Given his stature as one of the crucial fashionable gamers in basketball, it’s little shock that LeBron James’s watch assortment is each huge and stuffed with items we mortals would have bother ever getting our arms on. (See right here, right here, and right here.) The face of Louis Vuitton’s newest menswear marketing campaign beneath the path of Pharrell, King James is continually bringing the sartorial and horological warmth—and all this whereas remaining the all-time main scorer in NBA historical past.
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On the Browns-Rams recreation this previous Sunday, he was noticed with yet one more glorious watch: a Rolex Yacht-Grasp 40 ref. 126655. The Yacht-Grasp, which debuted in 1992, is a kind of elevated tackle the Submariner impressed by the yachting world. With its bi-directional, 60-minute Cerachrom bezel, it might in any other case be confused with the model’s famed dive watch—however its precious-metal (and titanium) configurations, non-compulsory rubber bracelets, and particular dials set it aside.
The ref. 126655, cased in Everose gold and paired to a rubber Oysterflex strap, is offered with a sporty black dial—however that’s not the choice Bron sprang for. James’s specific instance contains a glowing, pavé diamond dial that might conceivably mirror daylight again into area, it’s so darn lustrous. With its utilized, luminous hour plots, Mercedes handset, and date window at 3 o’clock, it’s nonetheless readily identifiable as a Rolex sports activities watch—solely with an expensive twist. Certain, you would take this look ahead to a swim—it’s water-resistant to 300m, in spite of everything—however put it in a stadium seat on the wrist of one of the crucial well-known athletes on the earth, and it really shines.
What’s notable about this piece is that it’s a factory-dial watch; seen on the Rolex web site, it’s (theoretically) on the market on the earth for anybody with $46,600—and a long-established historical past with their licensed seller—to snag. James appears to embrace each catalog and off-catalog items, that means these whose gross sales are restricted and which aren’t publicized; these are sometimes high-gem items such because the “Eye of the Tiger” Daytona beforehand seen on his wrist earlier this yr.
With a group that spans Rolex sport watches, loopy Richard Mille items, black ceramic Royal Oaks, and extra, James has greater than confirmed his horological bona fides. All he must do now could be work with Pharrell on a La Fabriques du Temps-produced Louis Vuitton watch. Now that may be a collab for the ages.
Taylor Hill
Robert Downey Jr’s Cartier Santos Dumont
One can at all times depend on RDJ for horological displaying—I imply, who else strikes seamlessly from pretty normal fare just like the TAG Heuer Monaco to a liquid-filled HYT? The Iron Man star shook issues up additional this week when he strapped on a most glorious (and extremely uncommon) Cartier Santos-Dumont for the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles. A current debut from this previous yr’s Watches & Wonders present in Geneva, the ref. CRWGSA0053 contains a 31.5mm lacquered burgundy case paired to a silver Roman numeral dial and an identical crimson ruby cabochon crown. Powered by an ultra-thin, hand-wound motion, it’s a putting tackle a traditionally essential watch—and the proper accent for an actor as gripping and unpredictable as Downey.
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Mark Wahlberg’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
Rolex made refined updates to its nearly-impossible-to-snag Cosmograph Daytona chronograph for its sixtieth anniversary this yr, together with small adjustments to the hour markers and (for the primary time since 2000) a brand new motion. Wahlberg was clearly fast to safe himself an allocation of the “panda dial” variant, a reference 126500LN. With its 40mm Oystersteel case, black Cerachrom bezel, triple-register chronograph, and matching Oyster bracelet, the fashionable Daytona is likely one of the best-wearing, best-looking watches in the marketplace. Walhberg, a famous Rolex collector, has fairly a number of traditional fashions from the Crown in his assortment—however that hasn’t stopped him from branching out into different marques, together with Patek.
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Henry Golding’s Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5711
It’s been a minute since we’ve seen a 5711 within the wild—however that doesn’t diminish the singular significance of this most sought-after (discontinued) reference from Patek Philippe. Noticed on the wrist of Loopy Wealthy Asians heartthrob Henry Golding on the Pink Sea Worldwide Movie Competition in Jeddah, the Nautilus luxurious sports activities watch sprang from the thoughts of famed Swiss designer Gérald Genta in 1976. Famously discontinued by Patek boss Thierry Stern in 2021, the 40mm ref. 5711 was succeeded by the 41mm ref. 5811 in 2022—however that hasn’t diminished demand for the previous, which begin at roughly $90K on reseller Chrono24.com. Golding, a famous watch fanatic, wears it exceptionally effectively.
Kevin Winter
Charles Melton’s Alpine Eagle Frozen
American actor Charles Melton was additionally current on the 2023 Academy Museum Gala alongside RDJ—however sporting a really totally different watch. The Might December star was seen in a Chopard Alpine Eagle Frozen, a very iced-out tackle the model’s luxurious sports activities watch that debuted again in 2019. Powered by a chronometer-certified automated motion, the watch is cased in 18K white gold and is positively dripping with diamonds—over seven carats’ value, to be precise. The Alpine Eagle line, a non secular successor to the St. Mortiz assortment from the Eighties, is offered in all kinds of sizes and types, and the model doesn’t differentiate between males’s and ladies’s fashions on its web site. Melton’s watch, measuring 36mm, is ideal for any wrist.
