
Celebrity culture and luxury watches have always been a natural mix, and “who wore what on the wrist” has been the topic of many watch articles and forums.
For example, there are your flashy and ultra-famous brand ambassadors, like Rolex’s Roger Federer and Omega’s Daniel Craig, who are easily recognized on the red carpet.
Then there is the more “under the radar”, singular actor, self-taught horologist, and polymath “watch guy” named Aldis Hodge.
Notable for his many screen roles in movies like Straight Outta Compton and Hidden Figures and TV series such as City on a Hill and Cross, Hodge caught watch design fever at age 19 while attending architecture school and is now well on his way to launching his own haute horology brand, A. Hodge Atelier.
Hodge’s first watch design was a sketch of a wooden wristwatch with a wooden cuff-style strap. Since then, he has immersed himself in watch culture and design by apprenticing, enlarging his network, reading the works of watchmaking legends, purchasing his own milling and guilloché machines, and learning French, while continuing to climb the “day job” acting ladder.
7 Watches Inspiring Aldis Hodge
Aldis Hodge has been spotted wearing many watches both onscreen and in public appearances that have helped inspire his own high-flying, horological visions. Here are 7 that will give you some insight into what might be in store when he launches his own brand.
1. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph (ref. 26420RO.OO.A002CA.01)
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nS7WoA-Q069TcwenAaygAmhs43QQQiuq/view?usp=sharing
As we’ll see, Aldis Hodge doesn’t naturally lean toward sports watches. But his Audemars Piguet (AP) Royal Oak Offshore chronograph, with its distinctive integrated case design and octagonal bezel with industrial threaded bolts, suits him well, especially since it was originally conceived by one of Hodge’s designer idols, legendary watchmaker and artist Gerald Genta.
This 43mm diameter, 14.4mm thick reference has an 18k pink gold case and black ceramic bezel, pushers, and screw-down crown. Both the handset and the applied indices are pink gold and lumed.
There are timing hours and minutes subdials at 3 and 6 o’clock, respectively, a date window at 4:30, and a tachymeter on the inner bezel. The black dial has a “Grand Tapisserie” (aka, “waffle”) pattern and is paired with a black rubber strap and an additional one in alligator leather.
Water resistance is a robust 100 meters. At $68,500 retail, it helps if you have a few films and shows under your belt like Hodge before waltzing into your nearest AD and asking for one.
2. Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30˚ Technique Sapphire
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ep6-qVL8Qbg2SVGstPVozG-jVBDVoHwb/view?usp=sharing
Aldis Hodge cites Greubel Forsey founders Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey as the mentors who have given him the most encouragement in his pursuit of creating his own independent atelier.
Hodge created a stir strolling the red carpet at the 2017 Oscars while sporting this stunning and highly complicated beauty, 1 of 8 in a USA-only limited edition, on his wrist. The watch was a 2016 refresh of the first watch the company produced in 2005 and retailed at the time for an eye-popping $1.1 million.
It features a 50mm diameter, clear sapphire openworked case which offers a 360 degree view of the intricate movement architecture.
The 30 degree inclined tourbillons technically increase accuracy, but their aesthetic effect, paired with the visual impact of the hand-finished subdials and inner workings, offer an “ooh, ahh” religious experience like that of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Are there any still out there, and how much would one cost now? I’m sure there are, but I’m afraid to ask.
3. Breguet Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7097 (ref. 7097BB/G1/9WU)
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wnruzwYBTFLLcuuZsOW_ei_QeQHBxzb9/view?usp=sharing
Iconic Swiss-French inventor and horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet is widely regarded as the “father of modern watchmaking”. No surprise, then, that Hoge turned to his legacy for knowledge and inspiration and wears the Tradition 7097.
This watch captures the spirit of Breguet’s early, intricate pocket watch designs and houses it in a 40mm diameter, 11.7mm thick 18k white gold case with an openworks design that showcases the finely-crafted angles and guillochéd facets of the dial and mechanism in all their glory.
The featured complication of the watch is its retrograde seconds hand that moves across an arc subdial and jumps back to its starting point rather than continuing a full revolution for each minute.
A high quality black alligator strap and white gold buckle complete this fine piece, and it retails for a “mere” $43,300, which, compared to our first two, is a real steal!
4. Arnold & Son Golden Wheel
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q8Vebjfwob1HWZEIxyJqHsJn6wUJ_QjC/view?usp=sharing
Among Aldis Hodge’s guides in his watch journey is Sébastian Chaulmontet who was head of movement design at Arnold & Son during his time with the company.
