Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Grand Tour’s Jeremy Clarkson Wears An Omega Railmaster XXL On Screen… And He Shows It In His Own Way
We knew already that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, when presenting Top Gear, were watch-enthusiasts. Sure, the level of the watches on their wrists was of a different league to the cars they drove, as we told you some time ago when we compared their watches to cars… (see our “Watching Celeb Watches” article focussed on these three guys). Now they’re not on Top Gear anymore, and season two of their new show The Grand Tour has just started, we still get to see some fairly nice watches on their wrists. Episode 2 of the second season went a step (or two) further, as not only Jeremy Clarkson can be seen wearing an Omega Railmaster XXL but he even makes quite a statement about it… the Clarkson-way, of course. See below…
Knowing how straight (or provocative, or fun… depends on how you like him or not) Jeremy Clarkson can be, we couldn’t expect just a simple conversation about watches. While the presenters were talking sponsorships and product-placement on the show, this ended up with a massive exposure for the watch that Clarkson was wearing that day, an Omega Railmaster XXL – a massive 49.2mm version equipped with a modified hand-wound ETA/Unitas 6497 movement.
Jeremy explained here that everything the presenters are wearing during the show (clothes, shoes and watches) were their own… after their usual inimitable discussion, Clarkson introduces the idea of “reversed-sponsorship” and saying Omega has to pay him 50 grand to stop wearing their watches, and he will start wearing Rolex instead – something Hammond named “extortion“. After that, as you can see in the video above, he will have a word for Rolex wearers (which we won’t repeat here)… Interesting fact is that Hammond can be seen in the same episode wearing a Rolex GMT Master. Yes, this is all part of the show…
Edited according to some comments. Thanks for your feedback!
9 responses
He actually said if they didn’t give him $50,000 he wouldn’t STOP wearing the Omega. The suggestion was that Omega wouldn’t want to be associated with someone as boring and boorish as Jeremy Clarkson and would pay him to stop wearing their watch.
Actually what he said was he’s so uncool he will keep wearing Omega, and thereby tarnishing the brand, unless he’s paid.
Well an Omaga Dynamic has been spotted on May’s wrist in the past and a Navitimer on the hamster’s wrist. Clarkson was wearing a 45mm planet ocean on rubber syrap for quite a long time. He sure is a duck though haha
He did indeed. Pay him to wear another watch, such as Rolex, or sales will presumably drop due to his association as other customers go elsewhere?
Yeah, as per Colin’s post above.
He didn’t say: pay me or I start wearing a Rolex.
He said, that just like the company that made James May’s iconic shirt begged him not to wear it anymore because it was damaging the brand…
Clarkson’s idea was, that because he’s so uncool, wearing the omega makes omega watches uncool and worth less, so the idea was for Omega to pay Clarkson to wear Rolex instead (to devalue Rolex)
He said that he will probably offend someone eventually and if omega doesn’t want him to wear a omega when he does he will go and wear a rolex if omega would pay him to do so.
Well done Clarkson sick and tired of Rolex there is far better out their with out the stupid prices how do i know i own them !!
A great watch gets its value from the workmanship and the various complications, not a bunch of blingy novelty to make them attractive to tasteless rappers, sports personalities et,c. A watch is not meant to be ostentatious, they are meant to be cherished by ladies and gentlemen of good taste. They are not billboards for screaming “LOOK AT ME !”
Honestly? Rolex? Omega? Been there, done that. I like the show, though.
Get yourself a Vacheron Constantin Overseas, enjoy the luxury and have people thinking it’s a USD 500 watch 🙂