Jun 11, 2015
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Star Time: 13 Celebrity-Branded Sports Watches
We list 13 celebrity watches - including the Hublot King Power “D-Wade" and RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal - developed in honor of, and named for, their famous representatives.
There is no shortage of celebrities, many of them celebrity athletes, who serve as "brand ambassadors" for watch brands, appearing in ads and attending events wearing their watches. However, a few of these stars go the extra mile, giving input and often even becoming involved in the design process, for special celebrity watches to which they lend their names. Below is a list of 13 celebrity watches developed in honor of, and named for, their famous representatives.
Richard Mille has developed several watches in collaboration tennis star Rafael Nadal, including the RM 035 Chronofiable® certified, the RM 027 Tourbillon, and most recently the RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal. Nadal often wears (and occasionally loses) his Richard Mille watches during his games. The RM-027 worn by Nadal was donated to the Only Watch auction in 2011 to fund research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. A subsequent model, the RM 27-01, debuted as the “the world’s lightest tourbillon” at 19 grams.
Nadal wearing the RM 27-01 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco.
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Rafael Nadal RM 027
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Richard Mille also designed a watch for professional golfer Bubba Watson, the RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson. As Watson golfs while wearing a watch, Richard Mille designed the watch with an emphasis on shock resistance, so that the tourbillon could endure the force of a golf swing. The RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson is a limited edition of 38 pieces priced at $525,000. Click here for more details.
Richard Mille RM 038 Tourbillon Bubba Watson
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After partnering with the L.A. Lakers, Hublot made NBA star and known watch lover Kobe Bryant its newest brand ambassador. The brand subsequently unveiled the King Power Black Mamba, named for Bryant’s NBA nickname. The watch, priced at $25,200, is a limited edition of 250 pieces, of which part of the proceeds will go toward the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. The watch features gold and purple details as an homage to the L.A. Lakers' uniform colors. More on the watch, and the partnership can be found here.
Kobe Bryant and the Hublot King Power Black Mamba
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Hublot previously partnered with another NBA player, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, to create the Hublot King Power “D-Wade." Wade collaborated with the brand to design the watch, which features a dial resembling a basketball and a strap with a basketball net-like pattern. The watch also has the color scheme of the Miami Heat uniform. Proceeds from sales of the watch — a limited edition of 500 pieces — went to Wade's charity, the Wade World Foundation. (Click here for WatchTime's interview with Wade about the watch. Hublot has also produced a special Miami Heat "team" watch; you can read about it here.)
Dwyane Wade wearing the Hublot King Power “D-Wade”
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Ulysse Nardin produced a watch in honor of official “friend of the brand” and baseball legend Randy Johnson, aka “The Big Unit." The Ulysse Nardin Big Unit Chronograph features several baseball-related details, including the number “51″ on the bezel — Johnson’s number — where the “50″ would normally be, as well as a small baseball icon as the counterweight of the seconds hand. The watch has a retail price of $15,500. Each of the 100 watches in the limited edition comes with a baseball autographed by Johnson. Click here for more on the Ulysse Nardin Big Unit and its origins.
Ulysse Nardin Big Unit Chronograph
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Audemars Piguet has produced a series of watches for a longtime friend of the brand, actor and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, an avid watch collector. Their collaboration resulted in several special editions, all with Schwarzenegger's design input, most recently the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph. (Click here for audio excerpts from WatchTime's exclusive interview with Schwarzenegger about his partnership with AP and his love of watches.) Schwarzenegger has subsequently announced plans to launch his own watch brand, some details of which can be found here.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger The Legacy Chronograph
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In 2013, yet another NBA superstar got his own personalized watch, also from Audemars Piguet. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore LeBron James limited edition, designed with the input of "King James" himself, combines a rose-gold case with a brushed titanium bezel for a more understated look than that of his former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade's Hublot. (Click here for details on the LeBron watch.)
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore LeBron James
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IWC created the one-of-a-kind Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Muhammad Ali in honor of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The watch was auctioned at the 18th annual Celebrity Fight Night gala to raise funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. The watch, modeled on IWC’s historic Big Pilot’s Watch of 1940, sold for $60,000.
IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Edition Muhammad Ali
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In honor of NASCAR star Danica Patrick, Tissot created the Tissot T-Race Danica Patrick 2012. This limited edition ladies' watch features a white dial with diamonds at each hour marker. Each watch in the limited edition of 4,999 features the Danica Racing logo on the caseback.
Tissot T-Race Danica Patrick 2012
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Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, TAG Heuer ambassador, had a personalized TAG Heuer timepiece made for him: the Leonardo DiCaprio Link Calibre 16 Chronograph. The limited-edition model features a blue dial and a smoked sapphire caseback engraved with DiCaprio’s signature. Sales of the watch will go to sales will go to DiCaprio’s environmental charity partners, Green Cross International and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The limited-edition Leonardo DiCaprio Link Calibre 16 Automatic Chronograph
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The world found out about Austrian skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner when he became the first man to break the sound barrier in freefall — and he did it while wearing a Zenith Stratos Flyback Striking 10th watch. Following up Baumgartner's history-making feat, Zenith created a special, personalized edition of that watch, the Zenith Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Tribute to Felix Baumgartner. The watch contains the famous Zenith El Primero chronograph movement and sports a solid caseback identifying the timepiece as the "first watch to break the sound barrier." (More details here.)
Zenith Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Tribute to Felix Baumgartner
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On the more affordable end of the spectrum, The Casio G-Shock Eminem edition — which was unveiled, along with other special 30th anniversary G-Shock watches, at Casio's 2013 "Shock the World event — is based on the GDX6900 G-Shock reference, here with a matte black case and black-reverse LCD dial, and features an array of Eminem iconography. A stylized silhouette of the city of Detroit — where Marshall Mathers, the future Eminem, famously grew up — is printed in red on the upper side of the black strap. The reverse “E” from the Eminem logo appears on the dial and in the strap loop. The caseback and the lower part of the strap also feature an autograph of “Shady,” the singer’s alter ego. The limited-edition G-Shock watch for Eminem is priced at $180.
Above: Casio G-Shock Eminem edition. Below: Eminem performs at the 2013 Casio G-Shock "Shock the World" Event in New York City.
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EMINEM at STW 2013
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This article was originally published on May 12, 2013 and has been updated with new material and links.
