Austin Butler is officially set to play Patrick Batman in the anticipated remake of 2000’s American Psycho. While the 1980s setting of the original film saw Christian Bale rocking an imitation Rolex Datejust—it was actually a Seiko 5, as Rolex, understandably, didn’t care to associate with a murdering psychopath—we’ve yet to see what kind of horological goods the prop master will strap to Butler’s wrist in the upcoming Luca Guadagnino version. Regardless, not long after the announcement, Butler did wear an awesome travel watch, the Breitling Chronomat GMT 40.
Spotted on his wrist at the SF Film Awards, the Chronomat GMT 40 is perhaps not the first watch that comes to mind when one conjures up images of American Psychos or the Saint-Imier-based brand. Breitling is famous for its Navitimer pilot’s watch and Emergency tool watch—which comes with a beacon that will alert search and rescue teams to your location—the company has long produced timepieces for aviation workers. But the Chronomat GMT 40, with its tubular-link bracelet, rider tab bezel, heavy onion crown, and stark black dial with GMT indicator, is precisely the type of hard-wearing, good-looking watch that a pilot or an explorer might wear, albeit perhaps in slightly fancier form.
Miikka Skaffari/Courtesy of Breitling
Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 with black dial_Ref. A32398101B1A1_RGBCourtesy of Breitling
The Chronomat line has been around for quite a while. The product family, launched during the World War II, includes all sorts of cool chronographs, some of which were cased in gold. Later, in the late 1960s, the collection expanded into references such as the 1808, an automatic, oversized dual-register chrono with a multi-scale dial, date window, and left-hand crown. The contemporary versions, which resemble Gérald Genta’s most famous designs, are merely the latest in a long line of cool experimental tool watches that each borrow a bit from the design language of the era in which they debuted. If you’re a globe-trotting film star who needs to walk a red carpet on a Monday and be on set Tuesday morning, you might indeed choose something like the Chronomat GMT 40, which includes both a GMT movement as well as a dive bezel to time discrete events.
Of course, this is far from Butler’s first horological rodeo: In August, he wore a Chronomat with a cool “panda” dial while passing through JFK; before that, he’s been spotted with beautiful Cartier Tanks, and even a two-tone Rolex Datejust. And while the utilitarian Chronomat GMT 40 is a pretty far cry from a solid-gold Tank Louis Cartier, one can’t very well fight Atreides—as his character did valiantly in Dune: Part Two—in a dainty, hand-wound dress watch, right? Butler, for his part, wears both types of watches well.