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Patrick Mahomes celebrated the Chiefs' Super Bowl win while wearing a $47,000 Rolex. Here are 23 of the priciest watches worn by the world's top athletes.
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Last week, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
celebrated his Super Bowl win at a victory parade in Missouri
with his teammates -
and he did so while wearing a $47,000 Rolex, according to
Robb Report.
But that flashy watch is far from the most lavish timepiece in
the sports world. In December, Cristiano Ronaldo accepted his
sixth award for men's player of the year at the Globe Soccer
Awards in Dubai while wearing
the most expensive Rolex ever created, which is valued at
half a million dollars.
Expensive Swiss mechanical watches don't have much practical use
on the field, court, or track, though it's not uncommon to see
the world's biggest athletes wearing high-end, luxury
timepieces during their events, either.
That kind of athletic prowess is a marketing tool. Watch brands
are eager to sponsor elite athletes, from tennis champions like
Nadal and Federer to fighters like Floyd
Mayweather, not for their horological expertise but for their
aura - which sells.
We got a helping hand from the experts at
Crown & Caliber to determine the makes and models of
timepieces worn by the world's top athletes. They are listed here
in ascending order of price.
Russell Sheldrake contributed to an earlier version of this
article.
Despite his own line of timepieces being on the lower end of the
luxury watch bracket, it looks as though he has some special
editions worth much more in his collection.
When Andy Murray won his first Wimbledon Championship in 2013,
he was a Rado brand ambassador, and as soon as he won, he
reportedly hurried to slap on his Rado Hyperchrome.
He put it on so quickly he didn't notice that it was
seven hours out. He has since dropped Rado as a sponsor and
instead works with brands such as Jaguar and Under Armour.
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David Beckham— Tudor Black Bay Chrono, $5,100
David Beckham is one of the major sponsors for Tudor's Born to
Dare campaign and is often seen wearing one of the brand's highly
popular watches.
Beckham sits alongside other high-profile ambassadors of Tudor
such as Lady Gaga and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
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Rory McIlroy seems to be very happy with his partnership with
Omega, according to his Instagram.
He must have a pretty big collection of them by now, as not only
will Omega gift him certain watches (see clip above), but he is
also given a new timepiece when he
wins certain golf tournaments.
"Tiger Woods still has a long career ahead of him, and […] has
all the qualities required to continue to mark the history of
golf," the company said in 2011 when they announced the
sponsorship deal.
It looks like their investment is finally paying dividends.
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Roger Federer — Rolex Sky-Dweller in stainless steel, $14,400
Roger Federer is one of Rolex's best-known ambassadors, and you
won't see him lifting a trophy without one of the luxury watches
on his wrist, each of them hand-picked to match the tournament.
At the Australian Open in January 2017, Federer lifted an
impossible-to-find Rolex Sky-Dweller in stainless steel along
with the trophy.
The Sky-Dweller is the most complicated watch that Rolex makes,
according to
Hodinkee.
While this watch was probably provided for him by Rolex, Federer
wouldn't have much of an issue buying it, as he was the
highest-paid tennis player of 2019, according to
Forbes.
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Lewis Hamilton — IWC Big Pilot Special Edition, $33,300
Lewis Hamilton and the entire Mercedes F1 team is sponsored by
IWC. Therefore, Hamilton gets to wear a lot of rare and limited
edition IWC watches.
The one pictured above is believed to be an IWC Big Pilot
Perpetual Calendar in yellow gold, but no price for this watch
can be found publicly.
The 2019 version of the limited edition watch is valued at 33,000
Swiss Francs (or about $33,300).
Michael Jordan — IWC Big Pilot Platinum Limited Edition, $35,500
In 2016, NBA legend Michael Jordan received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom from President Obama -
you may remember the memes.
What you may not remember, though, was Jordan's wristwear, which
happened to be an IWC Big Pilot Platinum Limited Edition, ref.
5002-02, according to
Hodinkee.
The limited edition timepiece was made in only 500 pieces,
according to
Watchfinder&Co., and was on sale from roughly 2003 to
2006.
