Great watch wearers: Michael Caine

They have a word for jewellery in south London: ‘tom’ – short for ‘tomfoolery’. And wearing ‘tom’ has always been a thing among working-class Londoners, a sign that you’ve done alright for yourself. Slip-on Gucci loafers. Sovereign rings. Belcher chains with your name on them. So it should come as no surprise that one of its most famous sons, Michael Caine, is fond of a bit of tom himself. Especially watches.

Born in St Olave’s Hospital, Bermondsey, in 1933, Caine – real name Maurice Mickelwhite – grew up in Elephant & Castle, a couple of miles east from the home of that other south London film star, Roger Moore. Caine, who’d trained as an actor before National Service, started his performing career at a small theatre in Horsham, Sussex, in 1953.

Over the next decade, he appeared in various productions before moving into TV and film. But it was Zulu – playing upper-class twit Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead – then The Ipcress FIle (1965) and Alifie (1966) that catapulted him to stardom.

From the mid-’60s, Caine’s publicity shots featured a selection of watches – adding that touch of flash to his pared- down mod aesthetic. His first notable timepiece was the Accurist Shockmaster, an affordable but classic dress watch with a 21-jewel hand-wound movement.

By Alife, his watch was matching his stature: in the promotional posters, he wears the IWC Ingenieur (ref. 666 AD), which boasted an automatic 8531 calibre, complete with a magnetic-resistant shield. It was held on the wrist with a distinctive ‘beads-of-rice’ Gay Frères bracelet.

But his watch-wearing reached its apex in 1968 with the addition of a yellow-gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date’ President’. Appearing regularly over the next decade, Caine wore it on both the iconic ‘President’ bracelet and a leather strap – the latter most notably in 1971’s ‘Geordie western’, Get Carter.

Caine’s 36mm President had a textured ‘linen’ dial, a fluted gold bezel and case crafted from 18-carat gold. The watch of choice for actual presidents (Lyndon B. Johnson was the first), CEOs, and assorted international egoists, it was the power watch of the 1970s.

And while Caine wore other timepieces, including a Rolex Oysterquartz and an Omega Speedmaster 300 for The Italian Job, he’ll always be associated with the gold Rolex Day-Date – a watch that encapsulates his confidence, acting ability and timeless style. And maybe that 45 unmistakable blond hair of his.