Tom Holland is one of Hollywood’s most knowledgeable watch fans and now the Marvel superhero he plays is getting in on the horological action—kind of. Audemars Piguet and Spider-Man have spun a web together to create what is the second AP x Marvel masterpiece in a hype-worthy collaboration, following in the footsteps of 2021’s Black Panther AP.
The 42mm titanium and black ceramic piece is, as per the first AP x Marvel Black Panther, limited to 250 pieces, and there’s also the one-of-a-kind Black Suit Spider-Man that sold for $6.2 million at a private event in Dubai Wednesday night.
Third party,Audemars Piguet
But who do we have to thank for these two icons colliding? Not Holland, but another actor in the Marvel Universe: Don Cheadle.
Dating as far back as 2003, Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias has had desires to work with Marvel in some capacity but to no avail. Attempts were made in vain to have characters in Marvel movies wear APs. But no dice. Then, in 2010, when the Swiss watchmaker was sponsoring the Tony Awards, the ever-charismatic Bennahmias baited Cheadle on the red carpet for wearing—God forbid—a Patek Philippe.
“I joked to him, ‘One day you’re going to grow up, and understand that it’s time to wear the right watch.’ He turned around and said, ‘What watch?’ ‘AP,’ I said,” laughs Bennahmias. They became friends, kept in touch then, years later in 2017, by total coincidence, met up in Paris. “We were chatting and I was telling him that my biggest regret was not doing a deal with Marvel. I tell him the story and Don was like, ‘I didn’t know this story, why didn’t you ever share that with me?’ So right there he gets up and calls [president of Marvel Studios] Kevin Feige. He said, ‘Hey, I’m with my friend, François from Audemars Piguet. He would love to do something but apparently, you guys don’t love him?’ He said, ‘Could you make something happen?’”
Mike Christensen
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