Bruce Willis wears a TAG Heuer 3000 Series

Die Hard 2 is basically John McClane being punished for trying to get through Christmas. Again. Renny Harlin moves the trouble to Washington Dulles during Christmas week, where McClane is waiting for Holly and ends up trying to stop Colonel William Stuart's men from freeing General Ramon Esperanza. I know that sounds like the kind of plot that could only exist in 1990, but that's part of the charm.

The watch is easier to prove than most movie watches, which is always a relief. Propstore sold Bruce Willis's screen-used TAG Heuer 3000 Professional Quartz from Die Hard 2 as part of the Mike Papac collection, and the listing describes McClane wearing it turned inward on his right wrist - the same general style he used in the first Die Hard. So what are we looking at?

A stainless steel TAG Heuer 3000 Professional Quartz chronograph on a slim grey leather strap. Three sub-dials, depth markings up to 50m, a crystal over the dial, and by the time it reached auction, a dead battery with the hands stopped at 11:45. The face had some rust from age and the strap had cracked from production wear, which somehow makes it feel more like a McClane object than a clean auction piece.

That is what I like about this sighting. McClane's whole persona is exhaustion with a badge. The watch sits backward on his wrist, battered, practical, and slightly wrong-looking, while everything around him is exploding.

Pretty good match, actually.