Sylvester Stallone wears a Rolex Submariner

Rocky Balboa is champion of the world, and it is making him soft. Rocky III (1982), which Stallone wrote and directed, opens on a run of easy title defenses and endorsement deals before Clubber Lang (Mr. T) knocks the comfort out of him, Mickey (Burgess Meredith) dies, and Rocky has to rebuild himself under his old rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Early on, sitting in a suit beside Mickey, Rocky wears a gold Rolex on his wrist.

The watch is Stallone's own: a Tiffany & Co. Rolex Submariner, reference 1680/8, in 18-karat yellow gold, with the retailer's name printed on the dial. He has told the story of buying it. "The first time I saw it, it was on the wrist of the rock star Gregg Allman," he recalled in Matt Hranek's A Man and His Watch. "It was in 1976, we were on a plane, and Gregg was sleeping; I looked over and saw the most beautiful watch I had ever seen. As soon as we landed, I tracked one down." Of all the watches he owns, he has said, this is the one he is most emotionally connected to.