Ryan Gosling has got amazing range – from romantic comedies like Crazy, Stupid Love or serious biopics like First Man, the Canadian actor can do it all. But his role as the eponymous, enigmatic Driver in Drive remains his most iconic.
It’s also lowkey one of the best ‘watch films’ of the 21st century. The Driver’s luxury replica Patek Philippe watch plays a critical role in the film: the enigmatic criminal-for-hire strapping the watch to his car’s steering wheel on multiple occasions to time his ‘five-minute rule’ for getaway jobs:
What many people don’t know is that Gosling actually worked with the props department for the film to design the super clone watch – and that he is (or was) the only one in the world who actually owns one. In a response to a misinformed TikTok detailing Gosling’s watch collection, vintage watch dealer Tom Watts (@wattsonwatches) explains the backstory behind the iconic 1:1 fake Patek Philippe UK.
Essentially, Gosling worked with prop master Will Blount to design the watch, which superficially resembles a cheap replica Patek Philippe Calatrava – just much, much bigger. That is to say, it’s technically not a real Patek.
But as Watts explains, a real aaa quality fake Patek Philippe UK would have been totally impractical for the film anyway, with the number of fight scenes involved – it would just keep breaking, and cost the props department a fortune. Indeed, Blount made a number of prop Patek Philippe replica watches online for Gosling to wear during filming.
Of the half a dozen Patek Philippe replica for sale made for the film, Gosling apparently kept one for himself as a memento – it’s not clear what happened to all the others. One, however, popped up for sale online back in 2021.
However, all this effort begs the question: why didn’t Gosling use a chronograph? Surely if you’re looking to time things effectively, a chronograph would be a much more practical option. A top super clone TAG Heuer Carrera would be perfect for the job – as Gosling has found in his latest filmic exploit…
