I’ve been a Star Wars fan my entire life. When the babysitter canceled last minute, my parents took their toddler (me) to see Return of the Jedi. Star Wars is partially responsible for my watch collecting. It started with a Star Wars collaboration on Nixon’s Time Teller models featuring the designs traits from the iconic droid R2-D2. It even had “Beep Boop” on the caseback.
What turned into a fun everyday watch piqued my curiosity, and one watch turned into a second. The second watch was a black Nixon Time Teller featuring The Death Star. This was the pre-Disney Star Wars era. The Nixon design team really nailed the details with the passion of true fandom. During the Disney-er of Star Wars, the watch licensing being came oversaturated, and something was lost. Disney was licensing Star Wars collaborations to watch brands like Nixon, Citizen, Oris, Invicta, and a plethora of others you and I have never heard of.
What we got was a mess. Unintelligible use of the Star Wars design language. Standard-fare intellectual property branding. It wasn’t fun or imaginative anymore. Immersion into the culture became more difficult. Boba Fett would not wear a “Bob Fett” watch anymore than Bruce Springsteen would wear a Bruce Springsteen tee shirt. But what would Star Wars characters actually wear, were they to wear watches?
As a life-long Star Wars nerd, I began to imagine what real-world watches some of the tertiary characters – those musicians in that intergalactic honkey-tonk bar, the assassins working for Vader – would wear. We’re talking deep nerdery.
And so: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Seventh Sister – Chanel J12 Black Ceramic
Memorable Line: “There are many hunting you now, all intent on killing you and your Master. Does that frighten you?
Seventh Sister is an Inquisitor, a hired Jedi hunter working for Darth Vader. She hunts surviving Jedi and high-profile rebels for the Galactic empire. They were not true Siths, but each Inquisitor could wield the dark side of the force. Their numbers would designate the hierarchy of the Inquisitors, such as Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister. The Grand Inquisitor reports directly to Darth Vader. Seventh Sister is ruthless, out to kidnap force-sensitive children before they mature into real threats against Emperor Palpatine’s power over the Galactic Empire.
The Seventh Sister is a female Mirialan who was as confident with her mouth as she was with her double-bladed red lightsaber. She possesses a distinct feminine swagger. The Seventh sister is also technical and uses small droids to assist in her misadventures.
The Seventh Sister Watch has to be the Chanel J12 Caliber 12.1 38mm in black ceramic. The J12’s shiny black ceramic with clean lines complements the Seventh Sister’s sleek Imperial armor. Even the design of Chanel’s rotor compliments the circular hilt of her lightsaber. The Chanel J12’s clean, monochromatic, and badass design is the perfect watch for the beautiful terror of the Seventh Sister.
Wedge Antilles – Rolex GMT Master II Ref# 16750 (Black Bezel)
Memorable Line: “Good shot Janson!”
Wedge Antilles was one of the few pilots to have fought and survived the battles of Yavin, Hoth, and Endor. He’s the “Top Gun” of the Rebel Alliance. Wedge is a hotshot with superior skills in the cockpit of a rebel X-Wing Fighter, but also a leader and a team player. He’s a human from Corellia, one of the more prominent and wealthy planets in the Star Wars universe.
There’s a pretty good chance that Wedge has a Rolex GMT Master II that he picked up at a Rebel Alliance PX Store while on base. He may have tossed the box and papers down a trash compactor, however… The watch will eventually be sold by his descendants, likely at Hodinkee’s new Coruscant brick-n-mortar Retro Earth store, but it will include all the military provenance to fetch more credits at a Naboo auction when the buyer flips it.
The five-digit Rolex GMT Master II with an all-black aluminum insert is less flashy than it’s bi-colored contemporaries. Wedge doesn’t care because it’s all about function – even if the time-zone bezel doesn’t quite calculate hyperspace jumps. The Rolex GMT Master’s 100m of water resistance holds up while healing in a bacta tank, however. The Rolex GMT Master II is the Wedge Watch – all day.
General Veers – A. Lange & Shöne – Datograph Up/Down in Platinum
Memorable Line: “My lord, I’ve reached the main power generators. The shield will be down in moments, you may start your landing.”
Darth Vader was raging. After some critical losses, Vader just was ready to bombard a Hoth. Vader whipped around, point-blank, and barked commands right into General Veers face. General Veers stood his ground and didn’t even blink. I would have soiled myself. Clean cut, neat, and top-brass of the Imperial Navy’s leadership, General Veers was a brilliant tactician under the guise of a gentleman.
