From metal Daytonas to Royal Oak Offshores to pink Oyster Perpetuals, licensed GOAT Lionel Messi is a dyed-in-the-wool watch man. Into all the pieces from sub-$10K time-only items to real masterworks of staggering horological complexity, he has a wide-ranging assortment that all the time retains us on our toes. Most significantly, the man is aware of the best way to enjoyable, pairing heavyweight horological items with ones which can be extra whimsical. His newest acquisition combines each of these qualities.
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The watch is the Royal Oak Idea “Companion” Tourbillon, a particular, limited-edition AP made in collaboration with KAWS, aka Brian Donnelly, the famed American visible artist recognized for the Mickey Mouse-like determine that seems in a lot of his work. Messi was noticed within the design as he arrived at a match in opposition to FC Dallas final Sunday. (You will get a greater view of Messi and the watch on this gallery.) Launched in late 2024, the “Companion” Tourbillon places the namesake determine entrance and heart, its skull-and-crossbones head seen beneath a sapphire crystal, a tourbillon poking out from its chest. Wanting as if its face is pressed in opposition to the glass crystal, the Companion is machined from titanium and options gray lacquer eyes.
Relatively than obscure this inventive dial with a set of standard fingers, AP opted for a peripheral time show with rotating hour and minute fingers set on rotating, roller-guided wheels. The case itself—measuring a hefty 43-mm extensive by 17.4-mm tall—is crafted from light-weight titanium and paired to a light-weight gray textured calfskin strap with a titanium folding clasp. (It additionally comes with a further darkish grey calfskin strap.) Inside, the hand-wound Audemars Piguet cal. 2979 boasts a tourbillon and a 72-hour energy reserve.
This spectacular feat on the intersection of artwork and horology is changing into a convention at Audemars Piguet. The watchmaker can also be behind a pair of Marvel-themed Royal Oak Idea items that includes Spider-Man and Black Panther. These paved the way in which for the artist’s distinctive imaginative and prescient. “I believed, If I’m going to do a watch with them, I wish to do one thing that’s actually consistent with the sculptures I do and have it reside in a watch area,” Donnelly instructed GQ again in November of 2024. “Seeing the Marvel [watches], instantly I knew there was no query we might go in that path.” To make sure, the concept of the Companion “trapped” inside the watch’s dial is each novel and arresting, drawing one in for a more in-depth look. That the piece can also be geared up with a hand-wound tourbillon motion virtually looks like a throwaway earlier than one considers the unimaginable micro-engineering that goes into crafting such an engine.
Having listed for practically a quarter-million bucks upon its debut and now buying and selling for practically double that, this limited-edition of 250 items doesn’t come low cost. However once you’re one of many biggest gamers within the historical past of soccer—sorry, soccer—these types of purchases are properly inside your purview. One factor’s for positive: The “Companion” is a troublesome timepiece to outdo. Messi should pull out all of the stops as he will get his wrist prepped for the following Inter Miami sport!
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Sebastian Stan’s Santos de Cartier
Showing on the world premiere of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, Sebastian Stan wore the small model of Cartier’s Santos. Housed in a two-tone yellow gold and metal case, this good-looking watch is a contemporary tackle a mannequin impressed by Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, whose early, pioneering flights round Paris made him a celeb on the flip of the twentieth century—and who was stated to be a private good friend of Louis Cartier. The unique Santos was made for Dumont to put on throughout flight. That includes the gathering’s signature screwed-down bezel—whose aesthetic is replicated on the matching bracelet—it has a white Roman-numeral dial with a railroad minute monitor and blued metal sword fingers.
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Courtesy of Jacob & Co.
Luka Dončić’s Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon
Whereas he could have been bounced from the playoffs this week, Luka Dončić’s horological scorching streak stays intact. Earlier than his ultimate sport of the saeson, Dončić’s wore the Jacob & Co. Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon in a brand new Anthracite Matte Titanium colorway. A $310,000 superwatch, the timepiece is an insane feat of design and engineering: its case and dial echo the form of the Bugatti Chiron and its W16 engine block, with a tourbillon carriage within the type of a radiator and an influence reserve that appears like a gasoline gauge. Surrounded by 4 shock-absorbing springs and a particular tubular construction that protects a flying tourbillon, the 578-component motion animates like an precise automotive engine, its pistons firing up and down in sapphire glass cylinders. Wild!
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Courtesy of Chopard
John Mulaney’s Chopard Alpine Eagle
You possibly can’t inform us watches aren’t getting extra devoted display screen time as of late. For those who’re maintaining along with his pleasant selection present, you may’ve noticed John Mulaney checking the time on his trusty 18K rose gold Chopard Alpine Eagle this week. Decked out, handsomely as ever, in a single-breasted brown, the comic conspicuously consulted his luxurious sports activities watch, which incorporates a 41-mm gold case with an identical built-in bracelet; a good looking, galvanically handled Aletsch blue dial with utilized indices and a 3 o’clock date window; and the model’s in-house 01.01-C automated motion with 60 hours of energy reserve. Whereas Mulaney has worn a number of fascinating watches recently, he’s proven a selected affinity for Chopard, whose Mille Millia chronograph appeared on his wrist simply final month.
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Kevin Hart’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Le Mans”
Kevin Hart wore one of many hottest watches of the previous few years: the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Le Mans” in yellow gold. Although the watch launched in white gold in 2023, the Crown discontinued that model inside a yr, changing it with a yellow gold model that’s confirmed simply as scorching. Produced in honor of the one centesimal anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this particular Daytona options all types of little Easter eggs for the classic Rolex lover: It is bought “unique” typography within the subdials, plus a crimson “100” index on its tachymeter bezel. Coolest of all is its 12-hour counter, which has been changed with a particular 24-hour counter that required a devoted motion modification.
