Iris Knobloch — watch collection

About Iris Knobloch’s watch collection

Iris Knobloch is an American-French executive and cultural leader who has built a career at the intersection of media, law, and international business. She spent over two decades at WarnerMedia, rising to become President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, before later taking on broader European responsibilities. In 2022, she made history by becoming the first woman elected President of the Board of Directors of the Cannes Film Festival — one of the most prominent positions in the global film industry. Her background combines transatlantic corporate experience with deep ties to European cultural institutions, and she is widely regarded as a significant figure in both the entertainment and diplomatic worlds.

The Iris Knobloch watch collection, as tracked so far, points to a preference for understated, high-quality pieces that work in formal settings without drawing unnecessary attention. At the 2023 Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony, where she shared the stage with Harrison Ford to present the Palme d'Or, Knobloch was spotted wearing a Rolex Datejust 31 in 18k yellow gold. The reference is almost certainly the ref. 278248, the current-generation Datejust 31 that Rolex introduced in 2018 as part of a broader realignment of its mid-size lineup. At 31mm, the watch sits between Rolex's traditional ladies' and full-size men's references — a practical, considered choice that reads as professional rather than decorative.

With only one watch confirmed in our database so far, it is too early to draw broad conclusions about her collecting habits. What the Cannes sighting does suggest, however, is a preference for gold Rolex references that carry institutional weight — the Datejust has been a fixture in boardrooms and diplomatic circles for decades — while avoiding the more conspicuous sports references that dominate celebrity watch culture. It is the choice of someone who knows exactly what a watch communicates.