A roll call of the timepieces that bagged a red carpet moment on fashion’s biggest night.
The Met Gala 2026 is right around the corner. It’s fashion’s biggest night and takes place annually on the first Monday in May to raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. And it delivers a stream of divine fits, immortalised the moment they hit the red carpet.
As you can imagine, when you throw together throw together internet boyfriends, sporting GOATS, arena-filling musicians, and fashion industry big dogs, world-class arm candy is guaranteed. And we’re talking really nice – the type of grails you don’t see too often. Take Walton Goggins’ Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface, with its skeletonised sexiness enjoying some starry airtime at last year’s event. But 2026 is shaping up to be extra special. The theme for the exhibition is “Costume Art”, with “Fashion Is Art” as the corresponding dress code for the event.
In the world of haute horologie, ultra complicated engineering and alluring artistry often come together. Gérald Genta, the famed watch designer and architect of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus, was also a painter. And he regularly referred to himself as an artist. Both of these 1970s-designed timepieces have become red carpet bangers in their own right. But he also masterminded ultra-rare models like the Gérald Genta reference G.4103.K and the sea urchin-inspired Oursin. So maybe we’re set for a flurry of Genta-made bangers on the night. Or perhaps we’ll see Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Tribute Enamel Series. This year, the Maison decorated its swivel-cased ticker with Japanese artist Hokusai’s woodblock series ‘A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces’. It went down a storm at Watches and Wonders and is primed for a spot on fashion’s fanciest red carpet.
Anyway, that’s enough speculation for now. Ahead of the big night, we’ve selected our favourite watches from Met Galas gone by – worn by leading men like George Clooney and Pharrell Williams – to get in the mood. Scroll on for our picks.
Pharrell Williams’ Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in 2004
Via Getty Images, Joopiter
Pharrell Williams might be crushing hard on Richard Mille these days, but back in his 2004 “Drop It Like It’s Hot” era, he wore an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked to the Met. Clearly, he’s always liked his watches rare and extremely technical.
George Clooney’s Omega De Ville Prestige in 2008
Via Getty Images, Omega
George Clooney is a black tie maestro. When you see the Jay Kelly actor buttoned up in tuxedo, a masterclass in classic red carpet sophistication is a given. His tastes in watches work in much the same way. Case in point: his Omega De Ville Prestige, papped on the legendary Met steps in 2008. Clean, simple, and refined, it’s basically a tux on the wrist.
Frank Ocean’s Richard Mille RM 37-01 Kiwi in 2021
Via Getty Images, Richard Mille
Frank Ocean’s wardrobe is the stuff of countless Instagram mood board pages and Pinterest saves. For more common (and still extremely rare) public sightings, you might see him cycling around New York wearing cargo trousers or walking through Tokyo with a Prada buckle tote bag slung over his shoulder. But when he needs to level things up further, like the Met Gala in 2021, his watch game comes in clutch. For the occasion, he paired the ultra-technical Richard Mille RM 37-01 Kiwi (with a crazy fruit adorned dial) with his custom Prada look. Talk about killer combinations.
Regé-Jean Page’s Heuer Carrera in 2025
Via Getty Images, Sotheby’s
Regé-Jean Page’s full-red Brioni fit was hard to miss at the Met Gala and nailed 2025’s “Tailored For You” dress code. Fittingly, he rocked a vintage Heuer Carrera 110.515 CHN for the night, too. Because there’s few things more personal than a lesser-seen vintage piece.
Walton Goggins’ Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface in 2025
Via Getty Images, Vacheron Constantin
Walton Goggins has a taste for the heavy hitters when it comes to his watches (cc his trusty full gold Rolex Day-Date). But in 2025 for the Met, he turned to holy tier watchmaker Vacheron Constantin’s Traditionnelle Complete Calendar Openface. With a commanding 41mm wrist presence, openworked movement and moonphase and calendar complications, it’s a lean mean wrist-flexing machine for the watch collector that truly knows what’s up.
Jack Harlow’s Rolex Sky-Dweller in 2022
Via Getty Images, Rolex
Back in 2022, Jack Harlow released “First Class”, and his Met Gala wrist game followed suit. Rather than rocking something brand new to the event, he turned to his trusty stainless steel Rolex Sky-Dweller – an aviation-coded watch that flies just as high on the red carpet. Now that is first class.
Jeff Goldblum’s Jacob & Co. Boutique Watch in 2025
Jeff Goldblum’s taste in watches goes deep. Catch him at a premiere and you might spot him rocking as classic Tank Louis Cartier, or a white gold Vacheron Constantin Égérie, like at the BAFTAs in 2025. But for the Met Gala last year, the actor went all-out bling with a Jacob & Co. Ashoka Boutique Watch, packed with diamonds. It’s definitely not quiet luxury, that’s for sure. But on fashion’s biggest night, going full blast was right at home.
Jeremy Allen White Wearing A Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso in 2025
Via Getty Images, Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jeremy Allen White might be Los Angeles’ unofficial beater fit king, with his flower market mufti gassing up menswearheads on the regular. But when he needs to do the smarter stuff, he does it well, aided by hot-ticket watches. Just look at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds he wore to last year’s gala. Unsurprisingly, a rectangular watch on a leather strap made by the watchmaker’s watchmaker holds its own at the Met. This is especially true with White, who has a knack for making everything he wears look easy, chill, and like he’s owned it for years.
Roger Federer’s Rolex Perpetual 1908 in 2023
Via Getty Images, Rolex
Roger Federer is a big Rollie guy, and he’s been flying the flag for them officially since 2004. Naturally this gives him access to the Crown’s new releases before most of us get a chance to see them in person. Back in 2023, he wore the dressy Rolex Perpetual 1908 at the Met Gala, just two months after it was first unveiled at Watches and Wonders. And we can’t think of a better setting to show it off in all of its tuxedo-primed glory.
Jeremy Strong’s Richard Mille RM 07-04 in 2023
Via Getty Images, Richard Mille
What do Jeremy Strong and his Succession character Kendall Roy have in common? They’re both really into Richard Mille. In 2023, where the dress code honoured Karl Lagerfeld, he turned to the Richard Mille RM 07-04 in 2023 and unleashed a flurry of playful, techy horological heat in the process. Who said serious watches can’t be fun?
Adrien Brody’s Cartier Santos in 2022
Via Getty Images, Cartier
Adrien Brody doesn’t always wear a timepiece on the red carpet. But in a full gold Santos de Cartier in 2022, he sure looked like a watch guy. It’s bold, classy, and packed with history (this is widely considered to be the first men’s wrist watch, designed for pilot Alberto Santos Dumont in 1911). Here’s to more AB wrist checks.
