Watch Paparazzi

Actor Aldis Hodge spotted wearing Greubel Forsey

At the 2017 Academy Awards, Aldis Hodge made headlines not just for his impeccable black-tie presentation but for the staggering timepiece anchored to his wrist: a Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon Technique Sapphire, one of only eight pieces ever made. On a red carpet where Rolex Daytonas and Patek Philippe Nautiluses constitute bold choices, this watch operates in an entirely different dimension of rarity and price.

The Double Tourbillon Technique is the horological statement piece of the Greubel Forsey catalogue. The movement incorporates two tourbillon cages — an inner cage rotating every 60 seconds inclined at 30°, and an outer cage completing a rotation every four minutes set at a counter-inclination — a system patented by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey specifically to counteract the effects of gravity in multiple positions simultaneously. In the standard Technique references, this mechanism is housed in a white or red gold case. In the Sapphire edition, the entire case — top, middle, and caseback — is machined from solid blocks of synthetic sapphire crystal, making the architecture fully transparent and exposing the 36-jewel, 575-part movement in its entirety. The black rubber strap with titanium deployant is the one concession to wearability on what is otherwise a sculpture.

Among serious collectors, the Double Tourbillon Technique Sapphire is discussed in the same breath as the MB&F LM Thunderdome Sapphire and the Richard Mille RM 56-02 as instruments that reframe what a watch case can be. With a production run of eight pieces globally, secondary market appearances are vanishingly rare, and when examples do surface they command prices well above the already extraordinary original retail.

Hodge's relationship with independent haute horology is well-documented. He has been photographed wearing references from several prestigious independent brands and has spoken in interviews about his genuine passion for mechanical watchmaking, not merely the status signalling that often drives celebrity watch choices. Choosing the Double Tourbillon Technique Sapphire for the Oscars — arguably the most photographed red carpet in the world — reflects a collector's confidence rather than a stylist's shortcut.

Retail pricing for the Sapphire edition was listed at approximately £885,000 in the UK market, placing it comfortably above $1,000,000 USD at contemporary exchange rates. With only eight examples in existence, grey-market valuations are speculative, but comparable ultra-limited Greubel Forsey pieces have traded between 1.2× and 1.8× retail in recent auction cycles. For a reference this scarce, the watch is effectively priceless in any practical sense.