Takeshi Kitano — watch collection

About Takeshi Kitano’s watch collection

Takeshi Kitano is one of Japan's most celebrated and recognizable creative figures, working across film direction, acting, comedy, painting, and writing. Born in Tokyo in 1947, he first rose to prominence as one half of the comedy duo Two Beat before transitioning into dramatic acting and eventually directing. His films — including Sonatine, Hana-bi, and Zatoichi — have earned him a reputation as one of world cinema's most distinctive voices, winning him the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1997 for Hana-bi. Outside Japan, he is widely known for his role as the brutal teacher in Battle Royale (2000), a film that cemented his international profile.

The Takeshi Kitano watch collection, based on our sightings database, currently features one confirmed piece, but it is a significant one. At the Cannes Film Festival, Kitano was spotted wearing an 18K rose gold Jacob & Co Epic SF24 Tourbillon, factory set with 79 baguette-cut diamonds around the case and a further 25 baguette-cut diamonds set into the blue opaline dial. This is a limited production piece, with only 9 examples made, carrying a list price of approximately £351,250 ($360,000). Jacob & Co, the New York-born luxury watch brand founded by Jacob Arabo, is known for producing heavily gem-set and technically complex watches that attract collectors who want something beyond conventional Swiss watchmaking.

The choice of a Jacob & Co piece at Cannes is telling. Kitano operates across multiple artistic disciplines and has always maintained a persona that defies easy categorization — serious auteur one moment, provocateur the next. A nine-piece limited tourbillon covered in baguette diamonds fits that profile: it is technically rigorous but visually aggressive, a combination that mirrors the tension in much of his directorial work. For a filmmaker who rarely courts publicity on his own terms, the watch does quiet but considerable talking.