In a dictatorship disguised as an Empire, ruthless military leaders are very well compensated. I’m sure that General Veers could turn valuables donated to the Empire by “the finest families in all of Scarif” into enough credits into a watch worthy of his rank.
Without a doubt, General Veers would wear the A. Lange & Shöne Datograph Up/Down in Platinum. It would go great with the drab Imperial Officer’s uniform and he could flash the A. Lange & Shöne to flex whenever a junior officer dared to question Veers’ command. The Lange Datograph would also pair well with an aged beverage on the rocks while listening to a Mon Calamari opera. Even flag officers need to relax in their private quarters once in a while. It’s easy to picture him wearing a Lange on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer, Executor.
Hera Syndulla – Seiko SKX013
Memorable Line: “If all you do is fight for your own life, then your life is worth nothing.”
It is hard not to like Hera. She’s brave, tough, and humble. Hera was a key part of the early resistance to the Galactic Empire. Hera defied the stereotypes of her Twi’lek femininity. She was a crack pilot and performed her own maintenance on her ship, The Ghost. On any given day, Hera might be leading a mission to rescue a fellow rebellion operative or trying to jump to hyperspace before being jumped by a squadron of TIE fighters.
The watch would be an afterthought for Hera. Nothing fancy, preferably inexpensive. Hera would pick a Seiko SKX013. It not oversized and it’s understated. It just needs to work and the function comes before the form. Great lume treatment is handy when sneaking around an Imperial installation. The timing bezel can be used for coordinating her with her team.
Hera would most likely ditch the bracelet for something more like a rubber strap an Erika’s Originals MN military style woven elastic strap. Hera would eventually give it to someone else that needed it more with little thought. She holds sentiments to ideas not objects. The Seiko SKX013 is the Hera Watch.
Max Rebo – Oris Drivers 65 Cotton Candy (or: Blue Milk)
Memorable Line: “None, Max stays behind the keys.”
A gig is a gig in the music business. As long as it pays! Max Rebo frequently booked the Max Rebo Band for a handsome price at Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine. Max would immediately be drawn to the Oris Divers Sixty-Fice Cotton Candy. Everyone is a sucker for matching. We might call the blue version of the bronze Divers Sixty-Five “Cotton Candy on Earth. But in the Star Wars universe, “blue milk” is a thing. Still, the hue complements Max’s blue skin tone rather well.
Max was a working musician and would have loved to have enhanced his stage presence with a gold Rolex Day-Date, he just hadn’t reached that point in his career yet. The golden-colored bronze case and bracelet gave have him that desired “look” at a more reasonable price. A 38mm case was no problem for Max. 30mm or 60mm made no difference on his gigantic wrists. He was even able to source extra links from Oris directly. (He needed twelve… for each side.)
Unfortunately, Max was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Max Rebo was blown to smithereens on Jabba’s sail barge at the Great Pit of Carkcoon. If there is a lesson to be learned in Star Wars, it’s never to get on the wrong end of a Jedi trying to rescue his friend. It’s hard to speculate what became of Max’s Oris Divers-Sixty Five. If I had to guess, it would have been found and salvaged by Jawa’s after the battle. Maybe one of the Jawas is still wearing the watch around his neck today as a trophy. Utinni!
Jabba The Hutt – Panerai Submersible Bronzo 47mm
Memorable Line: “I will not give up my favorite decoration.”
This fat, mean, slimy, disgusting misogynist pig chose the Panerai Bronzo because he needs the following: slime-proofness, a case that won’t outshine his own sweaty mess of a complexion, a timing bezel to see if his slaves are dawdling during his hourly meal prep, and, of course, the prestige of owning an off-beat diver from the wrong side of WWII. Hey, at least someone can enjoy that odd brand provenance sans varnish. Jabba asked Panerai if they’d make a 69mm version, and they considered doing it until someone pointed out the joke. Jabba had to settle for the 47mm version.
First Order Praetorian Guards – CASIO 35th Anniversary G-SHOCK GA-735C-4AJR Redout (Discontinued Rare JDM!)
The Elite Praetorian Guard serve as bodyguards for Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a real jerk. The Casio G-Shock is all he’d spring for, as these folks guard him and his vast collection of Patek Philippes. Boss has gotta flex, right? But the G-Shocks were limited edition JDM models, so everyone felt special enough, and they’re tough as nails for all that lightsaber blocking they’ll do to make sure the Pateks are safe.