Hodge has been seen wearing the A&S Golden Wheel, a limited edition watch launched in 2016 for a retail price of $47,500, and features a 44mm diameter 18k red gold case, black semi-open case, and a brown alligator strap.
But what made this watch so special is its unique combination of two complications: the extraordinary and difficult to manufacture “wandering hours” that display the hours with rotating sapphire discs instead of hands; and “true beat seconds”, which unlike mechanical watches but very much like quartz ones, makes the seconds hand jump once every second.
Hodge’s admiration for this watch and Chaulmontet’s design language is probably a good indicator of the complex and layered dialect A. Hodge Atelier watches will speak once he launches the brand.
5. Fernando Ronzen Jumping Hour “Ghost”
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EStW2BJ8fN20LiQXz3KuRlzjJJz0qzjf/view?usp=sharing
At Dubai Watch Week in 2019, Aldis Hodge was spotted “double-wristing” a couple of very unique and stunning watches. On the left wrist was the F. Ronzen Jumping Hour “Ghost” designed by independent Canadian watchmaker Fernando Ronzen.
This is another limited edition piece that appeals to Hodge because of its highly complicated and mesmerizing blend of timekeeping and art. It has a 40mm stainless steel case with a Hesalite crystal and sapphire display caseback.
On the dial are discs for hours, minutes, and date, but instead of floating ones like A&S Golden Wheel, these turn, but with a “twist”. The minutes and date discs rotate conventionally, but the hours disc, per the name, “jumps” to the next Arabic numeral index at the top of the hour.
The movements are vintage ones from the 1970s used for jumping hours watches of that decade which have been rebuilt and modified by Ronzen. Finding the original retail price proved elusive. I mean, if you have to ask, then . . . well, you know.
6. Daniel Roth 8-Day Tourbillon
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FIHHMoiPPuDOy–y0SNdqJ3cuBeEozGr/view?usp=sharing
What was on Hodge’s right wrist?
The answer is the Daniel Roth 8-Day Tourbillon. Roth, another watchmaker whom Hodge admires, started his company in 1989 (the brand is now owned by Bulgari), and his artisanal watches are recognized for their distinctive fluted lugs and signature “double ellipse” shaped case, a cross between a cushion and barrel-shaped tonneau.
Hodge’s piece is 18k white gold and employs a tourbillon at the 6 o’clock position, along with a small seconds subdial that is 3 tiered arcs with progressively longer hands that rotate and correspond to the correct seconds.
It is powered by the DR 5300 movement which provides a ginormous 8-day (192 hours) power reserve with a single full wind. The upper half contains a traditional dial with Roman numeral indices embedded in a beautiful, silvered guilloché background. A DR 8-Day Tourbillon like Hodge’s will probably set you back $70-90K.
7. Aldis Hodge Black Adam Watch
Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BMDLwvLc8FFgL70cLjYD9y6g6lONeIC4/view?usp=sharing
Although as of this writing a release date for the first A. Hodge Altier brand watch has yet to be announced. But we get a sneak peek horological “trailer” of sorts in the form of a non-working prototype piece that Hodge designed and created for his character Carter Hall, aka “Hawkman”, to wear in the 2022 DC Comics Superhero movie Black Adam, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Since it is only a prototype, the piece is composed of basic contemporary materials such as brass, steel, and calfskin with no working movement.
But the real story is the design motif of the dial, which is based on images from The Egyptian Book of the Dead which Hodge felt perfect for Carter Hall who is depicted as either an Egyptian prince or a police officer from the planet Thanagar who has reincarnated as a combination of an archeologist and superhero!
If that confluence of roles and identities reminds you of the Renaissance man Hodge himself, then you’re reading it right.
The Black Adam watch design signals Hodge’s serious intentions and foreshadows Hodge’s future duality of both screen star and haute horology watchmaker extraordinaire with an established brand.
Hodge’s Next Steps
While we don’t yet know exactly what Hodge’s first working watch will look like, we can safely assume it will be very stylish and complicated, kindred in spirit with the ones listed above.
However, juggling his acting career and horology is taking time, and Hodge is dealing with the realities of finding suppliers, parts, watchmakers, and a support team that can help him bring his independent brand dream to fruition.
But for Hodge, and horologists, time is relative, and “getting it right” is more important than rushing a watch to market just to commercially satisfy the watch-consuming masses. In fact, selling tons of watches is the least of his concerns.
What matters most to Hodge is fulfilling his innate urge to create beautiful objects that will outlast him and continue a dialogue he started. After that, the “cherry on top” will come from watch aficionados recognizing his unique designer aesthetic from across the room and saying, “Look, that’s an A. Hodge.”