How Patrick Bateman’s Rolex Datejust heralded the new ‘executive style’

To be clear, American Psycho’s dead-eyed evocation of 1980s consumerism is not something we should aspire to. The lead character, Patrick Bateman, is, after all, a psychopath who tortures and murders prostitutes and homeless people in increasingly horrific ways. We’re not supposed to want to be like him.

Having said that, the world that Bret Easton Ellis depicts is one that remains remarkably similar to our own. The “nouveau cuisine” in the opening credits of the movie (which is 20 years old this year) are not dissimilar to the foodie Instagrams we now see every day. The obsessive attention to the minutiae of tailoring and fashion will ring true to anyone who likes to dress well. The workout and grooming regimes that seemed so extreme when we first read about them in the book and that were depicted with such spooky precision in the movie probably seem pretty tame now. For instance, I was recently asked to test drive a moisturising face mask that uses technology originally designed to help victims with third-degree burns. And have you ever been to a gym called “Third Space”? It’s scary.

Of course, it’s a bit of a leap to go from looking after yourself and dressing well to becoming a psychopathic murderer, but American Psycho remains a powerful indictment of the kind of competitive consumerism that has now been turbocharged by the internet.

In a novel obsessed with status, it’s only natural that Patrick Bateman’s Rolex Datejust (Ref 16013) is mentioned 26 times, including once when he’s laying in bed between two prostitutes and warns one of them, “Don’t touch the Rolex.”

It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that Rolex, with the help of its gold “presidential” and two-tone “jubilee” bracelet, became synonymous with the new “executive style”. Rolex was now a symbol not only of adventure and military valour but also of boardroom prowess, wealth and success.