How Rolex is Hollywood’s enduring partner, from the screen to the red carpet: the Swiss luxury watchmaker and Academy Awards define a century of timekeeping excellence and cinematic brilliance

Nov 19 , 2024

Rolex watches have a long history of appearing on screen, as in this scene from the film Crazy Rich Asians, so it’s only appropriate that the brand is a partner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Photo: Handout

Rolex

The partnership has cemented Rolex’s role in cinema away from the screen, supporting the Oscars and the Academy Museum Gala, the ‘Met Gala of the West Coast’

Even if you’re not a watch aficionado, you just know it when you see a Rolex on the wrist of a film’s character. A Rolex is more than just a prop. It defines a character just as much as costumes and make-up do – it’s an instant signifier of a figure’s personality and a powerful accoutrement that even plays a key role in the plot.

Legendary actors such as Marlon Brando in The Fugitive Kind (1960), Faye Dunaway in Network (1976) and Gabriel Byrne in The Usual Suspects (1995) have worn a Rolex on screen, while more recently Rolexes have appeared in blockbusters such as Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Bullet Train (2022).

Aaron Taylor-Johnson wearing a Rolex watch in 2022’s Bullet Train. Photo: Handout

Off screen, actors, directors and even heads of state have never been shy about their predilection for Rolex timepieces. The late American actor Paul Newman was such a devoted fan of his Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6239 that the watch has since come to be known as the Paul Newman Daytona.

That holy grail of watchmaking made a much talked-about – albeit temporary – appearance when the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened in 2021 in Los Angeles, which prominently featured it in one of the galleries. Rolex is a long-time partner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – the entity behind the Oscars – and a founding supporter of the Renzo Piano-designed museum.

That partnership began in 2017, the same year that Rolex enlisted two of today’s most celebrated directors, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, as Rolex Testimonees.

Director James Cameron wears Rolex dive watches on his expeditions. Photo: Matthew Brookes/Rolex

A long-time diver and ocean explorer, Cameron – director of historic films such as The Terminator (1984), Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) – has worn Rolex divers’ watches on his expeditions, most recently the Oyster Perpetual Deepsea Challenge model.

Also in 2017, Rolex became a sponsor of the Oscars, the most prestigious award in the world of cinema.

“I love the fact that Rolex was born [in the early part of the 20th century, as was] the academy,” said Janet Yang, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in an interview in Los Angeles. “And that the mission is so aligned and to find a partner like Rolex that is equally dedicated to excellence and is able to support us, because we couldn’t even talk about half of these things if it weren’t for Rolex.”