Welcome to Watches of the Week, where we’ll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.
Last summer, all Drake did was rest. On New Year’s, he stretched. And on Valentine’s Day, he had sex. That’s at least according to his new song “What’s Next.” As for what’s next-next? We’ll see, he promised.. Well, what happened next is what’s happened so many times over Champagne Papi’s career: he got a new watch. Seen leaving the studio alongside Zack Bia and assorted other crew members, Drake was spotted wearing one of the coolest Rolex Daytonas we’ve seen in a while. This frosty blue-dialed Daytona was released in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the model, and Rolex went big for the Daytona’s 50th: the brand made the watch in platinum for the first time ever, and then paired the ice-blue bezel with the chocolate-brown bezel—also a first for the Daytona. At the time of its release, this added up for a very luxurious take on the sports watch. Eight years later, it remains a favorite among collectors, as evidenced by Drake getting his hands on one. And his wasn’t the only big Daytona this week.
Drake’s MO as a watch collector seems to be to always keep us guessing. One moment he’s icing-out his Patek Philippe Nautilus—a big no-no among collectors—and the next he’s buying blue-chip Daytonas that any hardcore enthusiast would want.
Drake’s timing couldn’t be better, either. While it was a big deal for Rolex to outfit its sporty Daytona in platinum and an icy blue dial in 2013, the Crown has come a long way since then. Now, the Daytona comes in all sorts of precious metals—and this week Rolex unveiled a version of the watch with a dial made out of meteorite. The Daytona has only gotten more interesting since Drake’s was released—and at least some of that shift can be traced back to this very piece.
Daniel Kaluuya continues to sweep award shows with his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah, and he continues to wear great watches while doing so. At the Critics’ Choice Awards awards, Kaluuya wore an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra. And on Sunday, during the Screen Actors Guild awards, Kaluuya was working with this Cartier Ballon Bleu. Get a good look at Kaluuya’s version of the watch, because Cartier just unveiled its successor at Watches & Wonders. The new Ballon Bleu will size down, from Kaluuya’s 42mm to 40, and now comes with those three words every watch collectors dreams of: I love you “in-house movement.” Meaning, essentially, that Cartier will now manufacture the mechanism that powers the watch rather than acquiring it from an external watchmaker.
The white-and-black Panda dial may very well be the mack daddy of modern Daytonas. The watch first came out in 2016, but that hasn’t stopped folks, like those at watch blog Time & Tide, from asking years later, “Is it the GOAT steel sports model?” While Drake’s ice blue-and-brown may require a collector comfortable with some flash to get away with, Griffin’s vintage-inspired panda dial is a true crowd-pleaser. Just like his dunks.
One small silver lining of Zoom award show season are the photoshoots celebrities now do to replace red carpet photos. If you’re going to get all dressed up for a show, there’s no point in only letting people see the top half of you while clapping politely for the rest of the nominees. It’s an honor just to be nominated, but not to have the opportunity for a fit pic denied. So that explains Redmayne striking a pose here in his Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra. This piece is part sports watch, part dress watch, and all handsome. The dial pattern is inspired by the look of a deck on a boat—I’m going to venture a guess and say the source of inspiration was closer to a yacht than a dinghy.
There’s the Rolex Daytona is one of, if not the, hottest sports watch in the world: the watch popped up on the wrist of three prominent figures in the span of a week. Spieth’s is another luxury take on the racing watch: made out of white gold with a “Cerachrom” bezel (Rolex’s term for its ceramic), this piece is more comfortable in the luxury box than the pit at Daytona. Three very different dudes, three very different Daytonas—I challenge you to find another watch with the same range.