Cannes Carpet Is a Ticktock Runway
The well-known 24-step stairway of the Croisette was extra glistening than ever this yr not as a result of there have been longer clothes, however due to the 40 000 spectators, craning their necks to get pictures on their wrists. I did see the next variety of telephones out snapping bracelets than ball robes in a single weekend, which reveals that even shifting into style in probably the most unique first row, the luxury-watch growth is bulldozing its means by means of (Reuters, 2025).
From Palme d’Or Glory to Billion-Euro Buzz
It appeared like Jafar Panahi had snatched a historic Palme djust an Accident, however “winners” of the opposite Palme of the pageant had been financial: the campaigns with influencers promoted at Cannes earned €110.74 million earned-media worth on Instagram (up 28 % year-on-year), from the watch labels that sponsored most of these posts (AP Information & Kolsquare, 2025).
What has made watches out-shine clothes?
What modified? Luxurious watch is at an all-time excessive; the worldwide luxury-watch business will enhance by 127.93 %, or by greater than 59.97 billion to round 134.53 billion in simply 2025-2032 valuation, sooner than even a premium purse (Fortune Enterprise Insights, 2025). Manufacturers view Cannes as an 11-day present room the place a mere one viral shut up strikes secondary market costs in a single day.
Professional Take: Why the Wrist is Sporting Cannes
- Joking that Cannes is now Baselworld with much less lighting, Sarah Miller, editor-in-chief of WatchPro, provides that, regardless of the success of Baselworld, Cannes is the occasion model that mustn?t be underestimated as a result of its attendance can solely develop. Nothing tells it higher than A-listers and we, as prospects, are likely to chase authenticity with our cash.
- “Secondary-market peaks you’ll be able to observe in actual time?”, feedback Dr. Lionel Rousseau, senior analyst Morgan Stanley Luxurious Insights. Eighty % of them comply with a giant pink carpet scene in lower than 48 hours. The pageant is a forecasting mannequin of Q3 costs.”
- “I take robes so I can get the glamour pictures, however I zoom to wrists to get the clicks,” provides veteran red-carpet photographer Mia Delgado. The close-ups of my watch get trifold extra interplay, as they want to turn out to be a component within the phantasm.”
The LineUp You Blinked At
It’s parade order (within the replies beneath) as we chronicle each head-turning watches, and why each tick is huge enterprise commercially, cinematographically, and culturally. When platinum was first caught within the flashbulbs I gasped; the Croisette was turning into Baselworld on the seaside (private be aware).
Tom Cruise Debuts a Platinum Showstopper
Tom Cruise strolled into the photocall of Mission Potential The Last Reckoning with Rolex Day-Date 40 mm in platinum with mom of pearl dial and an apple hour. Commerce on Chrono24 is just below 96 000, but the adverts elevated by 9 % in 24 hours after his debut- once more unbiased proof to the truth that the king of franchises can nonetheless push launch himself exhausting in opposition to gravity, in addition to in its aftermarket (Chrono24, 2025).
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A$AP Rocky: Daylight Nautilus, Midnight Bulgari
As a part of his Spike Lee-helmed debut Highest 2 Lowest, Rocky wore a yellow-gold Patek Philippe Nautilus 3800/1J ( 98 000 retail) after which an 193 000 CHF ruby encrusted cuff Bulgari Monete Catene Excessive Jewellery secret watch, which is generally worn in royal balls. The 2-watch flex of the rapper resembles that of his personal model journey: the fashionable day rap icon in the course of the day and heritage luxurious story in the course of the night time (Chrono24 & GPHG, 2025).
Spike Lee Has Brooklyn On His Sleeve
The drippy artisans of Geneva, Artisans de Geneve, skeletonized a customized made Rolex Daytona by Lee with a ref. 116520 base (≈$14 000 base) which was changed into a novel piece of object storytelling value a simple $30 000 and up. Just lately, the Swiss Supreme Courtroom stated no to mass-resale of such mods, turning the piece by Lee into the insurgent assertion and authorized speaking level (Hodinkee, 2024).
