He may be known for wearing Asbo hoodies, home counties jeans and skater trainers, but the former GQ Worst-Dressed Man (2013) Ed Sheeran has a watch collection that defies belief.
It’s the breadth and depth that astonishes. At one end of the spectrum, there’s the lairy, fresh-out-the-oven Richard Mille RM 38-01 Tourbillon G-Sensor Quartz TPT showpiece that would induce serious status anxiety in a platinum-selling rapper. And at the other, quietly considered, low-key classics such as the Patek Philippe 5130R, which would make any serious watch collector do a double take. And most recently, he's added the most hyped about watch of the year to his watch wardrobe. Not the impossible to get hold of Tiffany Patek Philippe Nautilus – but the Swatch x Omega MoonSwatch, which though currently very difficult to get your hands on, is only £207, and is a game changer.
It all started innocently and predictably enough with a Hublot Big Bang bought in Hamburg while he was on tour promoting the + album. The Big Bang was the only one for our Ed as the + tour rumbled on for the next two-and-a-half years. It wasn’t until he played a bar mitzvah for a friend’s daughter that a grail watch entered his life: as a thank you, the friend gave Ed a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A, which not only looks like the kind of thing an astronaut from 2001 AD would wear, but just to show off, has the ability to tell you the current phase of the moon cycle on the dial. It was the watch that led him down the rabbit hole of haute horology and also the one he wore on his wedding day. And then he met John Mayer – another famous musician with a massive watch collection – and that’s when the obsession really started.
In addition to classics such as the aforementioned Nautilus, there’s an IWC Pilot’s Watch Mark XVIII, a Rolex Daytona and a Patek Phillippe 5004 Grand Complication bought after being nominated for his first Grammy award. In addition, there are watches from obscure, independent brands such as the JS Watch Company Sif North Atlantic Rescue Timer from Iceland and the Sturmanskie Gagarin Vintage from Russia.
OK, there was that one time when he got Bamford Watch Department to customise a Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A, turning the hour markers bright red and putting his initials on the moon dial, which some of us might consider barbaric. But then he’s Ed Sheeran, the man most unlikely to be a multi-platinum singer-songwriter. He can do whatever he likes.
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