Thierry Lhermitte — watch collection

About Thierry Lhermitte’s watch collection

Thierry Lhermitte is one of France's most recognisable actors, best known as a founding member of the legendary comedy troupe Le Splendid, whose 1978 stage production of Le Père Noël est une ordure became a cultural institution after its 1982 film adaptation. Born in 1952, Lhermitte built a career across commercial hits and more nuanced dramatic roles alike, appearing in films such as Les Bronzés, Le Dîner de Cons, and the thriller Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne). Over five decades in French cinema, he has demonstrated a consistent ability to move between broad comedy and understated dramatic work, earning him a reputation as one of the industry's more versatile leading men.

The Thierry Lhermitte watch collection, as documented so far, points toward a man with a considered and unpretentious approach to horology. On the set of Michel Blanc's 2015 comedy Nos Femmes, Lhermitte was spotted wearing an IWC Big Pilot — almost certainly the reference IW500401. Powered by the in-house Calibre 51011, a manually wound movement with a seven-day power reserve, the IW500401 is a substantial watch in every sense: 46mm in diameter, built on the lineage of the WWII-era navigation watches that gave the Big Pilot its name. It is a functional, serious piece, not one chosen for decoration.

That choice tells you something. Lhermitte did not reach for a jewellery watch or a recognisable luxury logo. The Big Pilot rewards the wearer who understands what it is — a tool watch grown large, with genuine mechanical substance behind it. For a performer of his generation and standing, that preference for quiet authority over visible status feels entirely consistent with the low-key professionalism he has projected throughout his career.