THE TOP 10 WRISTWATCH CAMPAIGNS OF ALL TIME

By Spiro Mandylor

The best ads can stick in your head almost as much as the products they’re pitching. When they’re done right, they’re more than glossy photos – they’re little stories that make you feel something. Some of them lodge themselves in your brain and refuse to leave. Fine, maybe not for decades, but long enough to make an impression. A successful advertisement can shape the way we perceive a brand for generations. It links a timepiece to a feeling, an aspiration or a cultural moment. For collectors and casual enthusiasts alike, these campaigns become part of the watch’s identity. Looking back, watchmakers have been behind some of the most imaginative campaigns the luxury world has seen. Here are ten campaigns that stand out for their creativity and impact.

1 – Rolex – “Luminaries, Visionaries, Champions”

Rolex has spent decades perfecting the art of understated bragging. Their recent Luminaries, Visionaries, Champions campaign took that to a new level by focusing on the people rather than the product. Instead of showing pristine watches on velvet pillows, it shows the wrists of Nobel laureates, Oscar‑winning actors, scientists and explorers. The message is simple: the watch is cool because of the company it keeps. The campaign highlights the extraordinary achievements of famous Rolex wearers in the humanities, sports, arts and sciences. Seeing so many icons in one place makes you realize just how deeply the brand is woven into cultural history.

Why it works

Rolex tapped into our fascination with celebrity not by paying an endorsement fee but by reminding us that their watches have graced the wrists of people who changed the world. It’s aspirational without a hint of arrogance. Plus, that word “perpetual” feels like rock‑and‑roll immortality.

2 – Rolex – “If You Were … Tomorrow, You’d Wear a Rolex”

Let’s rewind to the 1960s and 1970s when the company ran a series of ads built around the line “If you were … tomorrow, you’d wear a Rolex,” set in a clear grid of text and images against a black background. Each ad invited you to imagine yourself in some grand hypothetical – circumnavigating the globe, winning Le Mans, or negotiating peace treaties – and quietly asserted that such an achievement required the proper timepiece. The campaign engaged the reader by placing them inside the story and made them feel like part of a club.

Why it works

It’s brilliant because it doesn’t sell a product so much as sell a persona. The watch becomes a prop in your own imaginary film. In the age of Mad Men, Rolex managed to be both aspirational and self‑aware.

3 – Linde Wedeln – “The Perfect Five”

Linde Werdelin may not be a household name outside of watch‑nerd circles, but in 2010 the young brand released one of the most delightfully nerdy campaigns ever. It collaborated with French illustrator Dominique Bertail to produce The Perfect Five, a graphic‑novel‑style adventure in which every character wears a Linde Werdelin watch. The story spanned multiple parts between 2010 and 2012 and the illustrations were used in product sheets and online promotions. The campaign blurs the line between advertisement and art, and because the brand’s founders appear as characters, it feels deeply personal.

Why it works

Comics are about escapism, and so are luxury watches. By weaving its products into a narrative universe, Linde Werdelin invited fans to obsess over every detail. 

4 – Omega – “We Choose to Go to the Moon”

In 2009, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing, Omega partnered with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on a print and television campaign built around JFK’s 1962 speech, “We choose to go to the Moon.” The campaign reminded viewers that Omega’s Speedmaster had timed the Apollo missions and wrapped the brand in the romance of space exploration. For a watch that earned its nickname as the “Moonwatch,” it was a poetic full circle.

Why it works

Omega didn’t just lean on archival footage; it aligned itself with one of humanity’s boldest moments. In doing so, it convinced a generation of would‑be astronauts and science geeks that strapping a Speedmaster to their wrist connected them to history. It’s the same kind of myth‑building that surrounds icons – equal parts fact and legend.

5 – Omega – “Great Moments in Time” (Olympic posters)

Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympics since 1932. In 2006 the brand released a series of posters, one for each of the 22 Olympic Games it had timed up to that point. What’s remarkable is that the ads focus on the stories of the Games rather than the watches themselves. They depict legendary athletic moments with bold graphic design and minimal product placement. The campaign was clearly more about storytelling than sales. If you dig around online, you might be able to pick up a copy of the Omega Great Olympic Moments In Time Hardcover Book. 

