Piaget Has Always Been Hollywood’s Victory Watch

At the 98th Academy Awards, Michael B. Jordan celebrated a career-defining milestone, taking home his first Oscar for Best Actor for his dual role as identical twin brothers in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. On a night like that, every detail matters. Jordan’s watch of choice? A vintage Piaget.

People love to talk about the watches actors wear on the red carpet. Rolex, Patek, the usual heavy hitters. But Piaget has always occupied a slightly different lane in watch culture. Less boardroom power watch, more cinematic glamour. And honestly, it makes perfect sense for an Oscar moment.

Long before watch brands chased athletes and Formula 1 drivers, Piaget had already planted itself in Hollywood. By the late 1960s, the Swiss maison had opened a boutique in Beverly Hills, embedding itself directly in the orbit of the film industry’s jet set.

During the following decade, Piaget became known for ultra-thin gold watches, stone dials, and sculptural jewelry pieces that blurred the line between timepiece and ornament. Actors, artists, and cultural icons took notice.

Figures like Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were photographed wearing Piaget’s dramatic gold watches and cuff-style pieces. Andy Warhol famously owned several Piaget watches, including a Black Tie model he purchased in the early 1970s that the brand would later rename in his honor. Even Elvis Presley was among the cultural figures drawn to the brand during that era.

This wasn’t accidental. Piaget built watches that looked incredible under chandeliers and camera flashes. In an era when most luxury watches were tools, Piaget made pieces that behaved more like jewelry.

Slim gold cases, malachite and lapis dials, diamond-set bracelets. They weren’t built for racetracks or deep-sea dives. They were built for tuxedos.

Which brings us back to Jordan. The watch he wore that night, a vintage Piaget reference 9297, dates back to the 1970s. It’s slim, yellow gold, and features a pavé diamond dial, exactly the kind of quietly decadent watch Piaget became famous for during Hollywood’s golden era of glamour.

So when Jordan stepped onto the Oscars stage wearing it, the moment carried a subtle symmetry.

On the night he officially entered Hollywood history, he wore a watch from the same era when Piaget helped define what Hollywood success looked like on the wrist.

Of course, Jordan wasn’t the only one bringing serious wrist energy to the Oscars. If anything, the ceremony has quietly become one of the most interesting watch runways in culture.

This year’s red carpet delivered a full spectrum of watch flexes. Ryan Coogler wore Cartier’s revived Tank à Guichets, a design that literally resembles a movie ticket window.

Timothée Chalamet arrived in Urban Jürgensen’s technically ambitious UJ-2. Kumail Nanjiani sported a Vacheron Constantin Overseas tourbillon skeleton.

Pedro Pascal leaned into romance with Chanel’s Boy-Friend watch, while Usher and Shaboozey both embraced diamond-set timepieces that blurred the line between watch and jewelry.

In other words, watches are no longer just tuxedo accessories. They’ve become another way actors signal taste, personality, and even collector credibility on Hollywood’s biggest stage.

But if the Oscars represent the ultimate victory lap in film, Piaget still feels like the most fitting watch to wear while taking it. Because long before watches became a red-carpet flex, Piaget was already there, sparkling under the same lights.

Images provided by @mediaforupdates