On Industry, It All Comes Back to the Watch

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Spoilers follow for season four of Industry.

Costume designer Laura Smith explains that her work on the show Industry was inspired by the detailed and surreal painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch’s 15th-century work, which depicts Eden, paradise, and hell with bizarre imagery like giant birds and fantastical creatures, reminded Smith of the show’s themes. “It’s essentially about the downfall of humanity,” Smith said in a video interview, referencing a card given to the cast and crew at the end of season four. The card featured the Pierpoint logo alongside The Garden of Earthly Delights, representing Smith and the show’s creators, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s, goal to pack as much visual detail as possible into each scene.

In the show Industry, clothing, jewelry, and watches aren’t just fashion choices – they reflect a character’s social status or aspirations. The choices are made collaboratively by the writers, Down and Kay, and the costume designer, Smith. Smith is particularly interested in how accessories, like historical mourning jewelry made with a loved one’s hair, represent personal connection. She sees modern accessories, especially watches, serving a similar purpose. “Instead of wearing hair in jewelry, we now have photos,” Smith explains. “Watches now hold that sentimental value, adding to their monetary worth.”

Costume designer Anna Smith sources watches from jewelers, secondhand shops, and her personal collection, and collaborates with brands like Omega, Rado, and Cartier. For the fourth season of Industry, she used a record-breaking 40 to 50 different watches on the show’s main characters. Smith explains her goal is to integrate the accessories seamlessly. “I want the pieces to feel important, but not obvious,” she says. “It’s about balance – figuring out what needs to stand out and what should blend in.”

The Main Players

This season explores the clash between established wealth and new money. Harper Stern and Eric Tao are seeking investment for their fund, which aims to challenge the company led by Henry and Yasmin. As Harper gains influence in the financial world, her style reflects her success, while Henry and Yasmin rely on family heirlooms that represent their long-held privilege. All this unfolds as Henry and Yasmin struggle to save both their company and their marriage.

Harper is building long-term wealth by collecting luxury watches and accessories. She owned just one watch last season, but now has three: a Cartier Tank Must, a TAG Heuer Link Date, and an Oris Aquis. This purchase happened off-screen at the end of season three, but it’s an important part of her story.

At the start of season three, after Charles kicked her out, Yasmin kept her grandmother’s rose-gold Cartier Tank watch because it meant so much to her. She also wears a beautiful Gucci watch, which I styled to evoke the classic, playful European look of Gianni Agnelli.

Mickey and Konrad requested a Datejust watch as a gift for Henry. I knew a watch dealer who had one available, and luckily, the production date suited our needs. It was a 1974 Rolex originally intended as an 18th birthday present for someone named Reginald Muck. Rolex sometimes creates very limited runs of certain models, which makes them more valuable. The price of some watches changes frequently depending on the materials they’re made of. We wanted something that would complement Yasmin’s Cartier watch, creating a visually harmonious pairing – it all contributed to the overall impression we were aiming for.

Tender’s assets

In the series, Tender CEO Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella) secretly works to ruin the career of his co-founder, Jonah Atterbury (Kal Penn), ultimately leaving Henry to take the blame for the company’s fraudulent activities. Before this betrayal, Whitney and Henry are attracted to each other. Whitney is drawn to Henry’s wealth and status, symbolized by his comfortable upbringing, while Henry admires Whitney’s success and envies the reputation he’s built for himself.

Both Jonah and Whitney wore Hublot watches – sleek, black, and highly polished timepieces. These watches aren’t just technically impressive; they’re a significant investment – the kind you’d cherish and potentially start a collection with.

Having your name stitched into your socks is something you mostly see with people who went to boarding school. We figured out that’s where Henry gets his drugs – Mickey, Konrad, Kit, and I all put it together. The same goes for clothes with initials on them. His robe is actually his father’s, from when he was younger – it’s a patterned, Chinese-style piece from the late 1960s.