Watchdetails
projects that the retail price for this limited edition watch, if
you can find it, falls around $35,500.
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Elina Svitolina — Ulysse Nardin Marine Lady Chronometer, $35,800
Elina Svitolina is one of the Ukraine's top tennis stars and is
currently ranked
number three in the world by the WTA. Since she has partnered
up with Swiss brand Ulysse Nardin, she has been spotted wearing
multiple models by them.
Here she is wearing the rose gold and diamond covered Marine
Chronometer.
Conor McGregor is known for his massive displays of wealth and
love of all things expensive. Here you can see him wearing a
yellow gold Rolex Sky Dweller on a brown alligator strap.
While this is perfect for a man who is constantly in different
time zones, McGregor is also known for having a
varied collection.
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Usain Bolt — Hublot Big Bang UNICO, $39,900
These were produced by Hublot at the start of the 2016 athletics
season to commemorate Bolt's career and his final season on the
track.
With a depiction of his silhouette doing his signature
lightning pose in one of the subdials, the watch is truly one
of a kind, just like Bolt himself.
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LeBron James — Customized Audemars Royal Oak Offshore, $49,500
James' Audemars Piguet is customized in 18k gold, but you can buy
a similar regular version on
Crown & Caliber for $49,500.
Stephen Curry — Santos de Cartier Skeleton, $63,500
Cartier's new take on its classic caused quite a stir in the
horological community when it was relaunched in April 2018, and
it was largely agreed to be a stunning piece of design.
The price tag is unlikely to make much of a dent in the wallet of
the Warriors star, though - his $40 million salary makes him the
highest-earning player
in the NBA.
Curry's elegant Santos is a refreshing break from the louder
timepieces worn by his NBA colleagues, who tend to opt for Hublot
Big Bangs, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores, and garish
Richard Milles.
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Paul Pogba — Richard Mille RM 30 White Rush, $166,500
Manchester United's Paul Pogba has a basic salary of £290,000
(roughly $357,512) a week, according to
Goal.com, which goes some way to explaining how the French
midfielder is able to afford a $166,500 timepiece.
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Cristiano Ronaldo — Rolex GMT-Master II Ice, $500,000
As Business Insider previously reported, Cristiano Ronaldo wore
the most expensive watch Rolex has ever created, valued at
nearly half a million dollars, at a soccer conference in Dubai on
December 28, 2019. The diamond-encrusted timepiece has made
appearances in his Instagram posts since.
Nadal is a big ambassador for Richard Mille and one of the very
few athletes on this list who wears their watch while competing.
His specially designed Richard Mille RM27-02 was made with
top-of-the-line shock absorption technology for a mechanical
watch with a design inspired by racing car chassis, making it
virtually indestructible. There is also orange in the design to
reflect the clay courts of Roland Garros, where Nadal has
dominated for so many years.
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Serena Williams — Audemars Piguet Diamond Outrage, $1.25 million
Williams topped her male counterparts when she wore this
ludicrously opulent Audemars Piguet Diamond Outrage to the Met
Gala in 2017.
The truly absurd looking spiked bracelet watch is made of white
gold and encrusted with 65 carats' worth of precious stones. The
watch face itself is hidden beneath one of the spikes and is
powered by a caliber 2701 quartz movement.
That time, he only wore the pricey watch during warmups and took
it off before the game. While it was at first widely reported
that Beckham wore an RM 56-02, the experts at
Professional Watches reported that it actually looks more
like the older RM 56-01 - which is marginally less expensive at
$1.95 million instead of $2.02 million.
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Floyd Mayweather — Jacob & Co. 'Billionaire Watch,' $18 million
The Billionaire is set with 260 carats of emerald-cut diamonds,
and even the bracelet is diamond-set.
Mayweather used the watch to insult rapper 50 Cent in a feud,
saying in
an Instagram post, "You're Not Supposed To Be Beefing With
Me. You're Supposed To Be Beefing With My WATCH. Me And You Are
Not On The Same Level!!!"
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