Tramell Tillman- Spins the Reverso Two Step
Goodness; Tillman even did his photocall Reverso Tribute Small Seconds (in pink gold, with a pricetag of 23 800 dollarcab) and, on the premiere, merely reversed the face, revealing as a substitute the luxurious of a Reverso Tribute Chronograph (40 300 {dollars}). When the actor turned the case in the course of the interview, the press pen even cheered, it appeared the ambiance went uncontrolled, it was alive unboxing (Jaeger-LeCoultre, 2025).
The geographic flex type Jackson Yee
Yee chosen a stainless-steel Reverso Tribute Geographic ($21 200), which has an engraved map of the world. His 86 million social followers in Asia had been capable of relate to the decide as a result of multi-time-zone problems signify worldwide aspiration (Jaeger-LeCoultre, 2025).
Ben Cumberbatch has taken a Two-Watch Plotting in his hand
Nothing may cowl up Cumberbatch in wrist phrases: the premiere was attended by a Grasp Extremely Skinny Date (≈$10 000), and the photocall in the course of the day was imbibed by a $3 950 Bremont Broadsword Bronze the gross sales of which on the model web-store zoomed 18 % week-on-week after the image received X (Bremont, 2025).
Austin Butler is in tune with Breitling Beat
It was a becoming mixture, by the way in which, with Butler carrying an ivory swimsuit to go along with his Chronomat 32 ($5 200 retail), as a brand new science-fiction star of Breitling Squad. Even the women-focused 32 mm line of this model elevated its social-search by 24 % in a single day, which is a transparent indication that gendered dimension codes are quickly thawing (Breitling, 2025).
Blue Dial quiet storm by Anson Boon
Boon compensated a Celine tux with a TAG Heuer Carrera Day-Date in sunray blue ($4 200). The stylish dial is a water-shade which dominated summer time 2025 fashion pages and which suited the up-and-coming star picture of the British actor (TAG Heuer & The Instances, 2025).
Within the Sand-Gold Finale of Pierfrancesco Favino
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in sand gold ref. 26674SG got here in at curtain shut, at round $475 000 on opening night time, and just below half-a-million on Chrono24. It runs on a brand new 7138 calibre so collectors can set the entire calendar indications with the crown and now not should resort to pin pushers, and furthermore, no problems, simply high-tech watchmaking (Chrono24, 2025).
Pink-Carpet Worth SnapFot Vitrine rouge
| Celeb | Watch Mannequin | Retail USD | 2025 Buying and selling USD |
| Tom Cruise | Rolex Day-Date 40 mm Pt MOP | 96 000 | 105 000 |
| A$AP Rocky | Patek Nautilus 3800/1J | 98 000 | 120 000 |
| Spike Lee | Cool hand Brooklyn Daytona | 30 000 | 35 000 |
| Tramell Tillman | Reverso tribute chronograph | 40 300 | 46 000 |
| Austin Butler | Breitling Chronomat 32 | 5 200 | 6 000 |
| Pierfrancesco Favino | Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar | 475 000 | 490 000 |
Oxford dictionary, 2025
The Enterprise of Magnificence
| 12 months | Worldwide luxury-watch gross sales (USD bn) | 12 months-on-year development |
| 2024 | 53.69 | 0 |
| 2025 | 59.97 | 11.7 % |
| 2032 proj. | 134.53 | 12.2 % CAGR |
Fortune Enterprise Insights, 2025
Each bling-watch on the Croisette fuels an economic system that And the result’s an business that’s zooming previous a 50 billion euro mark in revenues. Cannes 2025 demonstrated {that a} pageant that was ranked by way of standing ovations is at the moment worthwhile evaluating by way of secondary-market spreads and the time is having its clock moved solely faster.
In regards to the Writer: Nathan Reid is an leisure analyst primarily based in London, and his speciality is in masking movie, luxurious gadgets and pop-culture economics; he writes for each Selection and GQ, in addition to WatchPro.
