Which watch brands do Brad Pitt, Leonardo di Caprio, Sylvestser Stallone, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise & John Travolta wear and how does this impact the watch market?
Rolex and other top watch brands are among the most searched for items at Barnebys the collectables database for art, antiques watches & cars, which hosts 2,000 auction houses on their site. Many of their clients also note the massive interest in fine wristwatches on their own websites.
Barnebys can reveal that searching for Rolex peaks in December, of course because of Christmas gifts, but more than anything because this is when the bonuses of financial investors are paid. Currently Barnebys have over 7,000 Rolex watches available for sale worldwide. The website lists one million objects for sale at any one time.
Pontus Silfverstolphe, co-founder of Barnebys says: “Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona will sell at auction this autumn – October 26th – and will take the frenzy for this brand to a whole new level. The market for wristwatches has increased in recent years and prices have been rising in no small part thanks to the association with celebrities. But this event could see a whole new level of interest in male wristwatches as a power-status object. We see this effect with celebrities again and again. For instance with the Yves Saint Laurent auction as well as Liz Taylor jewelry and quite recently David Bowie.”
“At Barnebys we see a clear pattern emerging of how the younger generation of men, with new wealth spend it. First, they purchase watch brands like Rolex and Patek Phillipe, secondly theybuy Porsche and Ferrari at auction, and after that the wine cellar is filled with rare vintages and the walls of their homes hung with contemporary art mostly.”
“Trademarks like Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breitling and Rolex are entirely dependent on a well functioning secondary market. The older wristwatches do not only increase brand awareness, but they also create a worthy story for the companies/brands, and above all, the auction market is a “quality stamp” for both wristwatches and newlyweds. The evident risks of spending a million dollars on a new wristwatch feel more motivated if there is a second hand market full of collectors prepared to spend huge money for the right watch.”
Barnebys say that the most searched brand of wristwatches on their huge website is in the following order: Rolex, Omega, Seiko, Bulova, Patek, Tag Heuer and Elgin. And the audience making these searches is 96% aged 18 to 34, and their search is focused in November andDecember.
Paul Newman’s watch, the equivalent of the Mona Lisa of the wristwatch world, his legendary Rolex Daytona will be sold at auction on October 26th.
The immensely stylish Paul Newman was much more than award-winning actor, he was also a producer, entrepreneur, family father and philanthropist, but above all he was a racing driver who loved high speeds and great risks.
During the filming of Winning at the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway boosted his interest in racing and when he started racing professionally, the actress Joanne Woodward his wife had the good taste of buying him the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, which has become the world’s perhaps most famous wristwatch. On the back she had engraved the words “DRIVE CAREFULLY ME”.
After Paul Newman’s death, the watch has had an additional owner, but now it is auctioned for the first time and is expected to bring in millions. The call is set at $1 million, but the bid is expected to be active. The auction features an additional 49 watches dubbed “WINNING ICONS”, and will take place on October 26th in New York after Newman’s wristwatch has toured around the world in a sort of belated victory lap.
Some of the more “extreme” watch models are used by the adventurous. During the 1950s, Rolex created a number of models for different adventurers. One of the models was the Rolex Explorer, carried by New Zealand mountain mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary and and his sherpa TenzingNorgay when those two became the first in the world to conquer Mount Everest.
Rolex’s most popular models include: Rolex Daytona, launched in 1963, and originally calledCosmograph, but eventually named Daytona after the famous race; Rolex Submariner – a diverter model launched in 1953 with rotating bezel and strong water protection; Rolex Datejust, the world’s first self-extracting chronicle with date display; as well as Rolex Day-Date, an exclusive prestigious model showing both weekday and date; and finally, Rolex GMT Master developed for the PanAm pilots who needed to see two time zones on their wristwatches.
Watch brands are very sensitive to the power of celebrity endorement of their brand. Demand increases significantly anytime that a celebrity is seen wearing a particular brand of watch. It doesn’t matter if it’s a true endorsement or just personal preference.
Many of today’s top celebrities–actors, athletes, entertainers–are endorsed by luxury watch brands, putting a watch in front of millions of eyes each time they wear it. When a celebrity is seen wearing a watch, whether to the grocery store, in an advertisement, or in a movie, fans notice. At the same time, luxury watch companies also pay big bucks to put their watches in films. Here are some of the most famous watch/celebrity partnerships.
Brad Pitt was a TAG Heuer ambassador. These days, he can be spotted in several vintage and modern Patek Philippe watches, but he has plenty of Rolex, Cartier, and A. Lange & Söhne.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a long-time TAG Heuer ambassador. In the past, he’s worn several different TAG Heuer models on the red carpet.
Daniel Craig It should be no surprise that the “modern” Bond is a big fan of OMEGA watches. Of course, since James Bond has been wearing a Rolex for over 20 years now
Sylvester Stallone A tight celebrity/watch brand pairing is that of Sylvester Stallone andPanerai.
Matt Damon made a splash at the 2016 Oscars when he showed up wearing a Van Cleef &Arpels the Astronomie Poétique Midnight Planétarium.
John Travolta Beyond his career as an actor he is a veteran pilot so it makes sense that he prefers pilot watche and is brand ambassador for Breitling.
Tom Cruise Another keen pilot, he really likes his Bremont ALT-1C, with his AudemarsPiguet Royal Oak Offshore GP Singapur a close second, followed by several different IWC models.
