Tom Cruise wears a Porsche Design Chronograph 1

The Porsche Design Chronograph 1, designed by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the man who drew the 911, was one of the first all-black PVD-coated chronographs when it launched in 1972. Built by the Swiss manufacturer Orfina, it was made for motorsport, but Tony Scott's 1986 film turned it into an aviation icon. The matte black coating cuts glare, which gives it some logic in a cockpit.

The Chronograph 1 was not standard military issue in the 1980s. Navy pilots of the era wore government-issued watches or bought their own from the base exchange. Maverick wearing a Porsche Design is the same kind of shorthand as Maverick riding a Kawasaki Ninja: a signal that he does things his own way.