Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Watching Celeb Watches: Ed Sheeran, a young but tasteful collector
Who dares to say that youth is tasteless doesn’t know Ed Sheeran. That young Brit singer might have a teenager face and a strange hair cut, he is wearing grown-up watches. We’ve already been looking at Micheal Jordan or Jason Statham’s wrist in our previous articles, but these guys are established persons. Ed Sheeran could have been one of those young RocknRolla that don’t give any credit to horology but instead, he’s coming to us with a pretty interesting collection. Review of the watches he’s wearing.
Ed Sheeran is a 24 years old english pop singer especially known for a collaboration with Taylor Swift. But that’s not the reason why he loves watches. The fact that his mother used to be a culture publicist-turned-jewellery designer and that the family ran a modern art consultancy business might give us some clues on his tastes. Living in a design and art environment is certainly the reason of his watches’ choices: iconic (or almost iconic) timepieces with strong and recognizable codes, design-oriented and with quite a cool-factor.
The first of the watches spotted on Ed Sheeran’s wrist is a Hublot Big Bang in red gold. It may certainly not be the most discreet choice but it is somehow a design-oriented watch, with classical horological codes. Surprinsingly, this brand became an icon in less than 10 years and is now recognizable by a very large audience, even non-afficianados. Using the concept of mixing material (gold with ceramic, carbon fiber with rubber, etc…), the shape of the whole collection is influenced by boat windows (hublot in french), the same inspiration as the Genral Genta designed Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak – a want-to-be-an-icon watch that uses some iconic codes and that became an icon. That might be the definition of a success story.
Now we are moving to the real Genta’s style. We told you, Ed Sheeran was used to live in a design and arty environment, so an Audemars-Piguet Royal Oak, the essence of a designer watch, is a wise choice. The one he’s wearing stands out from the crowd and shows that he has strong and resolute tastes. He was spotted several times during live shows with a Royal Oak Offshore, the large and sporty edition of the classical RO, in a special black DLC and Orange version. The brand is a trend-setter, as it created the interest for luxury sports watch in 1972 with the Royal Oak and for large, thick and heavy watches in 1993 with this 42mm Offshore. A move that Audemars-Piguet should be proud off more than 20 years after its introduction, considering the numbers of watches inspired by its creations.
That one seems to be an absolute must-have for celebrities. And considering the brand manufacturing it and its overall quality, we won’t blame them for such a choice. The Patek Philippe Nautilus was already seen on Giorgio Chiellini and Jason Statham‘s wrists (the latter is wearing a Nautilus 5980 Chronograph). And you won’t be surprise to know that this one is also an absolute classic in the watch world, and once again, a Gerald Genta’s creation. Back in 1976, the year of its introduction, it was the main competitor of the Audemars-Piguet Royal Oak and a surprising move from a brand more known for its small and gilded dress watches, such as the Calatrava or the Perpetual Calendars. Ed Sheeran is wearing an elegant and quite complicated edition of Patek’s sports watch, the Nautilus Annual Calendar ref. 5726A, meaning a steel case and a leather strap.
The last of the watches spotted on Sheeran’s wrist is a Richard Mille RM 030. We’ve already seen that the brand can catch the attention of celebs, as Martin Brundle also collects them. The RM 030 is, at first glance, a quite simple watch. But it is an RM, so it is complicated. First, it comes with a large date (emphasized in a window at 7) and a power reserve. But the most interesting feature is its self-winding system. Richard Mille developed a rotor that would prevent over winding thanks to its capacity to automatically decoupled from the winding mechanism when the spring is fully wound. Ed’s one is an Americas Limited Edition, showing a black case made of carbon nanotubes and several orange accents on the dial and crown. It is only available through Richard Mille boutiques and Authorized Dealers in North and South America and only 30 pieces were produced (retail price is 130k USD).
So, do you still think that youth is tasteless?
Thanks to our contributor Nick for the research.
2 responses
I imagine Ed has enough cash to buy whatever he wants. Clearly, with regard to expensive wristwatches he does. It’s easy enough to buy style if you read enough magazines, browse enough social media or look at the wrists of other celebs. So, should we necessarily assume Ed has good taste because of what he wears. My father’s look changed markedly after my mother died. Dressed by his new partner, I don’t think his style choices had much to do with the changes I saw. But he looked really good. It’s odd, in many respects style is something one has regardless of cost and good taste is exhibited by much more than the choice of wristwatch only. I think Ed is a young talented and wealthy young man. Good on him. But does he have good taste? I wonder whether he will remain happy about the indelible marks he had made upon himself at such an early age. Then again, he could probably afford later to have them removed.
It’s an impressive collection to be sure but to me it says more about wealth then style. Compare to, say, Eric Clapton and he is left standing. He is almost certainly being influenced by what he’s seen on other celebrities in his orbit and possibly advised on investment pieces. As he matures I’m sure we’ll see more vintage models appearing and hopefully other aspects of his ‘style’ improving, i.e. hair and clothes.