Posted on September 25, 2023
Sotheby’s/AP
Tom Brady is widely considered the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, but he may also be the GOAT of the watch collecting world.
The retired football star, who played two decades with the New England Patriots and finally two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was spotted wearing some impressive (and pricey) wrist candy this year .
Collecting watches has become a hobby for Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champion was named an IWC ambassador in 2019 and owns at least 20 of the brand’s timepieces. He purchased a GST automatic siren in 2002 and later purchased a Navitimer, Top Gun Miramar and Portugieser. However, his collection seems to have grown exponentially over the past year.
The watch on Brady’s wrist is no longer just IWC. The 46-year-old has recently launched a series of pieces that are coveted by watch industry heavyweights, from vintage Rolex Daytonas to six-figure Richard Milles to ultra-rare Patek Philippes. With a keen eye for quality timepieces, Brady is building a collection that may one day become as legendary as his long throws.
Here are the best Brady watch flexes of 2023.
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February: IWC Portuguese Tourbillon
Image source: IWC/Getty
Brady digs into his IWC archives at premiere Brady 80 Last February in Los Angeles. The Goat wore a rare Portuguese hand-wound tourbillon skeleton watch that was launched on the red carpet almost a decade ago. Launched in 2015, the watch is limited to 25 pieces and sells for about $100,000. It uses a 43mm case made of 18-karat red gold and a fully skeletonized dial, showing off the splendor of the IWC 98920 movement. This article makes it easy to see why Brady has been a fan of IWC for a long time. (Well, that and his sponsorship deal with the Swiss watch brand.)
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June: Rolex Day-Date 40 with “Arabic” Dial
Image source: Getty Images/Chrono24
Brady is clearly a fan of Rolex Arabic dials. The NFL star was spotted wearing two limited edition models that are only available in the Middle East market. This special version, worn by the NFL star in the French Open final, features a 40mm platinum case, a beautiful olive green dial with Arabic letters in the day and date windows, and a platinum President bracelet. Ref. 228206 was launched in 2021 and has been known to sell for over $100,000 on the secondary market. Not that you seem to be holding Brady back.
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July: Rolex Day-Date 40 with “Arabic” Dial
Brady wore another Rolex Day-Date 40 to announce his role as E1 Electric Boat Championship team owner. This dazzling iteration, Ref. 228396TBR, features a 40mm platinum case, an icy blue dial with Arabic letters in the day and date display, and a platinum President bracelet. The bezel is also set with baguette-cut diamonds for added brilliance. Rolex began producing a limited number of Day-Dates with Arabic dials for Middle Eastern collectors in the 1950s, but discontinued most of them in the late 1970s. Crown then decided to resurrect them in 2016. Brady must be happy about that.
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July: Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711
Photo credit: Michael Rubin/1stDibs
Brady stuck to the theme at Michael Rubin’s White Party. The star athlete attended the star-studded gala in Bridgehampton wearing a white dial Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711 stainless steel watch. Special editions of this highly sought-after reference model typically sell for around $100,000 on the secondary market. Of course, Brady wasn’t the only standout at the party: Kylian Mbappe, Kevin Hart, Jay-Z and Corey Gamble were all rocking the awesome wrist candy.
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August: Rolex Day-Date 36 with “puzzle” dial
Image credit: Getty/Rolex
Brady proved he is a true collector when he attended the Sky Bet Championship in August with a newly released Rolex on his wrist. Unveiled at the Watches & Wonders show in March, this Everose Gold Day-Date 36 features an eye-catching dial covered in a puzzle pattern. The hour markers are made of six different shades of baguette-cut sapphire, the window at 12 o’clock displays inspirational keywords, and the window at 3 o’clock rotates 31 different emoticons. The cheery watch clearly matches Brady’s mood during football games.
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August: Richard Mille RM012 Tourbillon
Photo credit: Richard Mille/AP
Richard Mille’s RM012 exhibits the same level of accuracy as Brady on the field. The platinum Architectural Tourbillon watch was released in 2006, with a limited edition of 30 pieces and a price of up to $450,000. In classic Richard Mille style, the simple tonneau case allows the skeletonized movement to really shine. In the industry, base plates have been replaced by a grid of extruded stainless steel tubes that hold the wheel pivots in place. It’s an innovation befitting a football great. In August, Brady wore this watch to watch an NFL preseason game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.
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September: Rolex Daytona “Le Mans”
Image credit: Rolex/Getty
In June, Rolex released the Cosmograph Daytona to celebrate the 100th anniversary of speed and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. By September, the watch was already on the wrists of two A-list celebrities. Mark Wahlberg showed off the piece on Instagram, and Tom Brady wore it courtside at the U.S. Open final. Reference 126529LN features a 40mm white gold case, a reverse panda dial with a black background and white indexes, and a white gold Oyster bracelet. In addition, it is equipped with a black Cerachrom bezel, a red “100” engraved on the tachymeter scale, and is equipped with a 4132 movement with a chronograph function that can time up to 24 hours instead of just 12 hours.
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September: Rolex Daytona “John Player Special”
Image source: Sotheby’s/AP
When Tom Brady was honored by the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in September, he wore a rather eye-catching Rolex watch. The Paul Newman Daytona (Ref. 6241) features a striking dial, nicknamed the “John Player Special” after the racing livery designed by John Player & Sons for the Lotus F1 team in the 1970s. The dial features the same black and gold tones as the car, along with three chronograph subdials with square lollipop hash marks. Brady’s watch case appears to be attached to a matching Golden Jubilee bracelet. It is understood that such examples are as rare as star quarterbacks.
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September: Patek Philippe Ref. 2499
Image credit: Christie’s/Instagram
Brady has mastered the subtle art of watch bending. The legendary quarterback showed off an extremely rare Patek Philippe watch on Instagram in September. This Ref. 2499 is considered a Holy Grail timepiece by collectors, and for good reason. Launched in 1951 as the successor to the groundbreaking Reference 1518, this perpetual calendar chronograph has all the mechanical complexity and elegance of its predecessor, but with a new case inspired by the industrial aesthetic of the 1950s. Patek Philippe produced approximately 349 examples of this model during its 35 years of production. As a result, antique treasures often fetch millions of dollars at auction. Brady has undoubtedly spent a lot of money building his collection.