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Which one of Ken’s Tag Heuer watches would Ryan Gosling wear on Oscar night?
It’s not like he didn’t have options.
As previously discussed, the enthusiastic watch brand ambassador deployed full Kenergy during the biggest movie of 2023, to wear three grail-worthy Tag Heuers on screen – all on the same wrist, at the same time.
The rare vintage models included an 18k 1971 model with the reference 1158 CHN – 'CH' for its champagne dials, 'N' for its noir subdials – one of the most celebrated of all old Carreras, thanks to then-boss Jack Heuer’s idea of presenting the gold-on-gold model to winning Formula One Ferrari celebrities of the day, including Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti and Gilles Villeneuve.
There was also a Carrera reference 110.515 from 1974, a gold-plated steel model with a barrel-shaped case and sunbust dial, complete with era-appropriate wave-like ‘Geneva stripes’ – or Côtes de Genėva.
Rounding out the trio Ken also sported a 2448 NT Carrera, arguably the most understated of the three – a relative term – another gold-plated number, this time with a solid black face and presented on a black leather strap, inspired by a 1963 model.
Gosling also wore several contemporary Tag Heuers IRL while on promotional duties for Barbie – most notably one of 2023’s new Carrera Date models with a Barbie-pink dial.
But last night he threw a curveball.
A brand insider had suggested to Esquire that the actor would perform 'I'm Just Ken' wearing the 1158 CHN, featuring his own additional custom request, 'a gold Milanese bracelet, a one-of-a-kind piece tailor-made for Ryan Gosling'.
Not so.
Instead, Gosling was decked out with Tag Heuer’s Carrera Plasma Diamant D’Avant Garde timepiece, featuring a white gold case and set with 2.9-carats of lab-grown diamonds.
Tag Heuer’s parent company LVMH has invested big into lab-grown technology – via a $90m investment round, alongside other investors, in the Israeli-based company Lusix.
The company says this development is in keeping with the envelope-pushing implicit in its name – ‘Tag’ is an acronym of ‘Techniques d’Avant Garde’ – and the range is increasingly being given a healthy publicity push.
The lab-grown tech was unveiled in 2022.
The brand then presented a Tag Carrera Date 36mm Plasma Diamant D’Avant Garde watch the following year, featuring pink diamonds.
A new version of that watch was unveiled in January, complete with yellow diamonds – the second coloured diamond created by the watchmaker.
Gosling's watch featured a 36mm case is white gold, with a winding crown cut from a single 1.3-carat, yellow lab-grown Barbie-pink diamond. The dial was created by growing a large number of diamond crystals as one piece, resulting in a glitterball of reflected light. There’s also another large lab-grown pink diamond on the dial, set into the company's shield logo. Another 12 baguette-cut lab-grown diamonds serve as hour markers.
The watch also ticks a box for 2024’s most keenly emerging watch trend – away from steel sports watches and towards more flamboyant, glitzy and jewellery-adjacent pieces.
For the sleekly-dressed Gosling – first in all-black, then performing ‘I’m Just Ken’ in rhinestone-enhanced Barbie pink – it was the perfect match.
An apt curtain call for his Barbie duties, dispatched with maximum Kenergy.
