Chris Hemsworth's openworked Audemars Piguet Royal Oak looks just like his ride in Furiosa (2024)

When Chris Hemsworth posted a picture of his Furiosa character riding a radial-engine chopper through sand dunes for the new Mad Max film, a certain corner of the internet lost their collective minds. This is motorcycle p*rn at its p*rniest. Hells angels – and hell yeahs – all round.

Choppers – those much celebrated custom motorcycles which emerged in California in the late ’50s – are enough of a vibe in their own right. For legendary director George Miller to have a radial engine (you know, the great big internal combustion engines usually seen on planes) powering Dr Dementus’ go-to mode of transport in the biggest petrolhead movie of the year (decade?) sounds about right. We are already braced for the noise that thing is going to make on screen.

Hemsworth, who looks very at home atop that much mechanical horsepower, appears rather smitten with the design of his chopper –which strangely might have something to do with his latest choice in horology. Stepping out on the red carpet in Sydney for the premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the actor was wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak unlike any we’ve seen him rock before. Predominantly a fan of a clean dial, this is an openworked dial with complex geometry and watchmaking on show for all to see.

Anyone with no prior knowledge about watch terminology (you're not alone), an openworked dial is pretty much what you'd expect. It means the watch has been stripped down to reveal what usually lies beneath the dial – so all the gears, balance wheels and escapements that make up the watch's movement are exposed and on show. If you place a close up of this watch next to Hemsworth's Mad Max chopper, the similarities are pretty remarkable. They are both mad machines boasting a type of craftsmanship that is complicated to the max –so if Hemsworth is a fan of one, it makes sense that he’ll like the other too.

This latest flex should be much of a surprise though, as over the past 12 months or so, Hemsworth has been almost exclusively an AP Royal Oak guy. At the Abu Dhabi grand prix late last year, while Max Verstappen was busy wrapping up the most predictable F1 season ever, Hemsworth and his brothers added some much needed adrenaline down in the pits. But it wasn’t just the mere sight of the Hemsworths that attracted attention – the all gold AP Royal Oak on Chris’s wrist was impossible to miss. Specifically, the 1017 ALYX 9SM limited edition chronograph that Audemars Piguet released earlier that year in collaboration with designer Matthew Williams. While Drake copped the OG (an all silver piece) back in 2020, Hemsworth was one of the first celebs to be seen wearing the latest gold iteration (a close second to rapper Gunna who wore the watch at US GQ's MOTY). It's easy to see why Hemsworth is such a fan of the fashion-influenced watch; it's a statement while also being quite understated, and as weighty on the wrist as it is dainty looking.

It shows the Thor star – whose watch collection has been steadily expanding – clearly has a thing for gold watches having flashed a Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic in Sandblasted Rose Gold – worth £38,600 – too. He’s been relieved from his duties as brand ambassador for TAG Heuer for a while now, so it’s nice to see Hemsworth express himself with watches of his own choosing rather than those worn out of a contractual obligation.

At the premiere of his Netflix movie Spiderhead he was seen wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40mm with the ice blue dial to match his shirt and steely baby blue eyes. Rolex lovers will know that the Day-Date with a smooth bezel was discontinued this year in place of a fluted bezel, but here Hemsworth's Day-Date appears to have diamonds all around the bezel, not dissimilar to one of Drake's go-to Rolexes. It's a baller move for the Australian actor, albeit not out of character when you consider some of his other recent watch and jewellery choices.

We've also spotted him in an 18-carat rose-gold and navy 41mm Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, as well as another Gerald Genta designed classic, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton. Fast becoming a new favourite among A-listers, and spotted on Cristiano Ronaldo, Bradley Cooper and Idris Elba, the Octo Finissimo’s angular octagonal case (and 1.8mm thin case) means it looks as though it belongs on the set of a sci-fi film rather than the red carpet. When it first appeared in the '80s, it must have seemed as though it had been beamed in from another planet. This was fine watchmaking reimagined as cubist painting or brutalist architecture, and a total rejection of any traditional notions of haute horological elegance.

Adding this openworked Royal Oak openworked double balance wheel to his collection not only shows breadth to his tastes, it also suits his brute physicality better than some of his other watches. It's a rugged stainless steel with inner workings on show to see how it ticks,which is kinda like Chris Hemsworth when it comes to his inner workings – he's nothing short of an open book on how to stay in shape.