The 20 Best Watches at the Met Gala, From Jay-Z’s Patek Philippe to Rami Malek’s Cartier
The red carpet showed that watches can be art, too.
The Met Gala has expanded beyond a fundraiser for the museum’s Costume Institute to fashion’s biggest night, with A-listers and designers going all out with extravagant ensembles. The event once again ran like clockwork on the first Monday in May. Attendees embraced this year’s theme, “fashion is art,” inspired by the Met’s Costume Art exhibition, wearing lavish outfits and dazzling accessories, many of which would not look out of place in a museum.
Some of the watches we spotted on the red carpet were works of art, too. Rami Malek’s rare Cartier Crash, for instance, features an asymmetrical case that is reminiscent of the melted clocks in Salvador Dalí’s 1931 Surrealist painting, The Persistence of Memory. Tyriq Withers and Finn Wolfhard’s new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso cocktail watches tip a rather elegant hat to the Art Deco movement. Russell Wilson’s Jacob & Co. Astronomia showcases a mini sculpture of a planetary system. Dwayne Johnson’s Jacob & Co. Billionaire III is a gem-set masterpiece, with more than 700 diamonds covering the case, bracelet, and skeletonised dial. And Maluma’s Bvlgari Octo Finissimo is a true feat of micro-watchmaking, measuring 37 mm wide and 6.35 mm thick.
Below are our favourite watches at the 2026 Met Gala.
Dwayne Johnson: Jacob & Co. Billionaire III
Dwayne Johnson brought the bling, wearing a US$3 million Jacob & Co. Billionaire III set with 714 emerald-cut white diamonds totalling nearly 130 carats.
Luke Evans: Hublot Big Bang Unico
Luke Evans capped off a custom Palomo look with a high-jewellery Hublot Big Bang Unico featuring a white-gold case adorned with 334 diamonds totalling 17.2 carats.
Rami Malek: Cartier Crash
Rami Malek paired a dramatic Saint Laurent ensemble with a coveted platinum Cartier Crash from 1992.
Bad Bunny: Cartier Cloche
Bad Bunny was nearly unrecognisable as he stepped out as an aged version of himself, accessorising with a cane and a yellow-gold Cartier Cloche from 1996.
Lisa Manobal: Bvlgari Serpenti Spiga
K-pop sensation Lisa wore one of the more dramatic creations: a sculpted, veiled gown accented by two sculptural arms—one of which had a diamond-encrusted Bvlgari Serpenti Spiga wrapped around it.
Jay-Z: Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime
Nicholas Hoult: Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Perpetual
Nicholas Hoult kept it cool and classy, pairing Prada with a white-gold Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin.
Angela Bassett: Glashütte Original
Angela Bassett wore a gorgeous Prabal Gurung-designed gown inspired by Laura Wheeler Waring’s Girl in a Pink Dress artwork currently on display at the Met. On the wrist, she opted for a dainty vintage Glashütte Original from the 1970s.
Morgan Spector: IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar
Morgan Spector went for a subtle shine, wearing an IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar with a white gold case and a Dune-colored dial.
Skepta: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin
Skepta shone bright on the carpet, wearing a yellow-gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin bedazzled with no less than 1,528 brilliant-cut yellow sapphires totalling over 10 carats.
Serena Williams: Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar
Serena Williams’s Audemars Piguet collection doesn’t miss. To complement her Grecian-inspired metallic dress by Marc Jacobs, she chose the new open-worked Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar, letting the watch make a statement.
Tyriq Withers: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds
Tyriq Withers debuted a brand-new Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso on the red carpet. The cocktail watch is crafted in white gold and adorned with emeralds. Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard wore the same, but with sapphires instead of emeralds.
Connor Storrie: Omega Constellation Observatory
Connor Storrie looked très chic, wearing Saint Laurent and a new Omega Constellation Observatory in Moonshine gold.
Anderson .Paak: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin
Rapper Anderson .Paak strapped on a striking Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Openworked with a white-gold case and bracelet and a contrasting grey openworked dial.
Maluma: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo
Maluma flexed the latest Bvlgari Octo Finissimo, which features a smaller 37 mm case in titanium, an opaline titanium dial, and a new ultra-thin automatic movement.
Russell Wilson: Jacob & Co. Astronomia Meteorite
Russell Wilson flexed an otherworldly Jacob & Co. Astronomia Meteorite with a miniature solar system at the centre.
Irina Shayk
Baring it all in just a black skirt, most of Irina Shayk’s custom Alexander Wang look is actually made of… watches. The model wore two watches cuffed on each arm, plus a watch as a choker—increasingly becoming a favourite red-carpet trend—but the real wow factor is in her sculptural bralette with watches used as straps and a halter. Wang noted, “She’s got time today.”
Paul Anthony Kelly: Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon
Paul Anthony Kelly gave a pop of colour, wearing a titanium Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon with a burgundy dial.
Justin Jefferson: Hublot Big Bang
NFL star Justin Jefferson strapped on a glitzy high-jewellery Hublot Big Bang crafted in luminous King Gold and covered with diamonds.
Colman Domingo: Omega Constellation
Lead image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty for The Met Museum/Vogue, Patek Philippe; Mike Coppola/Getty, Cartier
This story was originally published on Robb Report USA.
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