Watch Paparazzi

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen spotted wearing Cartier

In the 2012 Columbia Pictures comedy The Dictator, costume designers made a deliberate and inspired choice when dressing Sacha Baron Cohen's Admiral-General Haffaz Aladeen: a solid 18k yellow gold Cartier Pasha reference 2726 on a brown leather strap. The watch appears in multiple scenes, functioning less as a background detail and more as a character prop that communicates the wearer's grandiosity at a glance.

The Cartier Pasha has one of the more romantic origin stories in Swiss watchmaking. The original 1985 design by Gerald Genta was created at the request of the Pasha of Marrakech, who reportedly wanted a waterproof watch he could wear swimming. That heritage — luxury commissioned by royalty — is baked into the DNA of every reference that followed. The reference 2726 houses Cartier's Calibre 8000MC, an in-house automatic movement delivering a 42-hour power reserve with a frequency of 28,800 vph. The case measures 42mm and, in this configuration, is executed entirely in 18k yellow gold, from the characteristic square-cabochon crown cap to the integrated crown-guard system that remains one of the Pasha's most recognisable design signatures.

Among collectors, the full yellow gold Pasha occupies a specific and respected niche. It avoids the subtlety increasingly favoured by the modern market and instead embraces bold, unambiguous luxury — a quality that has kept it relevant with a loyal following even as tastes have shifted toward sportier steel references. The Calibre 8000MC, introduced as part of Cartier's push toward manufacture movements in the 2000s, gave the Pasha credibility beyond its aesthetic appeal.

The casting of this particular reference in The Dictator is a studied piece of prop styling. A head-of-state character defined by vanity and excess required a watch that would read as extravagant without explanation. The solid gold Pasha delivers exactly that. Baron Cohen, known for meticulous character work, wore it convincingly — the watch does half the performance for him.

On today's grey market, the Cartier Pasha reference 2726 in yellow gold trades at approximately $12,000, a figure that reflects both the intrinsic value of the gold case and the model's enduring collector demand. It represents a genuine entry point into full precious-metal Cartier watchmaking.