Feature: These Watches Were Made By Their Famous Fans
You don’t need to be a diehard watch nerd to know about the late, great Paul Newman’s love of the Rolex Daytona or fellow actor Steve McQueen’s ties to TAG Heuer’s Monaco. Many watches have become icons thanks to their famous wearers; the same can be said for these five timepieces below and their celebrity fans.
Andy Warhol’s Cartier Tank
Image courtesy of Bonhams.
Considering Warhol is one of the most famous and influential artists of the 20th century, someone who created colourful pop culture-adorned pieces, you may think his watch of choice—the Cartier Tank—is a little lacklustre in comparison. Well, turns out the Tank is the only watch for Warhol. Speaking fondly of it, he admitted he didn’t wear his Tank to tell the time and that in fact, he never even wound it. He wore it, he said, because “it is the watch to wear!”.
King Constantine of Greece’s Hublot
Hublot and royalty seems an unlikely pairing but when the watchmaker burst onto the scene in the 1980s it was a hit with some of Europe’s royals. King Constantine of Greece took a particular shine to its watches, even treating his brother-in-law King Carlos of Spain to one. The Hublot love spread far and wide to other royals, too, including King Gustav of Sweden, Prince Albert and Princesses Caroline and Stephanie of Monaco, to name but a few.
Karl Lagerfeld’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo
Image courtesy of Phillips.
The late fashion designer was renowned for his gothic all-black look. In fact, he was so dedicated to his aesthetic that he often wore a rare all-black PVD-coated Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Lagerfeld loved his AP so much he even described it as a “fetish item”. Like most in the fashion industry, Lagerfeld was ahead of the curve with his all-black PVD watch, something that was a new phenomenon when he started rocking his in the 1970s.
Sylvester Stallone’s Panerai Luminor
Image courtesy of Phillips.
The story goes that Stallone fell in love with Panerai’s Luminor after spotting it in a shop window while in Florence filming the 1996 film Daylight. He even wore the Luminor during shooting for the action-packed movie, making it a staple piece for his character. Stallone later commissioned the first ever Slytech from Panerai, loving it so much he requested a further 200 of them to gift to friends and family at Christmas.
Rafael Nadal’s Richard Mille
Wearing a watch that is super-light and can withstand shocks of up to 10,000 gs is handy when you’re a superstar tennis player like Rafael Nadal, and that’s exactly what this collaboration with Richard Mille is built to do. Having so far created a handful of pieces with this innovative watchmaker, Nadal is a certified Richard Mille fan, saying his watches have become like a “second skin” for him.
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