The Watch So Good Denzel Washington Took It Right Off A$AP Rocky’s Wrist
During a joint interview—a GQ Epic Conversation!—between Spike Lee, A$AP Rocky, and Denzel Washington, the latter couldn’t keep his mind or his hands off the rapper-slash-actor’s watch.
We’ve seen Rocky wear plenty of great timepieces over the years. We saw him at Cannes with a 2,000-year-old Bulgari coin watch, spotted him at the Met Gala in a record-breaking Octo Finissimo Ultra, clocked him as he boarded the tiny watch train with a vintage Piaget Polo ref. 7131, and were in awe of his great taste when he wore a vintage Patek Philippe Nautilus. However, nothing else could have anointed Rocky as a peerless collector like legendary actor Denzel Washington ripping a watch directly off his Highest 2 Lowest costar’s wrist.
While Rocky is tilted towards Lee to discuss a specific shot in the new movie, Washington leans over and starts fiddling with the watch. “Keep talking,” Denzel says while prying the watch away. “Yo, I’m getting robbed by Denzel!” Rocky shouts. With a watch this nice, Lee already knows how this ends.“You know that watch is gone, right?” the director says to Rocky. Rocky, resigned to his fate, adds, “It looks better on you anyways, OG.” Despite Lee shouting that he hopes the piece doesn’t fit, Washington finally gets the watch situated, holds it up to the camera, and winks. That’s A-lister stuff right there.
So what is the watch so nice that Washington couldn’t resist it mid-interview? Rocky wore—emphasis on the past-tense—the 41-mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Self-Winding in 18K pink gold with a black dial. (It might be the blue dial disguised by the lighting.) The RO Self-Winding is nearly as classic an example of Genta’s luxury sports watch as one can buy. Rocky, er, Washington’s watch features a Grande Tapisserie dial in the “Bleu Nuit” shade of the original ref. 5402ST. The octagonal bezel with eight screws and integrated bracelet with folding clasp are of course present and accounted for, as are the applied, luminous indices pink gold, matching baton handset, and date window at 3 o’clock. Powering this execution is the Audemars Piguet cal. 4302 automatic movement with a 4-Hz beat rate and a 70-hour power reserve. It’s the type of Royal Oak, frankly, that any collector would be happy to own. (And that Denzel Washington would be happy to steal off a wrist.)
This isn’t Rocky’s first Royal Oak rodeo, either. He’s been seen in an Offshore Chronograph ref. 26238BA made in collaboration with Alyx as well as a classic, two-tone ref. 5402SA ‘Jumbo.’ In heavy rotation on the wrists of fellow musicians John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, and Mark Ronson, AP has become a favorite pick of guitarists, singer-songwriters, rappers, and other creatives ever since the tenure of former CEO François-Henri Bennahmias.
In the Epic Conversation, Lee is allowed to finish his description of his signature double-dolly shot before Rocky comes back to the fate of his watch. “He really robbed me of my motherfucking watch,” Rocky says. Washington protests: “No I didn’t, man, you gave it to me. We got witnesses. This is all on film.” You can watch the full exchange, starting around 7:40 above.