Why it works

By celebrating sport rather than self‑promotion, Omega elevated its role from sponsor to chronicler. It felt like an Olympic retrospective curated by a superfan.

6 – Swatch – Paula Scher & Herbert Matter

If the 1980s taught us anything, it’s that colour, collage and chaos can be irresistible. Swatch understood this better than anyone when it recruited graphic designer Paula Scher to reinterpret Swiss design legend Herbert Matter’s 1930s tourism posters. Scher literally copied Matter’s striking layouts and inserted Swatch watches into the scenes.  At the time, it was a daring move – pastiche before pastiche was cool – and the ads’ quirky style resonated with the brand’s youthful audience. 

Why it works

The campaign tapped into nostalgia and rebellion simultaneously. It borrowed high‑art aesthetics and mashed them up with pop culture, much like sampling old records in hip‑hop. It said: Swatch is fun, irreverent and grounded in Swiss design heritage all at once.

7 – Hublot – “See What People Will Do for a Hublot”

Shock value can be an effective hook, but few brands have embraced it like Hublot. In 2010 Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was mugged and left with a black eye and a stolen Hublot King Power. Rather than hide the incident, Ecclestone sent a photo of his bruised face to Hublot’s CEO Jean‑Claude Biver with the caption “See what people will do for a Hublot.” The company ran the image as a full‑page ad. The conservative watch world was scandalized, but the exposure was enormous.

Why it works

The ad is half joke and half horror story. It’s also punk rock. It says, “Our watches inspire passion intense enough to get you roughed up.” Whether you loved or hated it, you remembered it – and that’s the point of a hook.

8 – Patek Philippe – “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.”

Since 1996, Patek Philippe has run a series of ads depicting perfectly composed families – father and son, mother and daughter – sharing tender moments while wearing the brand’s watches. The tagline, created by London agency Leagas Delaney, is as much philosophy as copywriting: “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.” It’s said to be the longest‑running watch campaign ever and that the sentiment of stewardship across generations makes it special. It’s a mantra that resonates with collectors who think of watches as heirlooms.

Why it works

The campaign appeals to our desire for legacy. It’s not about instant gratification; it’s about becoming a custodian of history. It has the same feel as passing your vinyl collection to your kids – if your vinyl collection were hand‑assembled in Geneva.

9 – Audemars Piguet – Real People, Real Stories

Around 2003, Audemars Piguet quietly slipped one of the most authentic marketing pieces into a catalogue. Instead of glossy celebrity shots, it featured real owners talking about their watches. One spread spotlighted collector Bruno Rubinski, who explained his love for the Royal Oak. There were no influencers, no ambassadors – just genuine testimonials.

Why it works

Audemars Piguet’s experiment shows that authenticity trumps gloss. Hearing a passionate owner describe his relationship with his watch is more persuasive than any celebrity endorsement. 

10 – TAG Heuer – “Don’t Crack Under Pressure”

In the early 1990s TAG Heuer asked advertising agency TBWA to re‑energize the brand. The result was the “Don’t crack under pressure” campaign, which ran from 1991 to 1994. Featuring icons such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, the ads suggested that greatness comes from mental strength as much as physical ability. The campaign emphasized both the athletes’ resilience and the watch’s 200‑metre water resistance; the tagline became synonymous with toughness. The strategy worked – sales growth jumped between 10 % and 25 % when the rest of the market was growing by only about 6%. The campaign continues to be updated with modern day icons - a real testament to its effectiveness and success. 

Why it works

The slogan is terse and punchy, like a good riff. It speaks to anyone who has ever faced pressure – which is all of us. By tying the performance of elite athletes to the durability of its watches, TAG Heuer made its message universally aspirational. As a later Tag line would put it: What are you made of?

Final thoughts

What unites these campaigns is storytelling. Whether through comics, archive speeches, or candid family portraits, each brand found a way to connect its product to something bigger than a mechanism. Great watch ads, like great songs, hook you with a narrative and keep you humming. They remind us that time is more than seconds ticking past – it’s the stories we attach to those seconds. And if you’re still reading, maybe you’re the kind of person who, as one famous line put it, would wear a Rolex tomorrow.

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