Arguably the maturing of the countercultural insurrection that was 1970s punk rock, the “New Wave” music genre is a relatively wide-reaching and loosely held one. Used as something of a catchall for pop music from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, it blended punk’s roughneck roots with a more easygoing attitude, widely accessible thanks to the then newly-launched MTV channel, it leaned heavily on computer-generated sound through nouveau electronic instruments like synthesizers, and placed a particularly strong focus on artist image and fashion. But for the purposes of this article, we’ll be applying it as a social glue to hold together a group of some of the 20th century’s most charismatic watch wearers.

Bold Rebellion: Debbie Harry and David Bowie 

New Wave pioneer and the namesake peroxided lead singer of Blondie (who count “Heart Of Glass,” “Call Me” and “Atomic” among their myriad hits), Debbie Harry emerges as a true matriarch of the genre. With her legendary stage wardrobe of bodysuits, mini dresses, graphic tees, leather jackets and blue denim, coupled with her model good looks and, of course, her bleached hair, she’s touted by the likes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar as a pop culture “icon” in the truest sense of the word. Accompanying her flaxen locks and cowhide outerwear on stage, Harry’s wrist routinely sported a dainty black-dial watch that’s reported to have been a Seiko and, on several occasions, a classic Cartier Tank.

If we’re considering Harry as the mother of New Wave, then David Bowie must surely be its father. Redefining his music and stage persona time and time again over the course of his approximately 60-year long career, New Wave-era Bowie’s output comprised his Berlin Trilogy of albums through to Let’s Dance (1983) and Tonight (1984). Much like his career, his watches over the years are a bold, contrasting collection of pieces. Wearing, during the period in question, at least two yellow gold dress watches from Longines: the ultra thin Agassiz with fancy lugs and also a cushion-shaped model with stick hour markers.

Regarding his other wristwear, images from the 1970s show Bowie wearing an orange Bakelite cuff watch (likely produced by now-defunct Royal Dynasty), with later images showing multiple Swatch watches, an extensively worn Paul Smith fashion watch (gifted to him by the eponymous designer sometime during the late 1990s), and a Louis Vuitton Tambour (befitting his 2013 ad campaign for the maison).

Avant-Garde Style: Bryan Ferry and Grace Jones

Taking his interest in timepieces to a new level, Bryan Ferry, frontman of Roxy Music, collaborated with H. Moser & Cie. in 2016 for the Endeavour Small Seconds Bryan Ferry. Produced in a limited edition of 100 pieces, the Moser/Ferry watch boasts a 38.8mm rose gold case, blued Breguet-style hands atop a white lacquer dial, hacking small seconds, a hand-wound manufacture caliber with three days of power reserve, and a sapphire crystal caseback.

In an interview with Revolution at the watch’s launch, Ferry said: “I like watches, but I’m not a collector. Over this long life, I’ve acquired a few. [With the Moser] I wanted something smaller. Something from the past, but not a particular period. I took from here and there to have a sort of ‘vintage-ish’ theme to it. It was quite eclectic and it seemed to work.”

Ferry’s acquisitions have included a transparent plastic case manual winding Sutton Digital Jump Hour, a yellow gold Boucheron Reflet, and a tropical dial Rolex Explorer Ref. 1016. In an interview with The Telegraph in 2016, he talked about a Timex as his first watch and bemoaned the loss of his Reflet, stating: “It was beautiful, like a Cartier Tank. I occasionally spot it in archive shots…”

Ferry wears a Rolex Explorer (Image: Getty)

A multi-hyphenate before multi-hyphenates even existed, Grace Jones emerges as, perhaps, New Wave’s most colorful character. No mean feat given the competition. Naturally, her timekeepers of choice are no wallflowers either. Whilst performing in 1981, she paired an anthropomorphic corset and a dive watch on a Tropic Rally strap with, what looks to be, a sterile timing bezel and a Squale supplied case — hallmarks of the Blancpain “Bund.” However, the round lume plots beguile its identity as a Bund, leaving its manufacturer a mystery. By 1986, Jones had upgraded to a Bvlgari Tubogas, acquiring a second by 1990, as evidenced by the numerous times she is seen in images double-wristing them, occasionally substituting the second Tubogas for a Cartier Pasha in steel.

Whilst performing in 1981, Jones paired an anthropomorphic corset and a dive watch on a Tropic Rally strap with, what looks to be, a sterile timing bezel and a Squale supplied case (Image: Getty)

Statement Pieces: Elvis Costello, Nick Cave and Rusty Egan

Rounding off this list are Elvis Costello, Nick Cave and Rusty Egan. Costello and Cave are both proud owners of watches from Reykjavik’s JS Watch Company, with Costello opting for a Frisland God and Cave for a Gilbert Bóhem. Attracting the likes of Tom Cruise, Ed Sheeran, Gordon Ramsay and the Dalai Lama, JS Watch Company has become something of a rite of passage for horologically inclined celebrities visiting Iceland.

Costello spotted with a generic-looking three-hander on a pink snakeskin strap

Alongside his Frisland, Costello wears a Franck Muller Curvex and, during his younger years, a generic-looking three-hander on a less generic-looking pink snakeskin “fat” strap, no less. Cave, on the other hand, has also donned a Rolex Datejust with Jubilee bracelet and a Rolex Submariner over the years.

Despite not enjoying the same levels of superstardom achieved by many of his contemporaries, Rusty Egan — a DJ and co-founder of London’s renowned Blitz Club, the genesis of New Wave’s spin-off New Romantic subculture — was nonetheless an important figure on the scene. Images show him bare-wristed at the Blitz, likely more interested in partying and what vinyl to play next than keeping track of time. But his level of watch appreciation has clearly evolved over the years, now wearing c. 2010 nightclub staples, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Offshore and Panerai’s Luminor.