‘The Last of Us’ Creator Neil Druckmann On the Watches That Turned Him Into a Watch Guy

The Last of Us is about time. Like the best-selling PlayStation video game that inspired it, the HBO series focuses on time’s passage, and whether or not it can actually heal long-standing wounds and grievances.

For co-creator Neil Druckmann, time is a valuable resource. He’s currently overseeing the development of a new title, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, at his game studio, Naughty Dog, and working on The Last of Us—whose season two finale airs this Sunday night—and every second of every day is precious. So maybe it’s no wonder he’s obsessed with collecting watches.

Although, as he tells GQ over Zoom, that wasn’t always the case. Druckmann’s love of timepieces grew out of conversations with actor Troy Baker, a frequent collaborator at Naughty Dog. Druckmann eventually caught the bug himself, and has since amassed quite a collection of high-end stunners and fun daily-wears.

Below, we spoke with Druckmann about the decision point that got him into timepieces in the first place, how he goes about buying new watches, how designing a watch is like making video games, and much more.

Neil Druckmann: My journey started with Troy Baker, who played Joel in the [Last of Us] video game. He's been into watches for years and talking to me about it for years. It's something he would describe in these very romantic terms. I didn't get it. I'm like, "I don't wear jewelry. It's not my thing. I wear an Apple Watch all the time. I'm more of a tech guy." Then, I found myself, a few years ago, where the Apple Watch was stressing me out. There's people constantly needing feedback from me about the game, or running the studio, or the show. This thing is constantly pinging on my wrist, and I found I couldn't relax, so I got rid of it. And I'm like, "Oh, I just missed being able to tell the time. I should buy a watch."

I knew very little about watches, horology, and all that. I started talking to Troy again, and he was recommending certain things like Rolex, and I'm like, "I don't know, that seems extravagant for me." I went into a Rolex shop to just learn and to try different things, and I'm like, "Okay, tell me something about these." I knew absolutely nothing. I didn't know the difference between a sports watch and a dress watch. I came in on the ground floor, and then I'm like, "Okay, well if I'm interested in one, do I just buy it?" They're like, "No, no, don't just buy a Rolex. You gotta get on the list. You gotta wait. There's a whole ritual to this thing." I'm like, "Okay, maybe this is a little much for me."

Then I was on vacation with my kids in Japan, and we go into a Grand Seiko [boutique], and I started looking at different watches. By that point, I was researching more about some GMTs, and I knew just a little bit about their Spring Drive—because that's a cool mechanical evolution of a movement—that I'm like, "You know, maybe this is the time."

The first time you buy a really expensive watch, it's very hard. You're not sure you could justify the cost versus what you're getting back later. I've realized that's part of the thrill—that it hurts a little bit to get these things. So I got a GMT with this beautiful black dial, a Spring Drive, and I was in awe of it. I was hooked once I had that first one; that was the beginning of my journey.

Yes, I've been trying. Sometimes there it's "I really want to remember this moment, so let me tie this moment to a particular timepiece." For example, when we announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, our new game, we'd been working for years towards this moment. So when we announced it, I wanted to celebrate it for myself. I got a Patek Calatrava, and that was something I've been eyeing for a while. I finally got it. I wore it at the Game Awards when we announced the thing. I will forever associate the watch with that announcement. Then, sometimes you're like, "I just want a new watch. What's the nearest event, so I could kind of tie it to it." Even now, I think back [to] when I was shooting episode 2x06—I got a [Rolex] Yacht-Master at the local AD in Vancouver. I tend to think in similar ways.

I try—I don't know if you have this—not to get lost in the hype, of like, "Okay, what is the hot watch right now?" It really has to speak to me. I can't imagine buying a watch blind. I have to try it on, see it, and feel like some sort of connection to it. I often look at the movements. I dunno, maybe it's my programmer brain. So much of our lives these days are digital, and the engineering effort—forget the artistry for a second, cause that's another aspect—but there's such an engineering effort of putting all these tiny pieces and constructing them into this tiny movement that has all these complications that I'm always in awe. Then you add the artistry on top of it. You have to express yourself with such constraints, and they're size constraints, but also engineering constraints. In some ways, it feels parallel to making video games. That there is a combination of art and engineering under all these constraints. Very, very different things but there's something about watches that reminds me a lot of that.

There is. So I'm very bad at remembering reference numbers. There is this Patek chronograph with a salmon dial that's a manual. The movement behind it, because it's a manual, you don't have anything obstructing it. They have such artistry in their movements that when you're engaging it and disengaging it, you could see all the pieces and how they move it. I've stared at that thing forever. I don't own it, but I need a good event so I can own it.

I believe so, yeah.

Oh yeah. For South by Southwest, I got a Vacheron Constantin 222, and that's been my fanciest watch. That's the one I go to. Even though it's gold, it's relatively low-key with its finish. That's probably my go-to for nicer events.

I got my AP [lifts up wrist] chronograph blue dial.

I have very small wrists, so this one is, I think, 37 or 38 millimeters, I forget now, but it's on the smaller side of the Royal Oaks.

We try to one-up each other. So every time he gets something new l,ike a few months ago—I'm not sure actually when he got it—he got the Batgirl Rolex. I don't have a Rolex GMT yet; I've been waiting on that one for a while. So he was just making me jealous. When I got the 222, I sent [it to] him and he's like, "You son of a bitch! You pulled the trigger on that one." So that is our relationship now, and we tend to annoy people. It's funny, once you enter that world, it's kind of like—I assume vegans or something—we annoy everybody around us that is not into watches because we'll just do these deep dives and talk about them.

It's an expensive hobby, but it is nice—it is endless. I could spend every night watching YouTube videos about the history of Patek or Vacheron, or particular movements. I'm sure you've watched the Hodinkee videos of John Mayer—just the way he talks about watches, and he talks about like "Listen to the teeth on these gears!" [mimes holding a watch up to his ear]. It makes you find the beauty in something small, and I really appreciate that.

Well, it's interesting in that my grandfather used to wear an old Omega Seamaster that he gave to my brother. I kind of just ignored him. I'm like, "Ah, watches, whatever." Now I'm a little jealous that my brother has that one. But it's interesting that I gave Joel a watch. That's one of the first things in game one that has stuck around. That was before I was into watches. Maybe, in the back of my brain, I knew the importance of this heirloom that you could pass on. I try to include my kids now, and I try to keep it high-level so they don't get too annoyed with me. When we were in Japan, I got them both Casios. So I'm trying to slowly get them into thinking about watches.

And, sometimes, I like G-Shock. I have an all-black one, and my buddy just bought me an all-red G-Shock. I love sporting those. It doesn't have to be the most high-end thing. I love just exploring it. You could go forever, finding particular pieces, and then you read into the history of that one, and how they came about.