The Stars Aligned

Breitling believes in making an entrance, and who better than Brad Pitt to draw the limelight to the Asian launch of its Premier collection in China. Charlene Co, still weak at the knees from her meeting with the Hollywood star, recalls the surreal experience in Beijing

t was the kind of party you would fantasise about attending when you were young—and then you grow up and realise you are unlikely ever to rub shoulders with Brad Pitt at a black-tie event. When Breitling—a Swiss watch manufacturer known for its prestigious, high-performance timepieces— sent me an invitation to a lavish gala where one of the most desired male movie stars of the past three decades would be present, my inner teenager let out a scream of delight—and my adult self wasn’t far behind. So it was with great excitement that I joined a crowd of 500 high-society watch fanciers late last year at Beijing’s breathtaking Phoenix Centre. Already famous around the globe for its sweeping exterior and dramatic all-glass interior, the centre looked particularly spectacular that night, lit entirely in Breitling blue and decorated to represent the sea, air and land. It had an almost other-worldly aura. Actor Daniel Wu arrived looking dashing, along with surfer Sally Fitzgibbons and photographer and film-maker Peter Lindbergh, joining myriad personalities from the worlds of fashion, high society, sport, music and film, including Japanese designer Motofumi “Poggy” Kogi and actors Shin Se Kyung, Qi Wei and Li Zonghan. Glamorous as they all were, nobody could upstage Pitt. Tall and absurdly handsome, he looked as magnetic in the flesh as he does on the silver screen. And when it was my turn to interview him—and sneak in a selfie—i found myself uncharacteristically star-struck, so much so that my quivering finger meant Lindbergh had to take the photo for us. Pitt, who together with Wu, Adam Driver and Charlize Theron form Breitling’s Cinema Squad, chatted easily about his love for the brand and his life-long obsession with watches. “The first luxury watch I ever bought was a Breitling Emergency. I like technical things. And to be honest, I thought the watch looked really badass,” he said in his characteristic lazy drawl. We discussed the allure of watches and why, for so many men, they are an essential tool for self-expression. “I do like a watch very much,” said Pitt. “I guess it’s a man’s only expression, or jewellery, so to speak. It’s the only thing a man really adorns himself with. And something about a watch, it’s not just decoration, it’s a tool. A precision instrument. Finely made watches just have a gravitas to them, a weight. That’s something that I like to feel on my wrist.” At the gala, Breitling took the opportunity to introduce the watches in the new Premier family, which highlights the brand’s connection to the environment. Breitling is known for its links to the air and the sea, having played an important role in aeronautical and naval warfare for the Allies

in the 1940s. On top of the new collection, Breitling also introduced two pilot watches to be launched this year, both of which commemorate the legendary single-engine Curtiss P-40 Warhawk plane. Incredibly, Ollie Crawford, a nonagenarian who had flown the fighter plane during World War II, was also in attendance. “I like a sense of history—something ‘retro’, as I think the trendy word is,” said Pitt. “Something that calls back to its history but also speaks to the moment and maybe the future. I think the Premier collection does that very successfully, because it originally started in the 1940s. It’s still technical, but there’s this other classy elegance about it that wasn’t there before.” Pitt greeted Wu and Lindbergh like old friends. The trio had worked together on Breitling’s 360° #squadonamission campaign last year, a collaboration during which Pitt had recognised similarities between their careers, watchmaking and his new incarnation as a movie producer. “What I love about what we do is that we get to tell stories,” said Pitt. “As an actor, you’re telling a story; as a director, you’re telling a story; as a photographer, you’re telling a story. To produce is putting these elements together to tell that story. So, it just felt like a really natural extension of what we do.” Like Breitling, though, Pitt’s real passion lies with the environment and the future of the planet, and once we touched upon sustainability, the conversation became more serious. “We must lead the way towards a more sustainable way of thinking, building and living,” he said. “The simple math is that if each and every one of us just took better care of the people around us—the people we’re in contact with every day—the world would be a much better place.” And with that, he returned to the party, lifting our spirits with his dazzling Hollywood glow.

“The first luxury watch I ever bought was a Breitling Emergency. I like technical things. And to be honest, I thought the watch looked really badass!”