Arnold Schwarzenegger's Watches - The Governator's Watch Collection

I have gone through the collections of some of the prominent watch collecting celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone and Mark Wahlberg. It only makes sense to now take a look at the watches of the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I will take a look at the watches he’s worn throughout his career, as well as some of the pieces he wore in his movies.

Schwarzenneger is a well-known watch collector, to the point were he started his own watch brand, released at Baselworld in 2015. The brand now appears to be defunct, but that hasn’t stopped Arnie from rocking a wide range of different timepieces.

Early in his career, circa the late 1970s, Arnold’s watches seemed to be smaller in size. This may be simply due to the fact that there weren’t that many very large watches made at the time (and they weren’t in style). One of the first watches I found a picture of Schwarzenegger wearing is the gold Rolex GMT Ref. 1675 “Root Beer.” This watch is 40mm and indeed looks pretty small on a young Arnold. You can pick up a vintage 1970s Rolex GMT 1675 Root Beer on the secondary market for around $40,000 USD.

It appears a younger Schwarzenegger had an affinity for gold Rolex GMTs. At first look, one might assume that this photo, taken in the 1980s of Arnold shows him wearing the same gold Root Beer discussed above. In the 80s Arnold was once again wearing a Rolex GMT-Master, this time with a black bezel and dial, Ref. 16758. This piece will also cost you around $40,000 USD on the secondary market.

Schwarzenegger’s wristwear has not been relegated only to his off-screen life. He has also been spotted wearing different timepieces in some of his movies over the years. One of the first films in which Arnold is seen wearing a watch is the 1987 movie Predator. The film centered on a team of commandos being hunted by an alien (the Predator) in Central America. Schwarzenegger plays Major Al “Dutch" Schaefer leading the team of commandos that the Predators hunts. In Predator Arnold wore a Seiko Solar Diver Ref. H558-5009. This Seiko was the first dive watch to feature a digital alarm chronograph with combination analog display. It was also engineered for the elements with the Seiko engineers testing it at -40c and up to +60c. The watch became associated with Schwarzenegger to the point that it was nicknamed the “Arnie.” Additionally, the watch was rereleased in 2019 with some minor updates. The new Seiko Solar Diver “Arnie” Ref. SNJ025 currently retails on Seiko’s website for $525 USD but you can find them for around $375 on Macy’s website and Amazon.

It seems that Schwarzenegger has more been interested in large watches ever since he got his first Panerai in 1996. In the 1996 film Eraser Arnold can be seen sporting a pre-Vendome Panerai 5218/203A. Pre-Vendome, or pre-V, just means that the watch was produced after the rebirth of Panerai as a brand in 1993 but before their acquisition by the Vendome group in 1997. This particular piece was gifted to Arnold by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone is credited with helping putting Panerai on the map as a global brand when he wore one in the 1996 film Daylight. It just makes sense that Schwarzenegger’s first Panerai would be a gift from Stallone. If you want a pre-Vendome Panerai 5218/203A be prepared to spend some money. These pieces can command upwards of $45,000 USD on the secondary market.

Stallone’s generous gift looks to have sparked Arnold’s interest in Panerai. Schwarzenegger is still regularly spotted out and about and on social media wearing a Panerai. Nowadays his Panerai of choice is the Big Egziano Ref. 341. The original version of this watch was commissioned by the Egyptian Navy in the mid-1950s. Panerai reintroduced the model but only for a limited run of 300 watches (one of which Schwarzenegger owns). This piece clocks in at a whopping 60mm, but I think Arnold pills it off. You can pick up a Big Egziano on the grey market for just under $30,000 USD.

Until researching this article, I had never seen Arnold wearing a Jacob & Co. It turns out that he was spotted on at least one occasion wearing a watch from the avant-garde watchmaker. Schwarzenegger was spotted in 2020 wearing the very large (55mm) Jacob & Co. Napoleon Quadra Tourbillon in 18k rose gold. This piece features four time zones with four tourbillons (quite the complication. The Quadra Tourbillon was limited to only 18 piece and retails for $600,000 USD (that’s only $150,000 per tourbillon!).

While Arnold may not have been successful launching his own watch brand, he has assisted some prolific Swiss brands with designs of their timepieces. Arnold collaborated with Audemars Piguet to create the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Legacy Chronograph Ref. 26378IO.OO.A001KE.01 in 2011. Only 1,500 pieces were made and the retail price was about $45,000 USD. You can actually buy this piece at a discount on the secondary market, for between $30,000 and $40,000 USD (this might be the only Royal Oak/Royal Oak Offshore you can currently buy under retail price). Perhaps the price is so low because the case is a very large 48mm. Let’s face it, most people can’t pull off a watch that size.

I much prefer the earlier collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2007, Arnold and AP came together to create the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph "Arnold's All Stars” Ref. 26159OR.OO.A801CR.01. Limited to just 350 piece, the watch was embossed with Arnold's All Stars on the caseback. A rarer variation of just 19 pieces of the watch was also made with the Seal of California embossed on the caseback. This piece was a more traditional Royal Oak Offshore that sported a pink gold case and chocolate brown dial (though it also has the large 48mm case size). The retail price on the piece at the time of release was $85,000 USD.

Arnold has also shown an interest in pilots watches, and not necessarily from the big name brands (I’m looking at you IWC and Oris). Schwarzenegger was spotted wearing a 45mm Laco Friedrichshafen. Laco is a German watchmaker that has been around since 1925. Laco’s pieces, while not cheap, are still pretty affordable. The Laco Friedrichshafen retails for $1,350 USD and runs on a modified Sellita SW200 automatic movement.

Another interesting pilots watch Schwarzenegger has been spotted wearing is the Zenith Pilot Montre d’Aeronof Type 20. Schwarzenegger bought this very rare piece in 2012. The Montre d'Aeronef Type 20 has a titanium case that is a very large 57.5mm (I guess that’s typical for Schwarzenegger). Only 250 of the Zenith Montre d'Aeronef Type 20 were made and the retail price was $10,300 USD.

I was a bit surprised when I saw that Arnold is regularly spotted wearing a U-Boat. I had never held U-Boat in very high esteem as a watchmaker. Doing a little more research on Schwarzenegger’s specific U-Boat I have respect for this piece. The titanium 64.4mm U-Boat U-1942 was designed and built using specifications produced by the Italian Marina Militare in the 1940 (the watch was never produced by the Italian Navy). The last known retail price of the U-Boat U-1942 was $40,000 USD, making it by far the most expensive U-Boat available for purchase. The watch was limited to just 250 pieces.

The final watch I will feature is another piece worn by Schwarzenegger in a film. Arnold wore a Bell & Ross BR 01-92 in the 2012 film The Expendables 2 (where he starred alongside his good friend Sylvester Stallone). The BR 01-92 is about as basic a pilots watch as you can get from Bell & Ross, but that’s not a bad thing. There is just something appealing about that classic Bell & Ross square case. The watch is a large 46mm but still not nearly as large as some of the other watches in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s watch collection. You can pick up a Bell & Ross BR 01-92 on the secondary market for around $2,200 USD.