REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

CLASSIC
CUMBERBATCH
The acclaimed actor and Jaeger-LeCoultre ambassador rounds off
his personal style with a well-thought-out timepiece collection.
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES
Clockwise from
top left
Benedict
Cumberbatch at
the Royal Academy
wearing a Master
Ultra Thin Tourbillon
Enamel; the Master
Grande Tradition
Gyrotourbillon
Westminster
Perpétuel; the
Polaris Memovox.
Whether he’s portraying a mystical doctor, a
super-sleuth, or a superpowered villain,
award-winning actor and philanthropist
Benedict Cumberbatch does it all with effortless style.
The same can be said of his particular brand of cool that
has made him an ideal ambassador for Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Indeed, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual
Calendar is as much of a character in his Marvel film,
Doctor Strange, as Stephen Strange and Baron Mordo.
But even off the screen, Jaeger-LeCoultre remains his
brand of choice.
We had the opportunity to ask Cumberbatch a few
questions about his connection to horology as well as his
burgeoning collection of watches. And his answers reveal
that he’s as thoughtful with his hobby as he is with his
chosen profession.
Have you always had an interest in watches,
and by extension, horology?
I do have an eye for watches. Not in an obsessive sense,
I just like what I see when I see it, and I love the idea of
timepieces existing after the immediate function of just
telling time — being artifacts and heirlooms, a special
weight that the luxury end of watches is carrying.
If so, when did this begin?
I remember the excitement I had getting my first watch as a
child — a commemorative Mexico World Cup watch — and
being able to structure an identity around time that was
personal to me and not via some external force scheduling
my life. Sports was a big thing when I was growing up,
and to have a watch with a logo of someone kicking a ball
was very exciting. Of course time ties us all into its bonds,
but there is a certain independence that comes with the
first watch that never quite leaves. I stopped wearing a
watch like a lot of people when smartphones started. But
I’m so glad I’ve gone back to having the timepiece on my
wrist. It stops you from being drawn into all the other
demands on your attention that smartphones create,
and it’s another way of expressing your personal style.
Do you have a favorite complication, i.e. chronograph,
minute repeater, perpetual calendar…?
The Gyrotourbillon which looks like a heart pulsing — it is
magic. It’s literally bringing the inanimate to life in order to
measure time. Quite an achievement in our evolution and
an amazing thing to witness being done by the human hand.
How many watches do you currently
have in your collection?
Currently four: my childhood Swatch, a watch I have from
when I was a young man, and two from Jaeger-LeCoultre.
As a bona fide style icon, how much thought
do you place on the watch you wear?
Obviously, the look of a watch is important and if I am
wearing a suit, I like to wear a watch to complement that
look. But equally, it is very important to me that the watch
I am wearing fits with my lifestyle. In general, I need a
watch that I can wear every day, and basically something
that I can rely on but that I don’t have to think about.
And finally, what is your favorite Jaeger-LeCoultre?
I’ve really enjoyed wearing the Memovox Polaris. It first
came out in 1965 and was one of the first diver’s watch
equipped with an alarm. It’s stylish, easy to wear and is
a fabulous piece. I have also used the alarm, which has a
wonderful bell-like ring to it.
BACK TO THE FUTURE 129