Welcome to Watches of the Week, where we’ll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.
Richard Mille makes the most modern and exciting sports watches in the industry. The brand’s watches play by none of the rules followed by their round, stainless steel peers—RM makes sports watches for an athletic competition in the distant future, one that probably involves jet packs. Fittingly, athletes like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Odell Beckham, Jr., Paul Pogba, Bubba Watson, and Rafael Nadal all flock to the brand, many wearing their respective watches during competition. Former NBA MVP James Harden is also a fan. While he doesn’t wear his on the hardwood, the Brooklyn Net is legendary for taking his off-court activities as seriously as his on-court ones. Partying with Harden could be an event at the next Olympic Games, so let’s assume this watch gets put through the paces.
Harden is like the Santa Claus of Richard Mille: he has a famous beard, gives away lots of presents and sends things away—including already $70,000 watches—to his workshop for tinkering. This, clearly, isn’t the same RM-30 that left the factory. Harden swapped out the standard bracelet for one in pearl white, and also flooded the watch’s case with a sheet of diamonds. This is why they call Harden the ultimate floor-raiser.
Fresh off starring in The White Lotus, the biggest show of the summer, Daddario was spotted wearing a Rolex Daytona fit for the Pineapple Suite. This watch is made of white gold and uses diamonds to count the hours—the only thing it doesn’t have is a private plunge pool. The Daytona continues to be one of, if not the, hottest watch in the world thanks to models like this one. The Daytona’s roots are in sports, but that doesn’t mean it can’t easily pull off white gold and diamonds.
There is no better watch brand for Dennis Rodman than G-Shock. Both man and watch are tough as hell—and look good in black and red. The Worm’s G-Shock is dubbed the GRAVITYMASTER, which obviously sounds cool. But there’s meaning behind the fun name: the watch is designed to be used in flight and is equipped with a compass, barometer, and tools to measure altitude and temperature. Perfect if you’re flying through the air going boom, that way; going back this way; or click, here or here.
Are you as surprised as I was to see Swae Lee on the red carpet for the upcoming Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? His involvement is limited to a song he made for the movie so, unfortunately, we won’t get to see him channelling the power of the rings. But who needs rings when you have a watch like this? Lee’s Patek is set to star in a sequel called Nautilus and the Legend of the Thousand Diamonds.
Walker’s tenure with his New York Knicks is getting off on the right foot. During his introductory press conference with the team, Walker wore the ever-popular Royal Oak. Walker’s is set with 40 diamonds on the bezel and even the hour markers are made out of white gold. I have a soft spot for white-dial Royal Oaks, like Walker’s: white makes it possible to really appreciate AP’s signature Grande Tapisserie pattern—those rows of repeating squares across the dial. Someone hang another banner in the Garden.