Watching Movies: Ryan Gosling Wears Three Different Vintage Heuer Carreras (At The Same Time) As Ken In ‘Barbie’
The weekend of “Barbenheimer” is coming to a close. We kicked things off with part one of our Watching Movies double feature: Oppenheimer, and now we present a special non–Friday edition of WM with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. It’s an absolute cultural phenomenon of a film that has filled cities and cinemas with moviegoers decked out in all pink everything. I’ll admit, when I saw the movie Friday night, I put on a watch that is as close to pink as possible, my MoonSwatch Mission to Pluto. You have to lean into the fun a little.
Barbie is a film we’ve known about for a while now, ever since the casting of Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken was announced back in early 2022. The movie is an exercise in incredible marketing (you can’t escape it anywhere you go) and stellar filmmaking as Gerwig and co-writer (and husband) Noah Baumbach have created something remarkable from a Mattel toy. And while we were ready for Barbie references galore in the film, we weren’t ready for the heavy-duty, solid-gold, vintage, wrist candy that Gosling would be flaunting on-screen.
Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in Barbie. Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
Why We’re Watching
At this point, the why has to be obvious. Both Barbie and Oppenheimer are racking up the big bucks at the box office this weekend proving that the theater-going experience is far from dead. And while I didn’t do the same-day “Barbenheimer” double feature, I saw each film on back-to-back days. At first blush, I thought they shared absolutely nothing in common. Essentially virtually incomparable. And then I realized that the filmmakers bizarrely made the same choice when it comes to the watches used. That’s right, both Gerwig and Christopher Nolan saw fit to outfit their main characters with three vintage watches. In the case of Oppenheimer, that meant three watches (vintage Hamiltons) worn, one at a time, in three distinct time periods.
Barbie (Robbie) and Ken (Gosling) in Barbie. Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
In the case of Gosling’s Ken in Barbie, it meant him, shirtless, in a fur coat, wearing three vintage Heuer chronographs…all at the same time. It’s an absolutely insane move, but it fits quite nicely into the overall vibe of the film. Barbie’s plot centers on Robbie’s Barbie facing an existential crisis which finds her and Gosling’s Ken traveling from Barbie Land to the real world to seek answers. Those answers wreak havoc on their home universe and – without spoiling too much – result in Ken seemingly manifesting three different gold Heuer Carreras from thin air and wearing them all at the same time.
So what are these watches you ask? First is a Heuer ref. 1158 CHN from 1971 on an 18k gold bracelet, then there’s the barrel-shaped ref. 110.515 from 1974 with a Côte de Genève dial, and a Carrera ref. 2448 NT on a leather strap to take things home.
In terms of horological significance, these watches are no slouches. The Heuer ref. 1158 is known to be the favorite watch of Jack Heuer himself and houses the brand’s first in-house automatic chronograph movement: the caliber 11. It has deep ties to Formula 1 in the 1970s remains a highly coveted model – especially in this gold on Milanese-style bracelet configuration.
An example of the Heuer ref. 1158, one of the three watches worn by Ryan Gosling in Barbie.
The ref. 110.515 is sort of the next step in the journey of Heuer chronographs. Its barrel-shaped case is very 1970s, and it utilizes the Heuer caliber 12, which represented an upgrade over the caliber 11 by providing a higher frequency of 21,600 VPH as opposed to the 19,800 VPH of the 11. The result was a watch that could provide a more precise measurement of timed events. And then there’s the dial finishing, with the Côte de Genève effect, something you almost only see done on the movements.
An example of the Heuer ref. ref. 110.515, here seen on a strap where Gosling wears his on a bracelet in Barbie.
The ref. 2448 is a 1960s relic that takes the known sporty Carrera design and upgrades it with a bit of a golden flourish. While not overtly stated, we’ve seen these watches in gold-plated examples, which this appears to be. The black dial, in a typical Carrera layout, works well against the gold-toned hands and markers.
A gold-plated Heuer ref. ref. 2448, similar to the watch Gosling wears as Ken in Barbie.
But, to be honest, Ken doesn’t care about any of that. He cares mostly about “beach” and horses (those who’ve seen the movie know what I’m talking about). It’s what makes the trio’s appearance – on both wrists – so surprising and ridiculous. As if there wasn’t enough insanity in this film, this feels like one more over-the-top Easter egg specifically intended for watch lovers. And you know what? We love it.
He wears the ref. 1158 and the ref. 2448 on his right wrist (1158 on top), and 110.515 on the left. I honestly am not sure if Ken sets the time on any of these, or maybe he intentionally has each set to a different timezone. This will likely remain a mystery. What I do know is that Gerwig, Gosling, and TAG Heuer (of which Gosling is a brand ambassador) took what could have been a lay-up product placement with modern TAG Heuers – especially the new pink Carrera date – and took things to another, and more thoughtful, level. And we love that too.
Ken in his fur coat and sunglasses (watches hidden out of frame) in Barbie. Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
When We’re Watching
In a pivotal moment in the second act of the film, Barbie (Robbie) travels back to Barbie Land from our world with a couple of new human friends in tow. Her plan is to show them how beautiful, and advanced, her world is only to find that Ken has altered things…considerably. Without spoiling, I’ll just say that he’s now living in her house and has radically redecorated (among a ton of other damage). He’s also taken fashion inspiration from Rocky Balboa and finds himself in a long fur coat. As the two argue over this new development, we can clearly see Ken’s wrists are now adorned with these three golden Heuer chronographs.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
Toward the end of the movie, we are greeted with a signature musical moment as Gosling belts out his ballad “Just Ken.” In a montage that finds him still wearing this furry outfit, we see him doing all manner of activities, including exercise (gotta maintain the six-pack, somehow). While singing, Ken begins to do a set of pull-ups…in the coat. As he hangs from the pull-up bar, his sleeves fall down, giving a slight view of the bracelets of each of the ’70s Carreras.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
Barbie (starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling) is directed by Greta Gerwig with props by Angela O’Neill and Steven Morris. It is now playing in theaters everywhere.
Shop this story
Hodinkee is an authorized dealer of TAG Heuer. You can see the entire collection here.
TAG Heuer is part of the LVMH group. Although LVMH Luxury Ventures is a minority investor in Hodinkee, we maintain complete editorial independence.
Hodinkee
