriously after spotting the fake Patek Philippe on his bedside table in the opening shots of the film. The same was true in the action drama Drive, which starred Ryan Gosling as a stuntman scything his way through the underbelly of Los Angeles, sporting another fake Patek Philippe on his wrist - this time an awkwardly proportioned Calatrava.

While the prospect of actors wearing valuable watches on the set comes with some risk to the production budget, generally speaking, when the watch is a fake or doesn’t suit the character it feels like laziness or worse - shows no attention to detail. In celebration of the TV shows that get it right, let’s take a look at a few of the best watches on your TV screen right now.

The White Lotus - HBO

Undoubtedly one of the hottest shows in the English-speaking world in recent months, the most recent season of The White Lotus blew viewers away with its darkly humorous portrayal of wealth and the human condition. If its strange and hypnotic opening song was the entree, the pointedly awkward and achingly relatable interactions of its cashed-up characters served as the main, as they navigate the twisting paths of lust, envy and shame against the backdrop of a picturesque Sicilian resort.

Appropriate for a crowd for whom money is of little concern, The White Lotus offered a buffet of watch spotting, such as the Mediterranean blue Rolex Submariner “Smurf” on the wrist of Cameron (Theo James). While his weighty white gold Rolex reference 116619B was perfect for a man outwardly content with his lot in life, the Tank Louis Cartier on the wrist of his wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy) spoke to her carefree and assured approach to every day, adding a touch of chic sophistication to her character.

As the middle generation member of his family on a holiday with his father and son, Dominic’s (Michael Imperioli) hefty 44mm GoldTech Panerai Submersible spoke directly to the pressures of life he felt bearing down on him from every direction. A perfect projection of masculine confidence, the Panerai was the perfect choice for his character as a pricey statement piece.

Tulsa King - Paramount+

Iconic Hollywood hardman Sylvester Stallone is back on our screens, but instead of the action blockbusters that we’re used to, the Rocky and Rambo star recently made his television debut for Tusla King. Playing Dwight “The General” Manfredi, Stallone returns to his life as a mafia boss in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following a 25-year prison sentence. With a timepiece worthy of a gangster on his wrist, this was another selection perfectly picked out by the prop department.

Ditching the oversized Panerai watches he’s become known for on the big screen, instead he’s seen wearing a solid gold vintage Piaget Polo that exudes old-world excess, while not being gaudy or over the top. Stallone joins the tradition of gangster bosses in film wearing dressier precious metal timepieces, including another white gold ultra-thin Piaget worn by John Travolta in the movie Gotti and the modestly proportioned yellow gold Omega worn by Tom Hardy in Legend.

Succession - HBO

HBO’s fan favorite Succession delivered more than a few compelling watch spots for the eagle-eyed enthusiast, as the members of the billionaire Roy family vie for primacy within their business empire. Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), the second eldest son of grizzly patriarch Logan, wore a number of watches over the four seasons the show has enjoyed so far, including the iconic stainless steel Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711/1A sports watch. While the Nautilus is an obvious choice for a contemporary captain of industry, he also wore a slightly more niche selection in the discontinued Vacheron Constantin Traditionelle World Time, adding weight to his character with 43.5mm of white gold.

As the lone heiress to the family fortune, the savvy Siobhan “Shiv” Roy (Sarah Snook) had a taste for Cartier as she wore not one, but two Cartier Panthère references during her time on screen. Spotted in both the yellow gold and steel versions, the Panthère injects a straightforward sense of classicism into the politically strategic scion. Her husband, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), got the same memo and is seen wearing a versatile stainless steel Cartier Santos, perhaps suggesting a joint shopping trip.

Severance - Apple TV+

Making its debut at the start of 2022, the psychological thriller Severance offers a dystopian picture of corporate existence where the distance between personal and professional lives has never been more powerful. While timepieces in the show serve the symbolic purpose to distinguish between the worlds of work and home, the watch worn by Mark (Adam Scott) when he’s not at work is the unusual Russian Vostok Komandirskie 341307 diver.

According to Hodinkee, the Vostok was sourced from the personal collection of prop master Catherine Miller who likely had it thanks to its visually distinct design and affordability. For his time in the fluorescently lit corporate office of the fictional Lumon company, Mark wore the same anonymously branded minimalist timepiece as the rest of his colleagues, sourced by Miller from the Japanese Bijouone watch brand.