Worn & Wound
Ambition, Success, and the Watches of The Iron Claw
Climb up to the top rope with me for a few minutes, and let’s look upon the roles we play within the watch enthusiast community: are we a face or a heel (or likely somewhere in between)? The Iron Claw, my personal favorite film of 2023, forces this type of introspection onto its viewers. The audience is dealt heaps of toxic masculinity and likely some generational trauma, dumped from Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) onto his sons Kevin (Zac Efron), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson), and Mike (Stanley Simons). Much of this hinges on Fritz’s perceived failures and an idea he states early on in the film, “If I want to be a star, I need to act like a star […] The only way to beat IT is to be the toughest, the strongest, the most successful. The absolute best.” In more ways than one, we all wrestle with being our best selves and wanting to be perceived as something we aren’t. The theme of becoming and appearing as if you’re the best plays a role, at times, in the watch world. And, wouldn’t you know it, Rolex makes an appearance on the wrists of at least three characters to subliminally drive this theme home. In the film Rolexes are worn by Fritz Von Erich, his son Kevin Von Erich, and Ric Flair (Aaron Dean Eisenberg). Holt McCallany as Fritz Von Erich In the opening scene of the film, when Fritz is speaking with his wife, Dottie (Maura Tierney), about what it means to be and appear as a star, he is trying to defend the decision to lease a ...
