Actor Hugh Laurie spotted wearing a IWC

When the BBC and AMC co-produced The Night Manager in 2016, the costume and prop departments made a deliberate, character-defining choice: put a solid 18k rose gold IWC Spitfire Chronograph on the wrist of the villain. Hugh Laurie's Richard 'Dicky' Onslow Roper is a man of immense, effortless wealth, and the IW387803 — paired with a warm brown leather strap — signals exactly that without a word of dialogue.

The IWC Spitfire Chronograph IW387803 is built around IWC's Calibre 89365, an automatic movement beating at 28,800 vph with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and a power reserve of approximately 68 hours. The case measures 43mm in diameter and is rendered entirely in 18k rose gold — a rare and costly material choice for a line historically associated with pilots' utility and durability. The dial is a warm antique brown, echoing the instrument panels of vintage British Spitfire aircraft, the inspiration behind the entire Spitfire sub-collection IWC launched in the early 2000s as an homage to RAF aviation heritage.

Within IWC's collector ecosystem, the rose gold iteration of the Spitfire Chronograph occupies a specific niche: it is the dressier, more indulgent expression of a catalogue typically dominated by stainless steel and titanium. The ref. IW387803 was not produced in large numbers, and its combination of a flyback-adjacent column-wheel movement with a precious metal case makes it a legitimate dual-category piece — pilot watch and luxury chronograph simultaneously. Collectors who appreciate patina-toned dials and warm-metal cases have steadily warmed to it.

Hugh Laurie, internationally recognized for his role as Dr. Gregory House, demonstrated strong horological instincts through his character's watch choice. Roper is written as a man who understands that true power dresses quietly. A rose gold IWC communicates wealth to those who know, while remaining unrecognizable to those who don't — precisely the kind of layered detail that elevates prestige television costuming.

At retail, the IWC Spitfire Chronograph IW387803 carried a list price consistent with IWC's precious metal chronograph tier. On today's grey market, examples trade in the region of $21,000, reflecting both the intrinsic gold value and the model's increasingly recognized screen provenance.