Spike Lee Already Wore the Best Watch at the Oscars
Last year at the Oscars, Spike Lee wore a flamboyant purple suit with a matching hat and glasses as a tribute to Prince. The rest of the outfit was just as exciting: a blue shirt with the verve of a sapphire, colorful bracelets, and a pair of Do the Right Thing-indebted knuckle rings that read “LOVE” and “HATE.” To go with all this, the director wore an understated steel watch: a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso. An excellent, iconic timepiece, no doubt. But Lee decided to crank things up this year.
To the 2020 Oscars, the director wore another purple suit, this time with gold trim and the number 24 on his lapels as a tribute to Kobe Bryant, who tragically died in a helicopter crash late January. (Lee also wore Kobe sneakers.) On his wrist, meanwhile, is one of Rolex’s best relatively recent releases: a circa 2018 rose-gold Rolex GMT-Master II. The GMT is one of Rolex’s most iconic models, and recently the brand has turned the professional pilot's tool into a high-jewelry item, as with the new “Pepsi” GMT with its signature red-and-blue two-tone bezel recreated with diamonds. Lee, meanwhile, is wearing the black-and-brown “Root Beer” model remade entirely out of Everose gold—the version of rose gold that Rolex makes itself.
Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II
The watch is a fitting addition to Lee’s repertoire, given that the director is the newest member of the Rolex family. Just yesterday, the director was formally announced as a mentor for the watch brand’s Rolex Art Initiative. The project pairs established figures in film, theater, and visual arts with an up-and-comer. Lee selected Kyle Bell, a 33-year-old director who primarily directs documentaries focused on telling Native-American stories. Lin-Manuel Miranda is also participating in the mentor/mentee program.
And while passing wisdom onto a future generation of filmmakers and directors of musicals is reason in itself to join the team, getting in with Rolex has other benefits, too. We don’t need to look much further than Lee’s new very spicy GMT-Master II to see that. So, really the benefits of Lee being a Rolex mentor are twofold for all of us watching at home: better Lee-influenced movies—and better watches.
Originally Appeared on GQ
