Drake’s New Rolex Is a True-Blue Grail

Welcome to Watches of the Week, the place we’ll observe the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches noticed on celebrities.

Possibly nobody assaults watch gathering extra voraciously than Drake, who’s seemingly as much as dive into each nook of the watch world. He’ll put on a Patek Philippe custom-made by Virgil Abloh someday, a attractive Richard Mille one other, and hold you in your toes by citing Queen Elizabeth II because the inspiration for sporting a uncommon model of a Patek Philippe Ellipse. Final weekend, he wore a watch with easier bona fides: the Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman,” famously one of many watch world’s most necessary grails. For a man who’s accomplished a complete lot of watch flexing, this may be his most spectacular flex but.

For the uninitiated, the watch obtained its title as a result of Paul Newman wore this fashion of Daytona. Easy sufficient! However the actor’s endorsement was a giant deal: earlier than pictures of Newman sporting this watch unfold, this mannequin was unloved by most collectors. After which, impulsively, it wasn’t. The watch comes with some funky options, like an “unique” dial that includes a sunken periphery in several coloration than the middle and people jaunty numerals on the subdials. These particulars as soon as scared collectors away—however they’re the identical ones that make this watch one of many interest’s holy grails in 2023. 

The “Paul Newman” Daytona is an attention-grabbing alternative for Drake, who breaks plenty of the standard guidelines relating to watch gathering. He let Abloh cowl his Nautilus in diamonds, and often trades out the usual bracelets on Rolex watches with ones from Chrome Hearts, flouting the standard knowledge that claims altering out something on a watch as soon as it leaves the manufacturing unit is a big no-no. The Daytona “Paul Newman,” then again, is a real nerd’s grail. It’s a watch that requires the client to grasp the small print that make it particular. (If you wish to be cynical, you’ll be able to argue Drake is just shopping for into the big hype round this piece. Paul Newman’s very personal “Paul Newman” Daytona bought for $17.8 million, briefly setting a document for most costly wristwatch ever, within the fall of 2017, whereas most run for round $TK.) 

Drake’s new Daytona won’t have belonged to Newman, nevertheless it does have a particular connection to the rapper. Menta Watch’s Adam Golden, who sourced this piece, defined in an Instagram remark that “this one got here straight out of the unique proprietor from Toronto.” I don’t know if he’s ever talked about this, however Drake is definitely from Toronto. Fairly cool coincidence. 

Jeremy Allen White’s Vacheron Constantin 222 

It seems that Jeremy Allen White and I’ve loads in widespread. He performs a tortured chef on The Bear, an ideal present with excellent white T-shirts. I’m additionally extraordinarily captivated with each meals and tees. He had a meal at Langer’s, Los Angeles’s house for killer pastrami, final yr; so did I. (Technically this was as a result of we have been there on the similar time, to conduct an interview for GQ’s Males of the 12 months problem, however I’d argue it’s additionally as a result of we each love pastrami. He was a delight, in case you’re questioning.) Now, at this yr’s Critic’s Alternative Awards (the place the critics get to decide on!), he outs himself as a watch nerd. Greater than that: his VC 222, a revival of the model’s sporty watch from the ‘70s, was close to the very high of my checklist of favourite 2022 releases. I really feel like that is that scene in Step Brothers: “Did we simply grow to be greatest buddies?” “Yup.” 

Steph Curry’s Rolex Deepsea Sea Dweller 

Sport watches have taken over because the dominant class relating to watch gathering. These powerful chrome steel items are actually acceptable for romantic date nights, crimson carpets, and enterprise conferences. Ocean-exploration watches like Curry’s Deepsea, then again, haven’t fairly made it to the shores of movie star. However hey—while you’re celebrating your NBA title on the White Home, you’ll be able to put on no matter you need.

Frances Tiafoe’s Tag Heuer Carrera

Nobody’s seemed cooler on the Australian open than on-the-rise American Frances Tiafoe. His swirly technicolor set has been controversial, nevertheless it shouldn’t be—it guidelines. Tiafoe additionally lately wore an incredible watch to the premiere of Netflix’s new tennis doc sequence Break Level. This explicit model of the Tag Heuer Carrera is skeletonized to let the wearer see contained in the watch, very similar to Break Level is designed to let viewers see contained in the tennis world. I’m positive that is precisely the parallel Tiafoe was making an attempt to attract. 

Tyler James Williams’s Cartier Santos Dumont

Abbott Elementary’s Williams wore a complete protected deposit field’s price of Cartier jewellery to the Critic’s Alternative Awards: a nail-shaped tie pin, a gold necklace, the model’s well-known Panthère rings, the model’s even-more-famous Love bracelet, and even a Love ring for good measure. However, after all, the pièce de résistance was Williams’s gold Santos Dumont. The mixture of white dial and yellow gold watch is unbeatable.