Lots of money, lots of goals, lots of watches. And above all, expensive watches: footballers are among the biggest collectors of timepieces. But, of course, these aren’t just any watches: the great champions choose hands and dials that cost a fortune and which they often keep closed in a drawer (or in a safe) to avoid bad adventures. Watchfinder & Co., a British company specializing in used luxury watches, has revealed which models some of the most famous champions have in their pockets.
Lionel Messi, for example, among his watches has a Patek Philippe Nautilus, considered one of the most sought after Grail Watches on the market. It is also one of the most iconic sports watches, with a rounded octagonal shape and porthole construction, which does justice to the name Nautilus (the submarine from Jules Verne’s book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea). The most surprising aspect is that Messi owns three different Nautiluses. The watch is sold in different versions, with prices ranging from 50,000 euros to over 3 million. The Nautilus was also chosen by the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimović.
A timeless classic of watchmaking is the Rolex. He owns a collection of timepieces by the Swiss brand Francesco Totti, former captain of Roma and considered one of the most talented footballers of all time. A Rolex Day-Date is on the wrist of two English forwards, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling. The Rolex Day-Date was first introduced in the 1970s and featured brightly colored enamel dials, red, green, blue and even amber, in keeping with the style of that decade. Today the watch has evolved into a more traditional timepiece, with more classic colors such as navy blue, ivory white and champagne.
The Rolex Daytona model is instead among the favorite watches of the goalkeeper of the English national team and of Everton, Jordan Pickford, and of the super champion Cristiano Ronaldo (long-time Tag Heuer ambassador), who now plays in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo, however, also owns (among others) a Rolex GMT-Master II 116769TBR, in 18-karat white gold completely covered with 30 carats of white diamonds and which costs more than 400,000 euros, plus a Jacob and Co. Epic X’ Flight of CR7, a Rolex GMT Master II Ice, a Breguet Classique Grande Complications Double Tourbillon, a Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron CR7, a Hublot Masterpiece MP09 Tourbillon Bi-Axis King Gold, a Franck Muller Tourbillon Trumps Van Cleef & Arpels, a Franck Muller Cintree Curvex Tourbillon, a Girard Perregaux Planetarium Tri-Axial, all with prices over $1 million. Not to mention the Bvlgari Octo Tourbillon Full Baguette Diamonds, a watch produced in just eight pieces and costing over 650,000 euros. The Rolex Daytona, by comparison, is a modest watch. It’s also the classic Indy-Car driver’s wristwatch: it was originally designed in the 1960s to meet the needs of racing drivers. By the way, in the English league, Manchester City’s Norwegian forward Erling Haaland also owns one, with a gold crown and a royal green dial.
Still in the top watches genre, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5164R has Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount and Liverpool Dutch defender Virgil Van Dijk as their counterparts. The Aquanaut was first introduced in 1997 as the little brother of the hugely popular Nautilus range, featuring a three-part case and screw-down crown capable of withstanding up to 120 meters of water pressure. Since it is a more accessible model of Patek Phillipe, the waiting list times have increased as a result: earlier this year the manufacturer officially closed the waiting list for the 40mm variant.
The French Kylian Mbappé, on the other hand, owns a Spirit of Big Bang King Gold Rainbow by Hublot in a special gold and platinum alloy, and studded with colored gems. On the other hand, the PSG striker is one of the ambassadors of Hublot.
