In researching this article about Tom Cruise’s watch collection, one thing became abundantly clear to me. There is no human being on this planet that commands as much attention. Whether its his latest movie outing like Top Gun Maverick, an appearance at an awards show or some other type of engagement, people want to know what he’s up to. Which means there are a lot of pictures of Cruise out there. What’s particularly amazing is that in the vast majority of them, he’s wearing a different watch – the sheer range and diversity of the timepieces is impressive. He’s no Paul Newman with a diehard attachment to a single model. With that in mind, here are some of the best watches in Tom Cruise’s collection and what he has been spotted with.
Of course, while he does own many watches, some of the pieces he’s most associated with are those that appear on his wrist in the Hollywood blockbusters he’s adored for. From several Mission Impossible outings to Oscar nominated Vanilla Sky, to guilty pleasures like Cocktail, there are a million and one Tom Cruise watches to be spotted – we couldn’t leave them out.
Porsche Design Chronograph 1
We’ve got to start with the watch that helped launch Cruise’s career, the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 from the Top Gun franchise. The original 1986 film is an absolute classic of high octane action and the sequel, made 36 years later, was undoubtedly the best film of 2022. In an insane (and awesome) piece of watch continuity, in both films Cruise wears the exact same Chronograph 1 with its PVD case and ultra-legible display. Admittedly, Cruise is only a temporary custodian of the watch as it actually belongs to the films’ producer, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Rolex Air-King
Keeping with the theme of watches worn on the big screen, in 1988’s Cocktail Cruise can be seen wearing an incredibly lovely Rolex Air-King with silver dial. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it’s probably best to keep it that way, it’s not one of Cruise’s best – you can read our full thoughts on the Raspberry winning movie here. However, if you can get past the plot, the Rolex Air-King is truly lovely, especially when you consider that in the 80s the name Rolex was a fair bit more prestigious than it is today.
IWC Mark XV
From Tom Cruise’s worst film to his trippiest: 2001’s Vanilla Sky. The Oscar nominated film revolves around concepts about life, existence and art, which makes the inclusion of an IWC Mark XV pilot watch pretty jarring. The Mark XV is a watch grounded in functionality and purity of design with a military style display in black and white and a 38mm stainless steel case. It’s a watch at odds with the high-falutin concepts of the film, which somehow makes its presence all the more impactful. It’s not the only IWC he sports in a film either, as he wears the Ingenieur automatic in 2004’s Collateral.
Cartier Santos de Cartier
This one is a given considering the number of red carpets Tom Cruise has walked in his lifetime. Cartier are renowned for being the most popular brand among actors for premiers, awards shows and more. However, while we often think of the Cartier Tank, Cruise opts for its larger, sportier cousin the Santos de Cartier. With its bold, square design and thick bezel, it combines the best of the Sports Luxe aesthetic with Cartier’s traditional attention to detail and Art Deco styling. The silver dial option at the medium sizing as worn by Cruise is particularly nice.
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin
So far, while each of the watches we’ve had a look at are each unique and distinct, they’ve all had something in common – a tendency towards functionality and sportiness. The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin that Cruise wore to last year’s Cannes Film Festival is the first piece of major haute horology we’re taking a look at. It has a 41.5mm white gold case with a rich blue dial featuring hours, minutes, day, date, months, moonphase and leap years, all powered by the Calibre 1120 QP/1, which won’t need adjusting until the year 2100, if kept wound.
Rolex Daytona Ref. 1166500LN
One of the most famous watches in his collection is the Rolex Daytona Ref. 1166500LN. You know the one. With its 40mm Oystersteel case, a black cerachrom bezel and a white dial featuring black subdial accents – not quite a panda display, but not far from it either – it’s one of the most sought-after Rolexes to have been released in the last decade. Perhaps Tom Cruise isn’t so different to Paul Newman as we first posited.
Bremont ALT1-C
Proving that his love of watches expands beyond the big names of Swiss watchmaking, Cruise has also been clocked sporting watches from brands that aren’t quite so well known outside of watch circles. Case in point he has a Bremont ALT1-C, an aviation chronograph from a British brand specialising in pilot’s watches. It has a 43mm diameter case in stainless steel and houses the Calibre 13 1/4”’ BE-50AE automatic (base ETA 7750), which has a 42-hour power reserve.
At a price of just £5,295 compared to some of the £100,000+ watches in his collection, it shows that Tom Cruise’s interest in watches is genuine and goes beyond the pieces with the biggest clout.
Panerai Luminor Marina PAM00299
Panerais have a reputation for being particularly large, making them a favourite of larger men who live up to its size. Cruise proves that this isn’t always the case because despite being on the shorter side, the Luminor Marina looks perfectly at home on his wrist. It’s also interesting because the Panerai is one of the few dive watches in his collection, evidently, he prefers tool watches designed for the skies rather than the seas.
And the Rest of Them
Rain Man: Rolex Yellow Gold Day Date
While on screen Tom Cruise is as much of an action hero as he always has been, he’s actually 60 years old, meaning he’s been in the industry for a long, long time. There are simply too many films, red carpets and photoshoots to cover every single watch he’s worn across a well-lived life.
Some stand outs include a Cartier Calibre de Cartier Chronograph, a Tudor Heritage Chronograph (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), a Graham Chronodiver Chronograph, as well as a half-dozen more Rolexes like the GMT Master II, Sky-Dweller, Datejust and the Day-Date (Rain Man). And there are still more I could mention like the Jacob & Co. Epic II Chronograph, Tag Heuer S/EL Quartz Chrono (Jerry Maguire) or Casio G-Shock W-5300 (Mission Impossible).
