Barry Keoghan’s New Watch Is So Hot We’d Drink Its Bathwater

Photographs: Getty Images, IWC; Collage: Gabe Conte

Ever since his heart-wrenching turn as a teenage deckhand in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 WWII epic Dunkirk, Barry Keoghan’s star has been swiftly rising. These days, the Irish actor is seemingly everywhere, having won a BAFTA for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin and, most recently, garnering a Golden Globe nomination for Saltburn.

This week, Keoghan proved his horological bona fides by strapping on one of our favorite modern tool watches: the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition “Lake Tahoe” from IWC. A white ceramic version of the Schaffhausen-based marque’s most famous model, the “Lake Tahoe” features blinding looks that contrast with its tactical remit. (The Top Gun editions are made in concert with the U.S. Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, but the brand has been making dedicated pilot’s timepieces since well before the Second World War.)

Measuring 44.5mm wide and powered by an in-house movement from IWC, the “Lake Tahoe” is one of several ceramic pilot’s watch models whose dials boast triple-register chronographs with day-date displays. IWC is a specialist in innovative watchmaking materials, with the capacity to produce its own cases in-house in Schaffhausen—something many other large brands don’t do. With co-signs from highly visible collectors such as John Mayer, its pilot’s watch collections have taken off in popularity and become status symbols in their own right.

Of course, it’s questionable just how many fighter pilots still rely on mechanical timing instruments these days. But what’s beyond doubt is just how damn good the “Lake Tahoe” looked on Keoghan’s wrist at an event in West Hollywood last week. Paired with a blue Louis Vuitton jacket and a white undershirt, the chronograph simply popped, its matching white rubber strap helping it garner the attention it deserves.

While the ceramic-cased “Lake Tahoe” retails for $11,700, there are plenty of other ways to get the Pilot’s Watch look in your own collection for significantly less scratch: The straightforward Mark XX, based upon the brand’s famous Mark XI military watch from 1948, starts at $5,250 on leather, while the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 in stainless steel will run you $7,600 on black calfskin.

Flea’s Rolex Day-Date

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist turn from slap-happy, funky backbeat guardian to full-on horological hero. Spotted courtside at Crypto Arena in full-on Lakers livery—including a purple leather button-down—Flea rocked a gold Rolex Day-Date with a green dial. It’s a stellar watch, to be sure, but will someone please help this man source a purple “Stella” dial to help him maintain his Lakers fealty?

Anthony Davis’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked ‘Cactus Jack’ 26585CM

Speaking of the Lakers: Anthony Davis wore the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak made in collaboration with Travis Scott—a watch that does indeed seem tailor-made for accessorizing full-on Burberry. In case you missed the watch, it’s a limited edition of just 200 pieces and features a typeface taken from Scott’s handwriting. AD is most definitely an AP guy, and has been spotted in this very column wearing rare Royal Oaks before—but we’d argue that this one his best yet.

John Mayer’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Everybody’s favorite singer-songwriter rang in 2024 from a cat bar in Tokyo surrounded by a pack of hungry felines. Live-streaming to Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper in Times Square, he rocked a beautiful Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon from Audemars Piguet, a brand that’s been featured widely in his collection for the past few years. With a diamond-studded bezel, diamond hour markers and a flying tourbillon above 6 o’clock, it’s a hell of a watch—and definitely not the sort of thing you purchase as your first AP.

Paul Feig’s Rolex GMT-Master II “Root Beer”

Ghostbusters director Paul Feig knows his way around a good watch. Though he’s been known to source many a vintage Patek, Omega, and Cartier in London, where he often works, it’s his modern Rolexes that get the heaviest wear. Spotted on his wrist recently was a current-gen Rolex GMT-Master II “Root Beer”—a two-tone model with a brown and black Cerachrom bezel. Worn with a red sport coat whilst posing with actress Michelle Yeoh at the premiere of her new Netflix series The Brothers Sun, it proved a perfect complement to the ever-stylish director’s evening getup.

Originally Appeared on GQ