John Mulaney Became a Father and a Watch Collector on the Same Day

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John Mulaney begins every episode of his late-night show Everybody’s Live by lifting his wrist, gazing at his watch, and announcing the time. That recurring bit has helped put the comedian on the map as one of the most exciting and tasteful new watch collectors on the planet. Throughout the show’s latest season, he’s worn increasingly alluring pieces from his favorite brands, like Chopard and Grand Seiko. In the increasingly over-the-top but homogenous world of celebrity wristwear, Mulaney has already distinguished himself as one of Hollywood’s most tasteful collectors.

Mulaney’s journey as a collector had a rocky start. While the comedian’s fans will remember the story of a Jansport-wearing Mulaney frantically buying a Rolex to pawn off in his standup special Baby J, that wasn’t actually the first watch he’d sold. Not long before that, Mulaney flipped a Vacheron Constantin he’d received as a gift for performing at a billionaire’s daughter’s birthday party. The buyer said he would take it, but it wouldn’t sell as quickly as watches from other brands. Like which brands? Mulaney wondered. Naturally, the buyer suggested Rolex.

That chaotic period only made his first real experience as a budding collector all the more special. In November 2021, just a couple of years after selling that Rolex for cash, Mulaney’s wife Olivia Munn gave him a Rolex Air-King to celebrate the birth of their son. The watch is from 1982, Mulaney’s birth year, and has “Malcolm’s Dad” engraved on the caseback. “That Air-King was coming right off that whole Rolex debacle,” Mulaney said over Zoom this week. “It’s linked to a lot of stuff.”

As Mulaney put it in our interview, he didn’t need another watch after receiving the ever-versatile Air-King, “but you still end up getting them.” Spoken like a true collector. In the ensuing years, he’s put together a wide-ranging collection that includes everything from white-gold Rolex Submariners and elegant Grand Seikos to high-flying Chopards and the new Breitling Top Time. Below, I spoke with Mulaney about becoming a collector, learning about Rolex waitlists from Lorne Michaels, and how Robert Redford’s Seiko got him interested in watches in the first place.

Mulaney wearing the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 SBGH263

John Mulaney: Do you ever go to those big [watch] shows?

GQ: Yeah, I was just in Geneva for Watches and Wonders. Were you paying attention to the releases? What did you like?

It wasn’t so much paying attention, [but] I get fed more watch content now. I'm trying to think of what stood out to me.

Why are you getting fed it? The algorithm is learning you like watches or you’re hearing from people in your life?

I’ve been looking at watch stories over the past couple of years, so my Google News serves up watch stories as if they are the third or fourth biggest thing happening in the world sometimes. I like Grand Seiko a lot and there’s this high-beat, 36,000 automatic chronograph thing. It’s like a really interesting shape for a Grand Seiko watch. I have no idea what it looks like in person and I am not even sure if it’s for me, [but] I noticed it. I enjoy Grand Seiko watches.

Yeah, I’ve noticed you gravitate towards Grand Seiko. You have a lot of Chopard and Piaget, too. But you kind of just skipped right by Rolex, Omega—the really recognizable brands.

I don’t wear Rolex, Patek [Philippe], or Omega on the television show or even that often [in my day-to-day]. I don’t have an Omega.

Mulaney wearing the Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph RYAN WEST/NETFLIX

Courtesy of Chopard

Why is that? They just aren’t your taste?

No, they are. Just some other ones have a bit more of a lean-in thing. Like, when I see someone wearing a Submariner, I don't ask any questions about it, I know what it is. And I’m just more interested in watches that [are a little more] mysterious. That’s glossing over tons of nuance to this—I have a really nice vintage Patek Philippe Calavatra that Olivia [Munn, Mulaney’s wife] got me.

Watching your standup specials, I don’t ever remember a watch being on your wrist. Maybe it was hidden, but how did the watch thing start for you?

Quite comically. Okay, so the full story is I once did a private event and I was gifted a Vacheron [Constantin] watch. I was gifted it and I was paid for the gig, but I was also given this gift. It was this billionaire's daughter's birthday party.

Wow. Sick.

Now, not to rehash my own standup material, but when I was going through a bad period in life, I sold this watch for cash.

The Vacheron?

I sold the Vacheron and the guy was like, "I can give you a little for this, but I can't move this as easily." And I was like, "What can you move easily?" And he was like, "Patek Philippe, Rolex." I was like, "Got it." So in the special I did, I tell the story of buying a Rolex, which all true, but I had already seen that guy before.

