Tyler, the Creator Just Proved That the Coolest Watch in the Room Isn’t Necessarily the Most Expensive

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The hip-hop world is stuffed with hype watches.

Truly, perhaps it’s extra correct to say the hip-hop world creates hype watches. Tyler, the Creator—the American rapper, file producer, actor, and streetwear model proprietor—has turn out to be a passionate and devoted watch collector, identified particularly for his desire for diminutive Cartier pieces that many fanatics ignore. [Bangs table and mumbles unintelligible “I told you so” about small watches finally making a comeback.]

This week in LA, Tyler was noticed sporting a classic Louis Vuitton Monterey II, a watch that’s so left-of-center, it hasn’t taken off on the secondary market rocket ship but. (And this regardless of LV’s latest ascendance within the watch world beneath the route of Jean Arnault, LVMH scion Bernard Arnault’s youngest son.) It appears attainable that the appointment of Tyler’s close friend and hero Pharrell to the head of men’s design at Louis Vuitton might have impressed the brand new acquisition. The Monterey II, designed by Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti in 1988, is a singular alarm watch powered by a quartz motion. Housed in a ceramic case, it was produced by the Worldwide Watch Firm in Schaffhausen, which is famed for its use of innovative materials.

Measuring simply 37mm, the watch’s crown is located at 12 o’clock, whereas its lugless design necessitates the usage of a pull-through strap, which is threaded by the case’s again. Wanting like a recent fusion of a WWI-era trench watch and one thing you’d discover within the MoMA Design Retailer, the Monterey II isn’t seen within the wild. They’re additionally a not-so-common sight in the marketplace the place costs fluctuate wildly. They’ve bought on eBay for anyplace between $2,900 and $800 over the past month. Mike Nouveau, the king of watch TikTok/Reels, captured a funny moment recently the place a collector supplied to pay $4,000 for a model the proprietor bought for under $600 by, he says, a “Japanese public sale.” All this makes Tyler’s option to put on one all of the extra notable.

Should you take a look at trendy LV watches—corresponding to these within the Tambour assortment (which itself dates to the early 2000s—you’ll be able to see a throughline within the design language stretching again to the Monterey sequence within the Eighties. And given LV’s place within the hip-hop (and higher sartorial) pantheon—and the rising appreciation for its groundbreaking up to date wares—there’s all of the extra motive to applaud seeing this small, battery-powered, cheap alarm watch on the wrist of a musical tastemaker.

Or, to dramatically misquote Aristotle: “One eye-watering price ticket does not a superlative hype watch make.”

Tom Kristensen’s Rolex Daytona “Le Mans”

Danish driver Tom Kristensen has gained Le Mans 9 instances, greater than another competitor within the sacred race’s historical past. So it was hardly a shock that when he rolled as much as the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion final Saturday, he was rocking the model new Cosmograph Daytona reference 126529LN, the so-called “Le Mans” Daytona. With its quite a few callbacks to numerous classic fashions — “unique” dial typography, pink textual content, plus a 24-hour totalizer to honor Le Mans—it’s a standout launch, and proof that even in retirement, Kristensen stays a winner.

Novak Djokovik’s Hublot Large Bang Unico Magic

One of many world’s finest tennis gamers, Novak Djokovik is not any stranger to an excellent watch—having beforehand been a model ambassador for AP and Seiko, he’s seen his fair proportion of horological warmth. Since 2021, nonetheless, he’s been a part of the Hublot roster, becoming a member of fellow athletic icons corresponding to Pelé and Usain Bolt. Whereas hoisting the Rookwood Cup on the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio this week, he was seen wearing a 42mm Big Bang Unico Magic, a ceramic bruiser of a timepiece with a cool clear dial and an identical, built-in yellow rubber strap. Technical and futuristic, it’s the right pairing for the Serbian tennis phenom.

Kyle Kuzma’s De Bethune Form of Two Leaping GMT

28-year-old Washington Wizards energy ahead Kyle Kuzma has gathered fairly a collection—one which spans every part from Patek, to F.P. Journe, to Rolex, to Vacheron and extra. This week, nonetheless, he took an enormous leap into the higher strata of haute horlogerie when he was noticed with De Bethune CEO Pierre Jacques sporting one of many model’s Form of Two Leaping GMT. A completely bonkers feat of horology, this 43.3mm Grade 5 titanium watch encompasses a rotating central case with two dials — another classically impressed with blued Breguet arms, and one with a gorgeously skeletonized show. In a position to show two time zones concurrently — one on both sides — it’s a crown jewel in Kuzma’s already notable assortment.

Viktor Hovland’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland sported fairly the wrist sweet whereas successful the BMW Championship Cup at Olympia Fields Nation Membership close to Chicago: Strapped securely to his left arm as he hoisted his trophy was an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ref. 26579CB.OO.1225CB.01. Executed in white ceramic, that is, in our humble opinion, one of many best-looking perpetual calendars, or quantième perpétuel—and among the finest APs, for that matter—in the marketplace, with indicators for time, day, date, month, intercalary year, moon part, and even the week of the yr. With its blue “Grand Tapisserie” dial and wildly difficult Calibre 5134 motion, it’s proof that this younger golf prodigy has an excellent eye for watches to match a formidable swing.