In an extensive interview, Benedict talks about the newest Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Mariner Memovox watch, meditation and his next projects, like Doctor Strange 2, The Courier and The Power of the Dog.

Also, check out some new photos from the watchmaker photoshoot:

Discover the launch of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Mariner Memovox with the long-time friend of the Maison Benedict Cumberbatch. We caught up with the Marvel superhero on Zoom where he spoke at length about his passion for watches, meditation and diving. Excerpts below.

WTI: You spent some time in a monastery in Darjeeling. What did you learn from the monks about the concept of time?

BC: Yes I did live in a Tibetan monastery, it was a converted Nepali house near Darjeeling in West Bengal which is funnily enough on the eastern side of India. It’s an amazing piece of land above a tea plantation. It’s about 4000 metres elevation so the air is quite light and there were clouds rolling in the windows like dry ice. This house had a converted room at the top which was a Buddhist temple. Their idea of ritual and structure to the day was fascinating, but the deeper lessons were about impermanence – everything is constantly shifting and changing including your relationship to time. In a moment of meditation you could spend 10 minutes doing something that affords your life hours of benefit, or stretches of 10 minutes into what feels like an hour. Time passes and what you do in any given life is concentrated on a moment. You realise that you are constantly being seduced into thinking about the past or worrying about the future and that true happiness is attainable to all of us if we are in one moment of time – which is the present.

WTI: What is the first idea that comes to your mind when I ask you about time?

BC: I never have one idea. But sadly, I wish my life was that simple. You know, I played a character that had the time stone around his neck until late and that’s how this watch and the company came into my orbit. Time, in that regard, means a lot of things especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which you guys know about. But for me, time is about treasuring the value of it and the ever shifting nature of it. Especially now, I think all of our inner clocks and gravity have been shifted by what’s going on globally. And if there is anything positive to be taken from this, it’s about being given a lens by which to view and review your priorities. So, that’s a big old wormhole to go down. But I’d say the first idea that comes to my mind when talking about time now is the value of it, how precious it is.