Nathalie Baye wears a Rolex Lady-Datejust

In a wood-paneled Paris shop lined with rows of glass jars, Nicole stands holding a single red rose while Dédé folds an arm around her from behind. Nathalie Baye plays Nicole Danet in La Balance (1982), a prostitute whose pimp and lover, Dédé (Philippe Léotard), is squeezed by the police into informing on the Belleville underworld he belongs to. On her wrist, in steel and gold, is what looks like a Rolex Lady-Datejust.

La Balance was the rare French crime film that swept its own awards. At the 1983 Césars it won Best Film, and its two leads won the acting prizes the same night: Baye for Best Actress, Léotard for Best Actor. The director, Bob Swaim, was an American who came to Paris to study at the IDHEC film school and stayed to make his films in French.

The Lady-Datejust arrived in 1957 as the women's version of the Datejust, the same date window and fluted styling scaled to a 26mm case, most often on the woven Jubilee bracelet. The two-tone configuration, steel paired with yellow gold, was one of the most common ways it sold.