The Most Popular Watches of the Year 2019 Are... - GQ

So much discussion around watches ultimately boils down to the numbers. The very first Watches of the Week roundup I put together, back in April, boasted that Jay-Z's sapphire-case Richard Mille took 3,000 hours to make. The next put the spotlight on Drake’s $750,000 timepiece. When we talk about watches we often want to know: how many were made? When was it made? What’s the movement? How many complications? And then, of course, in a whisper: so, you know, how much does it cost? It’s numbers all the way down.

Luckily, rounding up the watches worn by celebrities every week has the added bonus of generating another trove of numbers to dig through. I’ve dug through the data to find the most popular watches and brands, the year’s most varied collector, and a list of other made-up superlatives. As Justin Timberlake, playing a dot-com billionaire might say, you know what’s cooler than one week of watches? Nearly a whole year’s worth of them. So, this is Watches of the Year.

Most Popular Watch

The celeb-favorite medal podium sorted out about as you’d guess. Taking home the bronze medal is the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. After a Daytona belonging to the actor Paul Newman set a world record for most-expensive wristwatch in late 2017, the model, already a fan favorite, gobbled up even more of the spotlight. It is the perfect collection-starter for rich guys everywhere, making it less than surprising it turned up on 15 prominent celebrities wrists this year.

It’s not shocking that the Patek Philippe Nautilus is here, either—it’s just shocking it didn’t take the top spot. As watch collectors largely fell out of love with leather-banded dress watches this year, they went for the most top-shelf sports watch in existence: the Nautilus. Every week, I seemed to clock at least one celebrity wearing a Nautilus. Drake alone wore three! The New York Times hyped up the watch’s legendary eight-year waitlist. This felt like the Nautilus’s year...but it lost out to another luxury steel sports watch.

This one didn’t set a world record at auction, nor did anyone breathlessly discuss its multi-year wait list, but celebrities wore the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak more than any other piece this year. The breadth of the Royal Oak fandom is something to behold: Will Smith wore one, Justin Bieber bought himself one for his wedding (and then gave one to wife Hailey for her birthday), Maluma wore one courtside at a Knicks game, Alyx designer Matthew Williams customized his own, and Diddy’s son Christian Combs slathered his in diamonds.

This list could not paint a clearer picture of current watch culture. Even celebrities, with their practically limitless resources and many highfalutin events to attend, aren’t reaching for watches in gold or platinum, but instead in steel. The trend follows the overall casualization of men’s dress codes—you’re not necessarily going to pair luxe sweats with a hyper-complicated and precious Patek. Last thing: what a year for the late, great watch designer Gerald Genta, who is responsible for both the Royal Oak and Nautilus.

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The Most Popular Watches of the Year 2019 Are... - GQ

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