When Henry Golding arrived in Hollywood, a town with no shortage of expensive habits, he didn’t wait long to indulge his own. That is: He copped another fancy watch, a gold Cartier Tank, which he wore to the premier of his very first film, Crazy Rich Asians. It was Golding’s love of watches that brought us to Manhattan’s Diamond District the day after the film opened in theaters across America. It was stiflingly hot, and supposedly Golding’s day off, but he pulled up in a loden green Prada suit and white T-shirt, which he had worn for an extra talk-show appearance he squeezed in. We were there to do what internationally stylish men do when they’ve had a bit of career success: ogle absurdly expensive timepieces.

“It’s addictive, it really is,” said Golding, who has collected a half-dozen pieces of wrist heat. “When you find the watch you’re looking for, it’s such a buzz.” At the time of our meeting, nobody knew whether Crazy Rich Asians’ hype would translate to box-office sales. After all, it was the first all-Asian Hollywood movie in 25 years, and it was fronted by an actor who had never before had a single acting credit. Golding’s nascent celebrity had not yet reached W. 37th St.; at Avi & Co., where we slipped on an array of Rolex Daytonas and Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks that cost several years’ worth of rent, the proprietor gamely asked, “You guys work around here?”

Jacket, price upon request, by Giorgio Armani / Sweater, $265, by Vince / His own watch, Omega Seamaster DeVille / Ring, his own.

Since then, CRA has gone number one worldwide, becoming the most successful American rom-com in nearly a decade. In the film, Golding wore his personal Omega Seamaster DeVille, acquired in his former life as a BBC travel-show host. I assumed it was because, as a watch buff, Golding knew the piece would suit the debonair Singaporean scion Nick Young. Which was true—but there also wasn’t much else for him to wear. For such a high-profile production, it was difficult to find sponsors to lend their products to the film. Were watch companies afraid of an Asian cast? “It’s really tough getting brands behind a movie that’s trying to break ground,” Golding said. “No one was showing up. I think Hublot lent some watches for other characters, but they were the only ones.”

Crazy Rich Asians would go on to prove the naysayers wrong. (“A few brands might be jumping on coattails for the next one,” Golding said, laughing.) Despite being the lead, Golding cannot be said to be the reason butts were in seats. But alongside Hollywood greats like Michelle Yeoh and Ken Jeong, and young comedic superstars Jimmy O. Yang and Awkwafina, Golding showed that he could hold his own and deliver more than his fair share of the charming movie’s charming moments. In doing so, he proved himself wrong.

“The first week on set, I thought, They are going to replace me,” he said in his silky British accent. “I literally thought, Oh, they fucking hate me.” After all, Golding didn’t have much time to adjust to the idea of Henry Golding: Hollywood Star. He was a TV-show host living between Malaysia and Singapore when CRA director Jon M. Chu followed him on Instagram, having been tipped off by an accountant working on the film that Golding, whom she had met some years before, might be a good fit. A film buff ever since his brother gifted him The Matrix on VHS when he was 12—he put the tape in at midnight, watched it once, then rewound it and watched it all the way through again—Golding did have a vague plan laid out to eventually make his way to the big screen.