At 22, Eileen Gu is already ahead – but she’s only just beginning
Leaping from win to win
“IS THIS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?” It’s the first thing Eileen Gu says when I ask what’s next – delivered with a laugh, slightly calling me out. Fair. At 22, she’s already an Olympic gold medallist, a Stanford student, and one of the most recognisable faces in sport and fashion. Still, the question stands – what comes after all of that?
We’re speaking at Watches and Wonders, where everything moves quickly – appointments stacked on top of each other, trays of new releases constantly appearing, people everywhere – but she doesn’t feel rushed at all. There’s a calmness to her, like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be. That is, when she’s not juggling two jobs or out on the slopes.
On her wrist is the IWC Schaffhausen Portofino Automatic Day & Night 34 Le Petit Prince. It’s a beauty, a watch that doesn’t try too hard – a deep blue dial, clean, classic – but then there’s that detail at six o’clock. A tiny Little Prince standing on the moon. You wouldn’t necessarily notice it straight away, and that’s what makes it great.
“I really love it,” she says. “You can wear it for the detail, or you can just see it as this really beautiful, elegant blue watch.”
The 34mm case gives it a softer presence than the traditional Big Pilot line. It’s still grounded in IWC’s aviation DNA, but scaled for daily wear. The sunray blue dial, a Le Petit Prince signature, catches the light subtly. Arabic numerals and a clean layout ground it in pilot watch tradition. It’s precise but not highly technical, which is why it works with tailoring or something more relaxed.
Gu styled it with a custom-made jacket – “something a little bit princely,” she laughs again – and if you saw it all together, the whole thing just works.
And that’s kind of the thing with this particular watch. Within IWC Schaffhausen’s lineup this year – which leans on stronger, more overtly technical releases – the Le Petit Prince sits slightly to the side.
The new Ingenieur updates, for example, feel sharper and more industrial; the wider Pilot’s range continues to push into performance and material innovation. But this one is different. It’s quieter. More about detail than display.
It’s also one of those pieces people keep coming back to – not because it’s the newest or the most complicated, but because it feels right. Familiar, in a good way. And yes, maybe because Eileen Gu now owns one. That balance – between performance and ease – is kind of where Gu sits naturally, too. And it comes through in how she talks about success.
“For me, it’s about using whatever platform I have to create as much positive impact as possible, on a global scale. I feel like things are becoming more intentional now,” she says. “But I’m still figuring it out.”
Which brings you back to that first line – is this not enough for you? Maybe it is. But she doesn’t seem particularly interested in stopping there.
“I’m only 22,” she says, almost shrugging it off. “I feel like I’m just getting started.” And the way she says it, you get the sense she actually means it.
Watch this space. Discover more at iwc.com.au.
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The four IWC Schaffhausen watches worth your attention from Watches and Wonders 2026
