In his decades-long career, performer and producer Nile Rodgers has worked with superstars of almost every musical genre—from disco darlings Chic to pop legends like Diana Ross, David Bowie and Madonna. Most recently, the guitarist has collaborated with Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams and Sam Smith.
One could describe Rodgers’ style as complicated but spare. He’s a virtuoso player but his tracks are always clean. This philosophy could also be used to sum up the aesthetic of his signature timepiece—the 1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time—worn by Rodgers as he headlined the Bestival Festival on the Isle of Wight earlier this month.

The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time Watch
This watch combines both practical and cerebral complications. On the practical side is the annual calendar, which displays the hour, day, date and month. And placed between the four and five o’clock markers is the equation of time function, which allows for the discrepancy between apparent solar time, which tracks the motion of the sun, and mean solar time, which follows a fictitious “mean” sun.
This example of haute horology is also a very handsome object. With a clean face and an elegant slate grey dial framed by a 40mm rose gold case and set on a crocodile strap, the 1966 is dressed up to get down and works with almost any sartorial style. And the automatic movement has a 46-hour power reserve that gives it a longevity that rivals that of Rodgers’.
MORE WATCH & LEARN:
Robert Downey Jr.’s Jaeger-LeCoultre
Sarah Gadon’s Jaeger-LeCoultre
Lindsey Vonn’s Rolex