Sports, whether amateur or Professional, is an activity having intense cultural, political and economic effects on the society. It is almost unrivaled in terms of bringing people together, creating a sense of belonging, forging unbreakable bonds, and universality. Although a pretty hard and difficult process awaits those who think to pursue sports as a professional career rather than an amateur occupation, it is possible to say that those who have succeeded in this process get much more, materially and morally, in return for their sufferings. In today’s article, we shall examine together the watch preferences of the world-renowned athletes who have made a professional career in this entertaining pursuit.
Steph Curry is one of the NBA’s most successful basketball players. Born in 1980 and wearing the Golden State Warriors jersey, the basketballer has a capacity to play the shooting guard position when needed, despite he plays the point guard position. In his first season in NBA, he played with an average of 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists, and grabbed everyone’s attention. Winning the NBA’s most valuable player award and breaking many records in the 2015-16 NBA season, Curry already put his stamp on basketball history and earned his place among the legends. The successful basketballer’s watch preference is also very shining like his career. He wears a Cartier Santos Skeleton, considered as one of the most iconic watches in the world.
lllusively looking larger due to its rectangular shape. With the crown, the case dimensions are 39.8 x 47.5mm. The most distinctive feature of Santos Skeleton is, without doubt, its bezel. Adding an industrial look to the watch, the screwed-in bezel also pays homage to the first men’s watches produced by Cartier. The dial is a Cartier classic in terms of simplicity. On the dial composed of Roman numeral hour markers, hours and minutes hands are designed in sword-style. Fitted with an in-house movement, the watch is quite reliable. Water resistance of 100 meters makes it undoubtedly a real sports watch and this explains Curry’s choice. The gold model’s sale price is about $63,500, whilst the all-steel model’s price is approximately $26,800.
Let’s move on another NBA legend. Even those who have no interest in basketball know him from the phrase “Hell no! Lebron James.” Born in 1984 and winning 4 NBA championships during his career, the player is wearing Los Angeles Lakers jersey. Being awarded NBA Most Valuable Player 4 times, NBA finals Most Valuable Player 3 times, and Olympic Gold Medal 2 times, the player became NBA leading scorer for 1 time and he was awarded the rookie of the year during his rookie season. In addition, he was all-time leading scorer during the period he played in Cleveland Cavaliers. In short, he is a complete champion. Well, let’s see what’s on the wrist of the champion? Of course an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore LeBron James befitting to champions.
AP is considered one of the most important brands in the industry and known for the iconic models it produce. And Royal Oak Offshore Lebron James is just one of them. The self-winding 3126/3840 caliber mechanism consists of 365 components and 59 jewels, and generates power at 21,600vph, with a power reserve of 50 hours. The case is 44mm. Standing out with its stylish dial design, the model has sub-dials at 6, 9 and 12 o’clock, and a date window at 3 o’clock. Recognized as one the best luxury sports watches in the world, the model is quite an appropriate choice for an athlete like LeBron whose success will not tolerate modesty. The price was 51.500 USD when it was introduced.
After basketball, let’s have a look at how the things are on the motor sports. When it comes to motor sports, Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly one of the prominent figures. Being the world’s first black pilot in Formula 1, Hamilton was discovered by the Mercedes Benz team when he was only 9 years-old. Managing to climb the podium in the first 9 races of his career, the British pilot of Mercedes team made the history with this record he broke. Born in 1985, the legendary pilot’s watch preference is rather meaningful. He wears an IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar.
The watch has a quite larger case with a 46.2mm diameter. The watch stands out a mile with its iconic crown design. It has an easily eligible, sizeable dial. Powered by an IWC Calibre 51614, the self-winding automatic mechanism has a power reserve of 7 days. Using a bidirectional Pellaton winding system, which is a patented system, the movement conserves power in its double barrels. Since the winding stem, automatic balance wheel and rotor shaft are made of ceramic, the mechanism never wears out. The price of this grandiose and iconic design ranges around $47.000.
Well, without further ado, let’s move on to the sports branch that is your main interest and you have impatiently been waiting it to take its turn. Yes, we are talking about football. About football that has the potential to drag millions of people, start and end wars, and paralyze the life. We may start with David Beckham to review the watch preferences of the two legends of football. Twice nominated for FIFA Player of the Year, elected as the most expensive player of the world in 2004, the first English to attend the Top-100 of Champions League, Beckham started his career at Manchester United club. Then, he’s been transferred first to Real Madrid and, after his successful performance of 4 years, to Los Angeles Galaxy and then to Paris St. German where he will put an end to his career after winning the championship. Due to this popularity, he became a fashion and brand icon. So then, what do we see when we look at his wrist? A Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze.
The design elements of Black Bay Bronze date back to the period between 1950 – 1970. Tudor is a brand that has already been known for its models made up by melting retro and modern in the same pot, and it likes to play with the periods. The watch has a wider case with a 43mm diameter. The brown details used on the rotating bezel and the dial give the watch a modern aesthetic. On the remaining parts of the design, traditional Tudor elements such as the snowflake hours and minutes hands, domed crystal, and beveled lugs stand out. The thick brown strap is undoubtedly the most retro design element of the watch. Powered by in-house MT5601 caliber, the mechanism has a frequency of 28,800vph and a power reserve of 70 hours. Providing automatic winding with its bidirectional rotor, the watch has a COSC chronometer certificate. It can be easily said that Beckham’s preference is not an accidental one. Only an iconic watch would complete an iconic star.
Our second star, whose watch we will have a look at, is still actively playing football. Sure, probably you have already guessed him, we are talking about Christiano Ronaldo, the captain of Portuguese National Team and the legendary striker of Juventus. Starting his professional career at Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo wore Manchester United jersey between 2003 – 2009. Upon joining Manchester United, he said he will wear the number 28 jersey, when Ferguson asked him which jersey he would wear, but Ferguson favored him with the number 7 jersey worn by the legends such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and Beckham. He mentions this situation, saying “I’ve been obliged to carry this honor.” In 2009, he transferred to Real Madrid, and in 2018, to Juventus where he’s still wearing its jersey. Renowned also for his modesty as much as his successes, the watch preference of the star footballer is Rolex Daytona.
Rolex has been producing this model since 1963. It was in 1988 that it became one of the popular models. The most striking feature of the up-to-date models worn by Ronaldo is the bezel. This bezel pays homage to Daytona’s past and ensures a retro look. The numbers on the tachymeter scale follow the bezel’s curve. The purpose of this design detail is to prevent all inscriptions from being placed on the same plane and hence to achieve a more organized look. There isn’t any difference in case dimensions since the first production, it still uses the 40mm case. It is one of the sound models that don’t forget Rolex’s history and where it came from, just like Chiristiano Ronaldo.
Yes, that’s it for today. If you couldn’t see your admired athlete in the article, never mind, we’ve just started yet. We will continue to see what is on the wrists of the successful, athletes recognized by the whole world.
