If you happen to’re trying to spot some horological warmth, you possibly can do a lot worse than to easily wait round for Lionel Messi to set foot on a soccer pitch. Time and time once more—that’s a watch pun, by the best way—the Inter Miami and Argentine nationwide crew captain has confirmed that he’s as critical a collector as any NBA record-setter, and he’s setting the usual once more this week.
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This time it was yet one more high-caliber watch from Audemars Piguet that caught our consideration. Noticed in Miami, Messi wore a Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph, a restricted version of simply 50 items. Designed by Emmanuel Gueit, the Offshore was conceptualized as a extra brash, masculine model of Gérald Genta’s Royal Oak and debuted in 1993. Because the story goes, Genta was appalled quite than flattered by the brand new design, however gross sales communicate for themselves. Actors (Schwarzenegger, Stallone), musicians (Jay-Z) and athletes (Novak Djokovic) have proudly championed the mannequin. The Offshore’s acclaim has steadily grown alongside that of its cousin (the posh sports activities watch OG) the Royal Oak.
Messi’s model is a powerhouse. It is available in a 43-mm black ceramic case with titanium pusher guards and options the Offshore’s signature chunky riff on Genta’s Royal Oak design. The octagonal screw-down bezel is current and accounted for, as is the built-in bracelet fashion, which takes the type of a rubber strap on Messi’s piece.
The skeletonized dial, in the meantime, is the place all of the magic occurs: A black minute observe with white printing surrounds twin chronograph counters in an identical shade scheme, and a spinning tourbillon is seen at 6 o’clock. Luminescent white-gold palms present a legible image of the time, whereas the watch’s computerized Calibre 2967 with 526 parts is seen beneath artfully organized bridges.
In 2023, the mannequin turned 30, and the model celebrated with a slew of funky, new limited-edition variations, together with the one seen right here on Messi’s wrist. And although this reference isn’t AP’s most intricate—the corporate makes all kinds of calendar and conceptual fashions—it’s definitely no slouch both: The Calibre 2967’s chronograph consists of flyback functionality, which permits the wearer to reset it with out first stopping it—and let’s not overlook concerning the tourbillon, a tool invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet to compensate for the destructive results of gravity upon a pocket watch’s steadiness and escapement (its actual use immediately, when folks put on their watches on their wrist, is as a technical flex and a blinding spectacle).
Messi, after all, is not any stranger to Audemars Piguet. Again in 2012 he was a model ambassador, and AP even honored him with a limited-edition Royal Oak in metal, pink gold, and platinum. As of late he can definitely be seen in different watches (together with the Rolex Daytona, the Louis Vuitton Tambour, and extra), however there’s little doubt that La Brassus holds a particular place in his coronary heart.
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ASAP Rocky’s Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 5811/1G
ASAP Rocky was noticed in one of many luxurious sports activities watch OGs, a Patek Philippe Nautilus. His reference 5811/1G, launched in 2022, is the white-gold religious successor to the beloved metal ref. 5711, the time-and-date mannequin discontinued by the model in 2021. (There’s presently no metal equal watch with a blue dial within the Patek catalog—the 5811, whereas white gold, is visually as shut as one can get.) Measuring 41 mm by simply 8.1mm tall, it, after all, options the mannequin’s famed built-in bracelet with patented fold-over clasp, porthole-inspired case design, and horizontally embossed dial. Refined and good-looking, the Nautilus three-hander is a basic for a motive. Rocky clearly has a smooth spot for the Nautilus. He was just lately seen carrying the classic 3800 reference from the ’80s that was the primary to shrink the mannequin’s “Jumbo” proportions.
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Regé-Jean Web page’s Breitling Premier
Making the press rounds for his new movie, Black Bag, Regé-Jean Web page wore a surprising Breitling Premier chronograph that may simply must go on my Hannukah listing. Measuring 40 mm in stainless-steel, the vintage-inspired reference options an unbelievable gold-tone dial with an outer tachymeter scale, twin chronograph totalizers, utilized Arabic indices, and a luminous syringe handset. Although its bigger case dimension is a giveaway, for those who had been to view this watch—with its paddle pushers, lack of crown guards, and aforementioned classically styled dial—from afar, you would possibly simply assume it was a chunk from the Forties. Powered by the automated Breitling B09 manufacture motion, nevertheless, it’s very a lot a contemporary creation.
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Dwyane Wade’s Tiffany Eternity 28 MM Cushion-Formed Watch
Dwyane Wade made an look on The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon in full-on Tiffany & Co. regalia. The pièce de résistance, so far as we watch nerds are involved, was an Eternity 28-mm Cushion-Formed Watch, a ’60s/’70s-inspired piece with a cushion-shaped white-gold case, a diamond-set bezel and crown, and a good-looking black dial with 12 diamond indices in varied cuts. (For these holding rating at residence, the shapes are: spherical good, baguette, cushion, Tiffany True, marquise, Asscher, coronary heart, pear, oval, emerald, triangle, and princess) Paired to a calf leather-based strap, and quartz powered, it’s proof optimistic that small watches should not going away.