Inheritance Pieces

The latest season of Industry explores who gets to stay at the top and how easily people can fall from grace. Yasmin is trying to expand Tender’s reach across Europe, and to do so, she needs to win over the wealthy Austrian family, the Bauers. However, the Bauers have a dark history, having supported Nazi Germany for generations and even displaying a painting by Hitler in their home. Meanwhile, Rishi, a former Pierpoint trader who married into wealth, has fallen on hard times. After losing everything due to gambling debts and the tragic murder of his wife, he’s now working as a low-level researcher and even a pimp. A symbol of his downfall? He’s traded in his Rolex for a cheaper watch. The season examines the challenges of maintaining status and the consequences of losing it all.

In the world of the story, a person’s family background and social standing are really important. I wanted Moritz and Johanna to have German or Austrian watches from the 1930s and 40s to reflect that. I found a Kienzle and another watch from that era through a vintage dealer. It felt fitting because Johanna is very attached to her personal space and the objects she loves most.

The scene where Rishi gives away his watch in season three is particularly sad. The idea was that he should pass it down to his son. Mickey and Konrad and I talked about making it a watch he’d really struggle to give up, but his situation felt hopeless, leaving him with no other option. It was a Rolex Sea-Dweller 2001, originally a gift to himself after receiving his first bonus at Pierpoint. In season four, having some watch was crucial for his character – something he’d realistically possess – but it needed to be a less flashy brand than the ones he’d owned before.

The Ghost of Pierpoint

I still remember when Eric became a partner in season three – it was a big moment! Bill Adler, his protégé, gave him these really cool gold cufflinks with the Pierpoint logo on them. It felt like a symbol of their relationship. But then, later in the season, Eric just completely tore Bill down in front of everyone, and it was awful. Tragically, Bill ended up passing away from brain cancer. It really stuck with me how Eric seemed haunted by it in season four, and that scene with Sweetpea noticing the cufflinks on his dresser? So chilling. It just showed how much that whole situation weighed on him.

The show has developed a rich backstory. For example, the cufflinks featured in season three were intentionally designed to represent both farming tools and a hidden threat. The creators, Mickey and Konrad, envisioned them as resembling a Renaissance-era stiletto, referencing a time when powerful banking families battled each other to establish their fortunes.

It was great that Mickey and Konrad enjoyed the show and wanted to see it again. All of the visuals were carefully planned and created. We have a dedicated graphics designer who collaborates with the art team to ensure everything looks consistent. The process for the cuff links was quite involved: first, a design was drawn, then it was 3D printed, followed by wax and metal casting, plating, and finally, finishing touches. These cuff links were unique to our show.

Eric treasured those cuff links; they were the last physical reminder he had of Pierpoint. Seeing Sweetpea casually play with them is heartbreaking, because they’ve become meaningless to her, and that hurts. The cuff links themselves are striking – almost weapon-like, but also beautiful. That duality mirrors Eric’s relationship with Pierpoint: the firm helped him achieve his ambitions, but also caused immense damage, ultimately destroying his marriage.

Beautiful treachery

In the final episode, “Both, And,” Harper discovers that Yasmin is raising money for the far-right politician Sebastian Stefanowicz (played by Edward Holcroft) and is now running an escort service using women who used to work for Whitney. This revelation causes a significant falling out between Harper and Yasmin. Notably, many of the women involved are wearing pearl jewelry, an accessory Harper and Yasmin both wore earlier in the season.

I was particularly pleased with how we used pearls this season. I’ve always been fascinated by them – the fact that something beautiful is created from irritation within an oyster is a compelling idea. Pearls draw people in; they’re treasures found deep in the ocean, but obtaining them isn’t without risk. The women who wore pearls in the show had clearly worked hard to achieve their success, and I felt the pearls visually represented that effort. Pearls also hold their value over time, which felt important to the message. There’s something almost shocking about pearls, as they’ve historically represented wealth and a traditional outlook. They can be both substantial and surprisingly delicate, and they featured prominently on the final characters. For Yasmin, the pearls signified a definitive ending – a sense of finality, like she was gone.

The head of Fiat wore his watch over his shirt sleeves.

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2026-03-07 00:56