Don Cheadle wears an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Marty Kaan, the cocksure management consultant Don Cheadle plays in Showtime's House of Lies, was written to wear, in Cheadle's own words, "the good shit. He is not buying off the rack." That line was a real pitch. Cheadle met the president of Audemars Piguet in a 2011 Tony Awards green room, and when he started prepping the show he went back to the watchmaker with the idea. The result, which he called guerrilla product placement, was that Audemars loaned House of Lies some of its finest pieces, from the same stock that turned up on Jay-Z and LeBron James.

So the watch on Marty's wrist, here while he plays video games slouched in a leather chair, is the real thing: an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the octagonal bezel and integrated bracelet unmistakable. The Hollywood Reporter, in its 2012 watch supplement, pinned down what Kaan wears, a rose gold Royal Oak Power Reserve and a white gold Jules Audemars, listed back then at $36,000 and $42,000. Those were 2012 prices; Audemars Piguet has appreciated sharply since, so both would run considerably more today. Audemars later gave Cheadle the watches outright.

A case reference never made the page, so the precise variant stays open, but for once the maker, the model and the story behind them are all on the record.