The Accessory Every Fashion Person Wants? See: Chloë Sevigny's Wrist
There are very few items that the majority of fashion people can agree on. No one's saying no to an Hermès Kelly if they can get their hands on one for a good price. Tom Ford's white lace minidress for Gucci (worn by Kate Moss in his spring 1996 show and later by Sabrina Carpenter at the MTV VMAs after-party in 2024) is equally beloved by all. Chanel's classic Flap Bag, Dior's Bar Jacket, and The Row's Margaux tote follow suit. When it comes to watches, one specific timepiece comes to mind: a yellow-gold Rolex. And while there are plenty of style icons who have one, none is as influential as Chloë Sevigny, who's been wearing her vintage Oyster Perpetual from the 1970s for over a decade.
Most recently, the Monsters star was seen walking through Midtown Manhattan near Penn Station with her husband, Siniša Mačković, her Rolex sitting slightly loose on her wrist. With it, she wore a navy-and-white J.Crew The New Yorker rugby shirt, Prada paper-bag shorts, and knee-high Margiela boots. She finished off the easy, summer-ready ensemble with a brown suede Phoebe Philo shoulder bag attached to another NYC ode, a New York Knicks cap.
On Chloë Sevigny: The New Yorker x J.Crew Limited-Edition Mariner Cotton Relaxed Rugby T-Shirt ($98); Prada Light Mohair Shorts ($1450); Rolex watch; Maison Margiela boots; Phoebe Philo Small Gig Bag ($2700)
"It's a 34mm, which in the '70s or before that, would be a normal size for a man to wear," Brynn Wallner, journalist and founder of Dimepiece, a platform dedicated to women and watches, tells Who What Wear about Sevigny's watch. Today, Wallner says, the scale for men has increased, while women are more often than not choosing smaller watch styles. "It has a very 'borrowed from the boys' look to it," she continues. "I feel like she got it from her Connecticut dad, who had it sitting in a drawer for years … and she took it one day." The loose way she wears it, with an extra link or two than what's probably necessary for her wrist size, adds to this narrative. In reality, according to a Vogue interview from 2015, Sevigny's watch was a gift she bought herself after Big Love wrapped, the HBO series she starred in that ran from 2006 until 2011. It's been spotted on her wrist for years, at the Venice Film Festival in 2017 and movie premieres in Los Angeles.
Shop a similar Rolex Oyster Perpetual model:
ROLEX
Oyster Perpetual 14208 Mint 18k Yellow Gold Automatic Watch 34mm
Recently, however, Wallner says that Sevigny's been spotted more often in a smaller gold Cartier Panthère, so her returning to her bigger Oyster Perpetual signals that perhaps "she's fatigued by the small watch trend" that's been taking over the world of women's timepieces of late—think cocktail watches and teeny-tiny models of classic designs. She is Chloë Sevigny, after all. She's never been one to wear what everyone else is wearing. She's the person who makes everyone want to wear what she's wearing, and that's a larger gold watch like her classic Oyster Perpetual.
If you too have been on the hunt for a bigger gold watch, whether they're "trendy" right now or not, keep scrolling. Below, you'll find a curation of vintage and new gold timepieces that, when worn loosely and casually for a day roaming around NYC, will make you feel as effortlessly cool as Sevigny.
Shop more gold watches:
Tissot
Pr 100 Classic Bracelet Watch, 34mm
Rolex
Oyster Perpetual President Day-Date Automatic Watch Yellow Gold With Round and Baguette Diamond Markers 36
RADO
The Original Bracelet Watch, 35mm
cartier
Ballon Bleu De Cartier Watch
Omega
Constellation Moonshine Gold Diamonds Watch
ferragamo
Vega Upper East Watch
WIND VINTAGE + Rolex
Pre-Owned 1970 Oyster Perpetual Date Automatic 34mm 14-Karat Gold Watch
Movado
Bold Quest Bracelet Watch, 35mm
STEPHANIE WINDSOR + Rolex
Vintage 1995 Oyster Perpetual Datejust Automatic 31mm 18-Karat Gold Diamond Watch, Ref. No. 78258
Movado
Sapphire Bracelet Watch, 39mm
