Bill Murray’s Watch Collection Always Keeps Us Guessing

Photographs: Getty Images, Oris; Collage: Gabe Conte

Bill Murray’s watch choices are as offbeat as his movies. Remember that time he wore two watches— a Timex and a Cartier Tank—at once in Cannes? This guy has our attention.

Just this week, the comedic G.O.A.T. was spotted on the mean streets of New York City filming an adaptation of the 2018 novel The Friend wearing an Oris Big Crown. Configured in a black dial, this model recalls the solemn, utilitarian designs of the early 20th century—Murray’s pastel blue version, however, is just plain fun, and seems completely transformed to match his idiosyncratic brand of humor.

Don’t get us wrong, of course—this is a serious watch designed and produced by an independent Swiss maker since the ‘30s.Designed for pilots, the Big Crown has several features that catered specifically to the flyboys of yore: the oversized crown is easy to grip with gloved hands, while the dial’s large, Arabic numerals are highly legible. And the pointer date complication was a common way to display the date in the early- to mid-20th century that, while largely supplanted by the date window, remains in use in the Big Crown collection.

The modern version worn by Murray, however, has a big ol’ watch-guy improvement: namely, the inclusion of an in-house movement, the hand-wound Calibre 473. You see, while the brand produced nearly 300 such movements in its earlier decades, the Quartz Crisis nearly put a stop to this. It wasn’t until 2014 that Oris began making its own mechanical engines once more, of which the Calibre 473 is an excellent example: Hand-wound and requiring four years of R&D to design, it features hour and minute hands, small seconds, a pointer date complication, and a power reserve indicator, which is visible via the caseback. Boasting 120 hours (five days) of power reserve, it carries a 10-year warranty.

With its light blue dial and sapphire caseback, this evolution of the Big Crown is no longer a strictly utilitarian timepiece meant for aviation. Instead, this is simply a beautiful watch in an excellent size (38mm) that wears comfortably and looks great in all manner of colors and configurations. Murray’s playful version seems to perfectly suit his personality, matching nothing in particular and standing out in a quirky manner while still faithfully doing its job.

Bill Murray in a Cartier Tank? Great. Bill Murray in a pastel-colored pilot’s watch? Priceless.

Bad Bunny’s Rolex Pearlmaster

Introduced in 1992 and only recently discontinued, the Rolex Pearlmaster is essentially a higher-end, iced-out version of the Datejust. To wit, check out this version that Bad Bunny wore courtside this past week: Housed in a 34mm case, it features a yellow gold case with a matching Pearlmaster bracelet, a diamond-studded bezel, diamond hour indices, and a beautiful mother-of-pearl dial. Available in myriad configurations, the Pearlmaster was a bit of an odd bird, but as a blingy counterweight to the more stripped-down, utilitarian Professional-series models, it balances out the Rolex catalog by providing a watch for those who want to make a statement.

LeBron James’s Cartier Crash Skeleton

One of the hottest watches in the world right now, the Cartier Crash was not, as legend has it, born in a fiery car accident or inspired by a Salvador Dali masterpiece. (You can see it better on James here) However, its more pedestrian origin story—dreamt up by Jean-Jacques Cartier and handcrafted by a team of artisans in the late 1960s—is no less fascinating. When the original Crash debuted in 1967 (in non-skeletonized form), it sold for roughly $1,000, or some $9,000 adjusted for inflation. These days? Good luck getting your hands on a non-skeletonized version for less than a few hundred thousand bucks. Skeletonized versions like LeBron’s, meanwhile, retail for close to $80,000.

Iga Świątek’s Rolex 1908

While clutching her freshly won trophy at Indian Wells this past week, Polish tennis phenom Iga Świątek wore a distinctly dressy choice from the Crown—the Oyster Perpetual 1908. Introduced at Watches & Wonders 2023, it effectively replaced the now-discontinued Cellini as the de facto Rolex dress watch. Świątek’s model, which is housed in a 39mm yellow gold case with a white dial, a fluted bezel, sub-seconds, applied indices, and a brown leather strap, is powered by a chronometer-certified, automatic movement visible via a sapphire caseback. Though it was almost immediately overshadowed by the “Emoji” Day-Date and Celebration-dial Oyster Perpetual, it’s a distinctly handsome watch that hearkens back to the early days of the world’s biggest watchmaker.

Patrick Mahomes’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked ref. 15416CE

Patrick Mahomes is a man who appreciates a good watch. (See here, here, and here.) In taking a break from Rolex, the three-time Super Bowl winner strapped on a standout Audemars Piguet: the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked ref. 15416CE. Mahomes’s example is crafted from black ceramic and features an openworked, slate grey dial with pink gold indices. Powered by the automatic AP Calibre 3132 movement and paired to a matching, black ceramic integrated bracelet, this wild piece takes Gérald Genta’s “luxury sports watch” design from 1972 to a completely avant-garde place.

Originally Appeared on GQ