In Conversation With Clive Owen: On The Iconic Reverso, His Style Icon, And His Love Of Theater

Nothing could be crueler than asking a claustrophobic person to spend the first day of the SIHH inside the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth. As the Swiss brand prepares to spend the next twelve months celebrating the return of the iconic Reverso, thousands of collectors rushed into the Palexpo of Geneva to catch a glimpse of the new commemorative collection. Among, one famous face stood out. The always handsome and impeccably dressed Clive Owen sat down with Arthur Touchot to give his reaction to the 2016 collection and share some tips on style.

All of this is a bit mad, isn’t it?

(Laughs) For you guys, yeah.

Have you been here (at SIHH) before?

Yes, a few years ago. It’s always a lot of fun.

How did you become close to Jaeger-Lecoultre?

The coming together of Jaeger-LeCoultre and me was a very organic one. I was a fan of their Amvox range, their sporty range, and I was wearing the Amvox 3 Tourbillon GMT quite often when I was approached. I was a fan of the brand, so it was very easy to become a friend of the brand.

What do you think of the new collection?

I just love the fact the new Reverso watches are so faithful to the original 1931 model. It’s been special to see it constantly evolve, but still retain something totally classic. It’s an icon.

How do you choose your watches?

I tend to choose a watch depending on what I’m wearing. In the evening I’ll wear something different than what I’ve been wearing during the day. The watch represents who you are, so you have to be comfortable with what you are wearing.

Did you have a style icon growing up?

When I was a teenager, I was really just crazy about David Bowie. He was my style icon. And then as I got into making films, I struck up a relationship with Giorgio Armani that I’ve had for a very long time. But I’ve always been comfortable being classic really. I’m not one to follow fashion. I love classic elegance, and I always have.

Which role that you’ve played would make a fitting Jaeger-Lecoultre ambassador?

Ernest Hemingway (from Hemingway & Gellhorn, 2012 ). He’s a literary classic and an icon, two words that come to mind when thinking about JLC.

If you had to choose three films to explain who you are as an actor, which would they be?

That’s hard. I would probably pick the three that are most important to me in terms of my career. Off the top of my head, I would go: Croupier, Closer and Children Of Men. The first opened things up for me; the second I was very close to the material before we started filming because I had done the original play, and the third was an important film to make. Alfonzo Cuaron is a genius director, and the themes of that film seem to be as important now as they were when we made it.

Speaking of plays, you were recently in Harold Pinter’s Old Times. How did it feel being back on stage after such a long time?

I had a great time. It was very scary. It was my first play in fourteen years. But I had a great time, and it won’t be that long again before I do another one…

Clive Owen stars in The Confirmation, available in US theaters from March 18, 2016…/strong>