So he told me, like, "Don't try to sell a watch like this [VC]. This is pointless.” Not that pawning a Rolex at half its value immediately was not pointless. But anyway, that happened. I never wore those watches. I just sold them.

I wanted to ask about the mysterious Rolex you flipped. Do you remember which model it was? Because I remember watching the bit and then going through and trying to figure it out.

Based on the diameter in my memory, it must have been a Datejust or a Day-Date. I mean, it just wasn't a chronograph, it wasn't a Daytona, it wasn't a Submariner, it wasn't an Air King. They don't make those in rose gold, right? Must have been a Day-Date or a Datejust.

And sometime after that you started actually collecting watches.

When my son was born in November of 2021, my wife, Olivia, gave me a Rolex Air-King that says “Malcolm's Dad” on it on the back. It’s an Air-King from 1982, the year I was born. So that watch has a lot of significance, having sold them 24 months earlier. It’s still my favorite watch—I just enjoyed wearing it and from there [began collecting].

Mulaney and his Air-King

That’s all it takes: You kind of find the one, and it gets imbued with all this emotion.

Andrew Singer, who ran Broadway Video [Lorne Michaels’s production company] for a long time, is a big, big watch guy. So I’d always look at his watches and be curious about why they were coveted. I don’t fuck with cars really, not at all, but I was curious: “Well, what is it that gravitates you towards this Rolex or that Rolex?” So I had a passing casual interest in it like that.

The Air-King is such a fun starting point.

And honestly I take it with me [everywhere]. I’ll be gone for weeks on end and I take it because you never need another watch. It’s great. You never need another watch, but you still end up getting them.

Do you have more Rolexes, or is the Air King the only one in your collection?

No. I have some vintage Day-Dates I bought, probably, without papers or a box just in an antique watch store. It was this place in LA, Wanna Buy A Watch? And then Olivia got me a Submariner for Christmas. That’s very cool. The white gold, blue bezel.

You brought up Andrew Singer. Are there people that you’ve sought advice from as you’ve built your collection?

Well, I talk to [stylist] Michael Fisher, who I work with on the show a lot. The fun of being on TV is people will lend you a watch to wear that you don’t have to buy and then you have to give back. So we’ve tried some sillier, more fun swings of things that I wouldn't wear normally in life, like skeleton watches. And there was a solid-gold Piaget watch that I didn't wear on air and then I lost [priority on it] to someone at the Met Gala. I didn't get a chance to wear it the next week, because it was back in New York City.

Oh, the Polo 79? It’s more of a bracelet than a watch, really.

The Polo 79, yeah. Not a thing I would normally wear, but yes.

Mulaney with the Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rabbit

So there are TV watches and then there are watches you wear every day. That makes sense, because this last week, I saw you wore the special edition Chopard for the Year of the Rabbit, with a scene of two cute little rabbits on it.

Two cute rabbits on it and a great watch that everyone loved, but very hard to tell the time on. Two gold hands moving over two slightly gold rabbits. But it’s funny, I always go, “It is 7:01 PM.” And that was one where I had to go, “It is…” and then look at the studio clock.

It’s rabbit time. I was going to say, because it’s now become a bit on the show for you to look at the time on your watch, so obviously it's very important to have a watch to do that.

A hundred percent. And I have found with kids and not wanting to be on my phone in front of them, it’s very important to have a watch, because as soon as [the phone’s] in your hand, you’re a goner. So it’s nice to be able to tell the time without it.

Yeah, I’ve started doing the same thing with my son.

And by the way, during bedtime, a watch face that glows in the dark is extremely exciting.

So how would you describe yourself now as a collector? It sounds like you started a few years ago when your son was born, but it sounds like you've amassed a pretty impressive collection.

There’s a few brands. I have one or two of that I really love, like Chopard, Breitling. I have a [Jaeger-LeCoultre] Reverso that I got in Paris during the Olympics. That was very exciting. The black and white [Duoface].

I have a small [Cartier] Santos that I got a couple of summers ago, too. And then on the TV show I wore a large Santos with a light brown band that was, I mean, for me, for life, way too big. It’s a beautiful watch. It was just a little big for my wrist. And let’s see, what do I wear a lot of? This really nice IWC chronograph and then two Grand Seikos that I honestly put on more than most.

These Breitling Top Times, I have been wearing. [He lifts his wrist to show off the new limited-edition blue-dial Top Time chronograph]

The new ones?

Yeah, it’s a really fun watch and doesn’t feel too big. Nice for most occasions, not distracting when you’re doing stand-up.

That’s a consideration most people probably don't have when they’re picking out a watch.

