Esquire Singapore
Note: for the accompanying photos click here: Session #167 – Mathieu Rainaud
What do you think of when you hear the name Sebastian Stan? Does the Winter Soldier’s hulking silver arm come to mind? Tommy Lee’s freaky soul patch? That abusive husband from I, Tonya with the questionable pedo-stache? Or perhaps more recently, the pursed lips of a young Donald Trump?
Maybe you think of all of those things when you hear his name, or maybe you think of neither of those things. But it’s undeniable—the man is a shapeshifter. His versatility stretches the boundaries of what is expected of a modern actor, rivalled only by the likes of a handful of contemporaries (shoutout to you, Robert Pattinson).
But I digress—if you look closely, there’s a pattern that emerges in the roles he gravitates toward. Stan tends to take on characters who carry history and notoriety. His performances depict these people from a different time in the past, usually during the peak of their infamy. He is, quite simply put, drawn to the allure of the past. It helps that he’s good at it, too. Some of his best and most iconic works have come from portraying these characters.
His turn as Tommy Lee in Hulu’s hit series Pam & Tommy earned him a nomination for the Critics’ Choice Award’s Best Actor in a Limited Series award. His portrayal of a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice, most recently, bagged him a slew of nominations from the Academy, BAFTA, and the Golden Globes.
In case you’re curious, the film charts his journey as a young real estate businessman under the tutelage of cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong. It’s a dramatised look into how Cohn’s ruthless tactics for wealth and power trickled down to Trump, eventually leading him down the path to becoming the uncurbed president we know today.
Why does Stan love slipping into the skins of men from another time? We can’t say for sure—but one clue might be his obsession with classic Hollywood cinema. The period of the ‘40s and ‘50s in particular captivate him, not just for the performances, the filmmaking, or atmosphere, but for the style. Watching those old reels with grains that seemed to dance, he noticed a familiar object gleaming on the wrists of actors he admired: Cartier watches.
So he started wearing them himself. The Santos de Cartier collection holds special appeal for him—not just for its iconic design thick with historical richness, but for its versatility. Pair it with a dapper suit or wear it slightly loose with a linen shirt on a casual Sunday—it’ll work. Over time, it has become a bedrock of his personal style, which he admittedly feels he cannot leave the house without.
Knowing all this now, it makes perfect sense for Stan to join the Maison as a friend of the house. Earlier this year, he fronted the campaign of the Santos de Cartier petite model debut, which was revealed during Watches and Wonders in Geneva. Just four months later, he’s back under the bright lights of the studio to help unveil two striking new additions to the Santos family: Santos Titanium and Santos Black Dial.
At first glance, the Santos Titanium looks like its steel siblings, but put it on and you’ll feel it is anything but that. Its titanium construct not only gives the watch a matte sheen, but also allows it to weigh 43% lighter and 1.5 times harder than steel.
The Santos Black Dial, on the other hand, flips the equation completely. Its large frame is constructed of steel, but where it sets itself apart is with its half-satin, half-sunburst dial that grants the watch the ability to catch and play with light as it moves across the velvety surface, giving the darkness a sense of depth. I mean, come on, who doesn’t like a black Cartier dial. But what does the man himself think of the new pair?
“They both have a strong, masculine energy,” he says. “I’m really into how Cartier explores materials and plays with that hardware aesthetic— I think it reflects the Maison’s creativity in a powerful way.”
I’ll leave you to admire Stan in all his Cartier-loving glory.
But enough about the Santos, let’s zoom out for a moment. This is, after all, a watch column, but watches aren’t just about design. They’re about time.
Sweating it out for the perfect role, waiting for the right project, learning to be patient with the process of filmmaking—time has pressed itself onto every milestone of Stan’s career, as it does so to every last living soul. But time is an unrelenting and cruel thing, and it runs through our fingers no matter how tightly we grip our fists. For Stan, it’s this very thought that gives meaning to our lives.
So he doesn’t think too much about it—or at least he tries to, by staying present in the moment. In this sense, the watches he wears cease to become a mere time-telling machine on his wrist, but a reminder of the value of time. Well, how does he like his reminder to look like? Besides having a square case with exposed screws, of course.
“For me, it needs to be something with presence,” Stan says. But that presence has to come from within, because beyond its design, it’s about how it makes you feel when you wear it. That, in turn, radiates that energy outwards, telling others something about you with just a glance.
But if you want the more pragmatic reason, it’s this: “I also like having a watch because otherwise, I’m constantly checking my phone.”
