Welcome to Watches of the Week, where we'll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.
Let’s recap the events that led to Drake’s slimed-out Patek Philippe Nautilus, shall we? On Thursday at midnight, Future dropped “Life Is Good,” a new song featuring Drake. The song is split into different parts, highlighting Drake on the front end and Future on the back—sort of like the Beatles’s “A Day in the Life,” except better and more impactful. During his chorus, Drake raps the following: “Virgil got that Patek on my wrist goin' nuts” and “Virgil got the Patek on my wrist doin' front flips.” It doesn’t take a wizard to guess which Virgil—Abloh—Drizzy was referring to. And yep, Friday morning comes and both Abloh and Drake post the same reptilian, all-green, set-with-emeralds Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726 to Instagram. That means, for what has to be the first time in history, a watch was given its own pump-up music—a timepiece heard before it was seen. And if we take Drake’s verse (and post) at face value, the watch was designed by Louis Vuitton and Off-White designer Abloh. “New designer you guys probably have no idea what’s going on in the scene super underground all good I will put you on to Veerjil Ablow,” Drake wrote. Ha. Also this week, Jack Nicholson and Steph Curry wear shockingly affordable watches.
The blacked-out case that peeks out from the small areas not covered by emeralds suggests that the watch customizers Mad Paris were also involved in the making of the piece. When reached for a comment a member of the Mad Paris team wrote back a string of emojis: “😏😏😏😏🤐.” Then they directed people to “keep an eye opened, and watch for our insta[gram] 😉.” That’s the most affirmative no-comment possible.
The connection to Mad Paris, assuming that zippered-mouth emoji is holding in confirmation the brand worked on this piece, would make sense here. Veerjil Ablow, of course, already has his own Patek Philippe blacked out by Mad. In fact, Drake’s new piece is the very same reference—the Nautilus 5726—as Abloh’s. Presumably, this watch went through the same process: disassembly then a quick hang in a vacuum chamber where a gas is released that coats every piece. With both Mad and Abloh on the case, life really is good for Drake.
Funny things happen in the courtside seats at Lakers games—like, say, acting legend Jack Nicholson striking up an unlikely friendship with Tory Lanez, which definitely actually happened this week. In other unlikely pairings, Nicholson wore a sub-$50 Timex watch on his wrist, a place where most other actors of his stature would put a Rolex or Patek Philippe worth tens of thousands of dollars. Nicholson’s choice is a good reminder that it isn’t necessary to spend that much on a good watch: the Timex Easy Reader, with its simple design, easy-to-read hour markers, and modern steel bracelet, will make you look like one of Hollywood’s greatest actors in no time. Also of note here is that Nicholson once starred in the movie Easy Rider!!! Nicholson, apparently, is a fan of all things easy.
There are two types of people in this world: your Jack Nicholsons, and your Kevin Harts. One might be content with a two-digit-pricetag Timex watches. The other has an appetite and appreciation for the world’s finest timepieces. Hart, and his prodigious watch collection, falls firmly in the latter camp. Hart showed off yet another stunner this week: the classic-looking 5396 Patek Philippe with a rose-gold case.
Will Smith and his watch: both timeless icons! While there are plenty of strange, rare, and more valuable permutations of the Submariner—ones with red text, others with no dates, some engraved for the deep-sea diving company COMEX—Smith’s is simple and standard-issue, but no less cool because of it.
Out in Los Angeles this week, Curry wore a $595 timepiece from no-frills watch brand Movado. No complications and no hour markers here—Movado makes the most simplistic watches possible, with just a tiny logo arching along the bottom of the dial and a small dot up top. If anything is going to make Curry’s injured left wrist/hand area feel better...it’s rest and recovery. But this watch probably isn’t far behind on that list.
For his wife’s birthday, Gucci Mane gave her Richard Mille that could be the subject of a treasure-hunt movie. The watch is covered in enough diamonds that Nicolas Cage finally has a reason to make National Treasure 3. While it’s impossible to tell exactly which Richard Mille model is underneath all those diamonds, the one identifying detail–the small striped date window at the 7 o’clock position—makes me think it’s the RM-030. Either way, may we all find our own Gucci Mane to love us and lavish us with icy gifts.
