The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak chronograph, ref. 26331ST, is one of the most sought-after Royal Oaks on the secondary market. The 41mm stainless steel chronograph with its blue Grande Tapisserie dial and contrasting rhodium-toned sub-dials routinely trades above $40,000, according to WatchCharts. Jeff Hammoud, Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, bought one to wear on one of the most significant days of his professional life.
“It’s probably my favorite watch because I’ve always wanted a Royal Oak, and I was finally at a point where I was able to afford one and buy one. That held a lot of significance for me, being able to do that as a watch collector,” Hammoud, the Canadian-Lebanese designer responsible for the look and feel of every vehicle Rivian builds, told Crown & Caliber.
When Hammoud first joined Rivian in 2017 fewer than 100 people worked there. “We didn’t know what was going to happen or where we were going to go,” Hammoud said. The electric automaker raised $11.9 billion in its 2021 IPO (the largest by a U.S. company since Facebook), posted $5.4 billion in revenue in 2025, and collected more than 100,000 reservations for its next vehicle, the R2. Earlier this year, Rivian formalized its in-house performance division, the Rivian Adventure Department (RAD), which Hammoud has described as “the living, breathing expression of the passion that defines Rivian.”
“For me, watch collecting is a way to self-indulge and treat myself,” he added. “I usually try to tie things to certain events. I bought the AP just before we revealed R2 and R3, and I wore it on the day of the launch [in March 2024] so it’s been relatively recent. That one holds a lot of significance. It was really a turning point for the company, but also for myself.”
But the Royal Oak was not the beginning of Hammoud’s collecting journey.
The watch that set the hook arrived on his 16th birthday, when his father passed down a Must de Cartier. It was a round, two-tone piece with gold Roman numerals set into a machined bezel and a bracelet composed of distinctive cylindrical links.
“Being 16 years old, I had a Cartier watch in high school, and nobody knew what it was,” Hammoud said. “But it was just this cool thing for me. And it was a really nice present from my dad. That was something that really started my love for watches.”
The Les Must de Cartier line, launched in 1977, was Cartier’s play to bring the house’s design language to a wider audience without abandoning its identity. The watches traded on the brand’s core visual codes at a more accessible price point.
“I wish I didn’t sell it. I sold it because I couldn’t afford the watches that I wanted. But I actually do the same thing with my cars now, I just upgrade,” he said.
When Hammoud sat down with Crown & Caliber, though, the timepiece on his wrist wasn’t either of those watches, but a Cartier Santos, ref. WSSA0055, the Middle East limited edition with a green sunburst dial and Eastern Arabic numerals on a black ADLC bezel.
“I’m Lebanese, so for me, having an Arabic dial is something that I really wanted. I know some of them are very out of reach. You can’t really get it in the US. I asked a friend in Saudi Arabia, ‘Hey, could you try to find one?’ And he grabbed it for me.”
