Will Smith Skipped Over Rolexes and Royal Oaks to Wear This Underrated Vintage Watch
WatchesFor the Grammys red carpet, the actor worked with dealer Eric Wind to source a serious watch-geek favorite: the Universal Genève Polerouter.By Cam WolfFebruary 3, 2025Photographs: Getty Images, Eric Wind; Collage: Gabe ConteSave this storySaveSave this storySaveMost award shows are teeming with handsomely paid brand ambassadors showing off the latest shiny toys coming out of Geneva. But for last night’s Grammy Awards red carpet, no less of a star than Will Smith decided to buck the trend and strap on a real-deal vintage timepiece. The Fresh Prince enlisted Wind Vintage’s Eric Wind—one of the best dealers in the business—to lend him a collector-beloved watch that rarely gets that level of limelight: a Universal Genève Polerouter.Wind connected with the actor-slash-musician (and not the other way around) through Smith’s stylist Ian Martin, whom Wind has worked with for other events. Naturally, Smith, who once wrote a paean for Miami, was enthusiastic about working with the Florida-based Wind. The dealer didn’t disappoint. The pair met up in Los Angeles on the day of the event and the dealer laid out 17 potential watches for Smith to choose from.Courtesy of Eric WindThe assortment included plenty of classics—the types of watches you’d expect to see at a major award show. Most of these were vintage Rolex models, according to Wind. An image posted on Instagram by Irma Peñuñuri, a member of Smith’s PR team, shows an Explorer II, Submariner, and Day-Date sitting alongside an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on the table. There were also a few quirkier Wind favorites like a Heuer Seafarer, Enicar Sherpa, and Vulcain Cricket.No matter the brand, the watch Smith chose was always going to be slightly more lowkey. Because of the silver thread in the Men in Black star’s Balmain jacket, Wind focused mainly on pieces in stainless steel, white gold, and platinum (as opposed to yellow or rose gold) The dealer also brought options with black straps—and even the Polerouter could have been outfitted with one—but Smith preferred to keep it on the bracelet. “I wasn’t sure which watch Will would pick,” Wind said over text Sunday night, “but it was awesome to see him pick such an iconic design and great example!”The specific watch Smith chose is a Universal Genève Polerouter reference S 20217-5, double-stamped with the name of its original retailer: Joyeria Milos from Havana, Cuba. The Polerouter is one of the most famous and recognizable models from Universal Genève, which is set to relaunch next year after 35 years of dormancy. This particular reference is one of the earlier Polerouter examples.Over the past few years, I’ve watched timepieces become an increasingly important piece of a celebrity’s red-carpet arsenal. What started with an invasion of sporty stainless steel pieces eventually gave way to sleeves hemmed specifically for wrist shots. However, the presence of a vintage watch from a brand that hasn’t been operational in over three decades on a megastar’s wrist feels like another level entirely. The Polerouter isn’t a watch made to impress the masses; only the few, the brave, the watch freaks like myself will even care. As Tobias Fünke once said, there are dozens of us—but as Smith’s choice of red carpet shows, we are growing exponentially.
Most award shows are teeming with handsomely paid brand ambassadors showing off the latest shiny toys coming out of Geneva. But for last night’s Grammy Awards red carpet, no less of a star than Will Smith decided to buck the trend and strap on a real-deal vintage timepiece. The Fresh Prince enlisted Wind Vintage’s Eric Wind—one of the best dealers in the business—to lend him a collector-beloved watch that rarely gets that level of limelight: a Universal Genève Polerouter.
Wind connected with the actor-slash-musician (and not the other way around) through Smith’s stylist Ian Martin, whom Wind has worked with for other events. Naturally, Smith, who once wrote a paean for Miami, was enthusiastic about working with the Florida-based Wind. The dealer didn’t disappoint. The pair met up in Los Angeles on the day of the event and the dealer laid out 17 potential watches for Smith to choose from.
The assortment included plenty of classics—the types of watches you’d expect to see at a major award show. Most of these were vintage Rolex models, according to Wind. An image posted on Instagram by Irma Peñuñuri, a member of Smith’s PR team, shows an Explorer II, Submariner, and Day-Date sitting alongside an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on the table. There were also a few quirkier Wind favorites like a Heuer Seafarer, Enicar Sherpa, and Vulcain Cricket.
No matter the brand, the watch Smith chose was always going to be slightly more lowkey. Because of the silver thread in the Men in Black star’s Balmain jacket, Wind focused mainly on pieces in stainless steel, white gold, and platinum (as opposed to yellow or rose gold) The dealer also brought options with black straps—and even the Polerouter could have been outfitted with one—but Smith preferred to keep it on the bracelet. “I wasn’t sure which watch Will would pick,” Wind said over text Sunday night, “but it was awesome to see him pick such an iconic design and great example!”
The specific watch Smith chose is a Universal Genève Polerouter reference S 20217-5, double-stamped with the name of its original retailer: Joyeria Milos from Havana, Cuba. The Polerouter is one of the most famous and recognizable models from Universal Genève, which is set to relaunch next year after 35 years of dormancy. This particular reference is one of the earlier Polerouter examples.
Over the past few years, I’ve watched timepieces become an increasingly important piece of a celebrity’s red-carpet arsenal. What started with an invasion of sporty stainless steel pieces eventually gave way to sleeves hemmed specifically for wrist shots. However, the presence of a vintage watch from a brand that hasn’t been operational in over three decades on a megastar’s wrist feels like another level entirely. The Polerouter isn’t a watch made to impress the masses; only the few, the brave, the watch freaks like myself will even care. As Tobias Fünke once said, there are dozens of us—but as Smith’s choice of red carpet shows, we are growing exponentially.
