With 3.5 billion fans, Football is hands down the most popular sport in the world. As much as we see skilful players and tactical plays on the pitch, wouldn’t you (the watch guy) or not be interested in some of the most luxurious timepieces these players own?
As someone who participates in the sport and having a watch collection of my own, I’ll be really eager to find out about the kind of watch my favourite player is wearing!
Does their skill on the pitch match their horological taste? Let’s find out!
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Juventus superstar was seen wearing a watch full of glitz during one of his press conferences recently.
Not just any kind of glitz, the watch is entirely embedded with diamonds and it’s the Franck Muller 7008 T INV C INV.
Not only does it have a long name but the amount of digits it has on its price is pretty long too, its about £1.2million pounds long. That’s equivalent to about $2,108,346.00 in SGD.
As you can see, besides the watch that can help feed my freedom and desires probably till I am 60 is the other blingy accessories he has on his hand which in the interest of this article, we shall not be too envious and scare ourselves with the price and stick to the watches instead.
Here’s a closer look of the watch. I don’t think many of us have the ability to afford such luxury unless we earn a ridiculous salary of $663,000 USD in a week but we never know so I shall just put the specifications down too.
Specifications
Power Reserve: 60 Hours
Number of movement components: 193
Functions: Winding shaft with two positions
Dial: Full set of baguettes: 143 diamonds, 10.42cts
Case: Full set of baguettes, 42 diamonds, 6.23cts
Bezel: Full set of baguettes, 40 diamonds, 7.5cts
Notice how half of the specifications focus on the number of diamonds and not the usual specs we see like Titanium Casing, SuperLuminova Lume etc? Guess if you’re loaded, you don’t have to care.
Lionel Messi
In the world of football, it is illegal to not talk about Messi if you mentioned Ronaldo vice versa. That’s just how it is as they’re probably the most often compared forwards in this decade.
As always, each of them has their strengths, probably not much weaknesses on the field just like their first-class watches.
Here we have Messi donning the Lionel Messi’s Jacob & Co Epic X Chrono Messi Edition. Yes you’ve read that right, it’s Messi’s edition.
How cool would it be if you have a collaboration with a Swiss watch brand and have your name on the watch? The red 10-minute marker on the watch also represent Messi’s jersey number, 6 o’clock gets Messi’s name and on the caseback his signature. The combination of blue and white is inspired by the Argentinian flag, Messi’s home country.
It retails for $150,000 USD, definitely not as mind-blowing as Ronaldo’s piece but also not quite affordable.
Specifications
Grade-5 titanium case
Anti-reflection sapphire glass
White ceramic chronograph bezel
Water resistant to 200 meters and guaranteed shock resistant
Automatic bi-compax skeleton chronograph movement (JCAA05)
Power reserve of 48 hours
Neymar Jr
One of the uprising stars in this decade of football, Neymar JR was the most expensive player in the world when he was transferred to PSG from Barcelona at $263 million.
Surely, with that amount of money, you’re expecting that the watch in the picture would cost somewhere in the millions just like Ronaldo’s Franck Muller right? Nope you’re wrong, its actually much more affordable than that and I mean affordable as in it’s much cheaper than the Rolex or Tudor in your watch box now.
The watch Neymar JR is wearing is a collaboration with a Milan-based company, GaGá Milano which means “elegant but quirky”. The company was founded in 2004 and now present across Europe, Asia, Africa and America and surprisingly, it is particularly strong in Japan with 4 stores in Tokyo and one in Osaka.
You can read more on why Neymar chose to collaborate with this brand and the specifications of the watch on their website here.
As for the name of the watch, it is named “Neymar Jr. Limited Edition” with a price tag of €1,990.00 which is equivalent to roughly SGD$3,138.34. Now that’s something we can afford if you’re a fan of Neymar.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
One of the most successful players to grace the field, Zlatan could be Sweden’s most renowned athlete.
He has led the most historic clubs such as AC Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United to glory, certainly a huge and successful career but he has an even greater personality.
Some may find him arrogant, but he has always been outspoken and not afraid to let the world know how he is feeling and perhaps that’s the key to happiness, or is it really?
Otherwise, he is often seen with Rolexes and it is of no surprise the Daytona could be the watch of his choice due to the flair it gives out just like his personality. He is seen wearing the Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500 during one of his conferences.
The Daytona is no stranger to the people of the watch community and it remains as one of the grails for many. The Ref. 116500 encapsulates a calibre 4130 perpetual movement; the first Daytona movement made by Rolex. Now that’s the key to happiness if you have USD$12,400 to spare.
Paul Pogba
The midfielder and playmaker from the reds is not just one of the best players in the world but also a very grateful one.
As much as he loves football he has shown his appreciation for watches and gratitude when he buys a Rolex for the majority of the staff and his teammates back in Juventus, a form of appreciation for the club that made him who he is today.
He himself is a man of fine taste and can be seen wearing the Richard Mille – RM030 “White Rush” very often in his Instagram posts.
Richard Mille is not only luxurious but also a brand that provides that perfect blend of sportiness and luxury all in one, many famous athletes in the world can be seen wearing a Richard Mille such as Rafael Nadal’s RM27-02, which retails for $725,000.
The RM030 “White Rush” however, retails for $166,500 and it is only limited to 50 pieces and exclusive in the Americas. It comes in a new white ceramic and black NTPT carbon case and an automatic with declutchable rotor movement. You can click here for more information on the RM030 White Rush.
Final Thoughts
It is refreshing to see the different horological taste of the world’s best football players in the world and how some of their watches have a sense of personal touch such as Messi’s timepiece and of course some of the more familiar ones that we know of like Zlatan’s Daytona or even the ultra-luxurious like Ronaldo’s full diamond Frank Muller.
In any case, we all know one thing that all their watches have in common. You probably need to get paid as much as them to be able to afford such amazing timepieces.
If you like this article, you can take a look at 5 Politicians and Their Watches and ironically, the watches there are much more wallet friendly.