Pierpaolo Piccioli — watch collection

About Pierpaolo Piccioli’s watch collection

Pierpaolo Piccioli is an Italian fashion designer best known for his two-decade tenure at Valentino, where he served as Creative Director and reshaped the Roman house into one of the most critically discussed names in luxury fashion. Born in Rome, Piccioli studied at the Istituto Europeo di Design and began his career alongside Maria Grazia Chiuri, with the pair jointly leading Valentino's creative vision from 2008. After Chiuri's departure to Dior in 2016, Piccioli assumed sole creative directorship, a role he held until his exit from the house in March 2024. During that period he won the LVMH Prize equivalent of critical recognition, taking the International Fashion Designer of the Year award at the British Fashion Awards in 2017 and 2018. His work at Valentino was defined by a pursuit of color, volume, and a particular kind of romantic realism that earned him a loyal following among collectors, editors, and cultural figures globally.

The Pierpaolo Piccioli watch collection, as documented through public sightings, reflects a preference for serious horological hardware rather than fashion-adjacent novelties. Piccioli has been spotted wearing the Rolex Submariner Date reference 116610LV, the model collectors call the 'Hulk' for its deep green dial and matching green Cerachrom bezel insert. Introduced at Baselworld 2010, the 116610LV ran until 2020 when Rolex replaced it with the updated 126610LV, making the older reference a sought-after piece among Rolex buyers. The choice of a Submariner Date, and specifically the green variant, suggests familiarity with the secondary market dynamics of Rolex's professional dive line rather than a casual relationship with the brand.

For a designer whose entire professional output centered on considered aesthetic choices, the Hulk is a coherent selection. The 116610LV occupies an interesting position in the Rolex catalog: it is immediately legible to anyone with passing knowledge of watches, yet specific enough to signal genuine enthusiasm. Piccioli's sighting with this reference places him alongside a broader pattern of fashion creatives who gravitate toward Rolex's sports references over its dress lineup.