There are watches you might wear where the audience might lose any empathy with you. You don’t want to wear a Submariner and be complaining about traffic.

I was thinking about your “mushing metals” joke from Baby J and was wondering, as an actual watch collector now, are there things that are no-gos for you? It sounds like you gravitate a little bit towards smaller watches, but are there other things that are off limits?

I don’t wear rose gold, no pink gold. I’d like to say it’s for a better reason, but I’m that shade of pale where it doesn't look good.

Yeah, I can’t wear pink or red shirts. It’s a bad look for me. Was there any kind of watch culture at SNL while you were there?

No, not at all. But I first learned that Rolex was a unique company from Lorne Michaels, because he was lamenting the loss of Blackberry. And he was like, “Blackberry should do what Rolex did and just become a company that only sells them to some people. [It should] become a luxury brand phone.” And I was like, “Is that how Rolex works?” He goes, “Yeah.” I was like, “You can’t just buy…” He’s like, “No, there’s some you just can’t buy.” I was like, “Oh wow.” So I remember first learning, Oh, it’s not just walking into the store.

The idea was that Blackberry would similarly just be this thing for certain people who like the encryption and the way it works. It’s a small Canadian company—they should be like Rolex, that’s probably a good idea still. It’s interesting. There’s no luxury phone.

There’s all those “dumb” phones, but no one’s made the Richard Mille of phones. That’s what we need.

Oh, you just make a metal case around it. Yeah, it’s iPhone by Richard Mille.

Do you remember what your first watch ever was? Did you have a Flik Flak or a Casio as a kid?

No memory. I remember wanting a Swatch. They were very well advertised and I never got one. They were so exciting looking.

Yeah, they really were, and very well marketed for kids.

Luxury goods for children.

Exactly. So was it high school or college that you got your first watch? When did you finally make the first step?

I made almost no steps. Hold on. I am so brain dead just as a parent that I just now Google things exactly the way they pop into my brain. So I just Googled, “What does he wear in All Is Lost,” which is a Robert Redford movie. I loved the movie All Is Lost and I remarked to my friend Max Silvestri, “His watch is so cool.” And a couple years later he got me one with a blue band, a Seiko SKX-009.

Oh wow, that’s very cool. That’s an unbelievable first watch.

I mean, I was in my 30s, but I love it. Still one of my absolute favorites.

You still have it?

Oh yeah. I wore it all the time. I'd say that the Seiko Diver made me think about watches a lot. I remember thinking, “Oh, you found the watch he wore?”

One watch that I would never wear, speaking of the Redford thing, is the Bvlgari watch that Al Pacino wears in Heat. Have you seen that?

Mulaney wearing the Rolex Day-Date

No, I don’t know what this is.

When Max was like, “I just looked up online what he was wearing in that movie,” I was like, “Oh, well I’m going to start Googling what watches people are wearing in movies.” And there was also an article about how the Al Pacino Bvlgari was way more expensive than an LAPD officer could probably afford, but hey.

Are there other watches from movies or TV that you remember noticing?

No, but I remember really enjoying a Pierce Brosnan video where he walks you through his watches, mainly because of his calming voice.

What was your first big splurge on a watch?

I really noticed it when I bought that Reverso at the Olympics. I left the store and I was like, “Okay, we'll do [shows at] a few colleges or something [to pay for it].”

Was there something about the spirit of the Olympics that you were like, I have to get a watch to bring home?

No, there's something about the spirit of the Place Vendôme.

You’re on the new season of Poker Face. How was that?

Really fun. Natasha [Lyonne] is one of my closest, oldest friends, so it was very cool to do. It was very fun to work with Simon [Helberg], and Miguel Arteta, the director, is really awesome. Richard Kind, my collaborator on everything, was there, which is really funny. He's super good in that episode. And we all went to dinner when we were shooting upstate New York with Rhea Perlman and him and a few others working on the show. It was a great time.

Yeah, I saw a lot of the response was that you need to do more scripted on-camera work. Is that something that you want to do more of?

I like to do certain things when I have time, which gets less and less frequent these days. I love to go do a fun series like that. It's a very different pace than even this show, which is live at night, let alone stand-up and touring. But I enjoy it, and I especially like the crew there. They're really good.

Do you just select shows that you're a fan of? You were so good in that special of The Bear.

They brought that to me. I was thrilled. I mean, I've known [The Bear showrunner] Chris Storer for a little while and I was already such a fan of the show. And I was always going to be game to do something with Natasha and her show—that it was an FBI mole and to be the bad guy was exciting.

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