If you’ve ever glanced up at the London skyline, you’ve seen the work of Norman Foster, a man who, under the guise of architecture firm Foster + Partners, has all but defined the capital’s modern look. There’s arguably no-one that’s had a greater impact on how the city actually looks than him, from the Corniche to the Gherkin and Wembley Stadium. Needless to say, the man knows his way around a blueprint or two.
It’s an eye for design – and a love of all things mechanical – that Lord Foster has extended to his wrist; well, when you’re working on multi-billion-dollar developments, you at least need a decent timepieces to keep you on schedule. One of the earliest pieces in his collection – or at least, after designing the headquarters of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank back in 1979 – is a true design classic, the Rolex GMT Master.
As an iconic design, it’s timeless and likely still has a prominent place in Foster’s collection; who better to appreciate a steel watch than a man whose livelihood is wrapped up in making the metal beautiful? But his tastes have arguably evolved in recent years, if his Time in Motion exhibition with Cartier was anything to go by.
Dedicated to the full horological history of the Parisian jeweller, Time in Motion was as much a passion project for Foster as it was a commission. He curated the entire show, which illustrated the impact and legacy of Cartier’s watchmaking along with the aircraft and mechanical ingenuity that inspired him.
As he said of the 160-piece exhibition, staged back in 2017, “The pure geometry of what Cartier was doing in watchmaking anticipated the pure forms of the Bauhaus – however subliminally.”
That said, more often than not Lord Foster’s seen sporting tech pieces rather than a real watch, which is to be expected. The globe-trotting peer has to keep in contact with his projects somehow. But with his undying love for all things mechanical his adoration for the likes of Rolex and Cartier isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
