But Robbins was the only man to wear the watch, and one of the only attendees to wear a dress watch. Only Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos's Glashütte Senator Observer compares in terms of clothing. Even the only Cartier on display, belonging to retired Army General David Petraeus, was the brand's driving-inspired (and not-so-subtly-named) Drive.

Although there weren't many takers in Robbins's Calatrava, another Patek Philippe turned up more than once at Sun Valley. Both Jeffrey Katzenberg, the former president of Disney and future king of Quibi, and Mirakl co-founder Adrien Nussenbaum were seen wearing by far the most casual watch in Patek Philippe's catalog: the Aquanaut. After the success of his Nautilus, Patek launched the Aquanaut in 1997 to appeal to a customer who wanted a luxury watch to wear with their fancy tracksuits. And few watches make more sense, paradoxically, amid the casual vibes of the Sun Valley billionaires' gathering.

The Aquanauts weren't alone either. Michael Fux, the CEO of Comfort Revolution, dressed in an upgraded Royal Oak like a sports car. The standard version of that watch is already casual; and Fux's comes with a tachymeter, the complicated complication borrowed from pilot's watches, and plenty of subdials. Insurance tycoon Evan Greenberg wore the new Rolex Explorer II, a watch designed for caving. Zander Lurie, former CEO of SurveyMonkey, opted for an all-black IWC pilot watch, a piece that was not without resonance given the more than 90 private jets that landed in Sun Valley last week.

There were plenty of nice watches at Sun Valley, but the conference's latest watchmaking status symbol was something incredibly affordable, or better yet, no watches at all. The most surprising thing about the photo of Bill Gates and Evan Greenberg walking across the lawn is that while Greenberg reaches for the Rolex, Gates is content to wear one of his trademark Casio watches. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook wore an Apple Watch, as did Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson and former CIA deputy director of operations Robert Richer. Mark Zuckerberg was not wearing a watch at all!

Cook, Zuck and Gates continue to fuel the idea that great businessmen don't need a big clock to assert their status. No need to do a wrist check to see where these guys rank on Forbes' list. Indeed, avoiding an expensive watch seems intended to send a different kind of message about the frugal pragmatism of our oligarch lords. In that way, billionaire summer camp isn't that different from regular summer camp: the cool kids always find a way to break up.

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— Tiege Hanley Sat Nov 07 19:26:00 +0000 2020

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