5 Great Moments in Horological Gifting
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence gave his teammates Breitling Avengers for Christmas, but his largesse is not unique.
The best advice I ever got was to work with the best people you can find. The intention is that by surrounding yourself with people who are smarter and kinder and more skilled and experienced than you, you will be challenged to grow as a human.
However, for some, surrounding yourself with the best has another benefit – free watches!
Here are five times when celebrities and athletes showed their love for their colleagues with meaningful timepieces.
Avenger Time
Giving watches as gifts has always been a way to show appreciation for your employees and, occasionally, your co-workers. In fact, getting an inscribed timepiece upon retirement was de rigueur back when people spent their working lives with one company.
Nowadays, there’s no need to wait until your colleagues are 65 to show them how much you appreciate them. Over the holidays, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence hosted a dinner for his offensive linemen. And to thank them for their support and protection, the NFL star presented each of the 12 players with brand-new timepieces, which got us wondering if it wasn’t too late to transform into a professional football player.
So, which watch did Thomas, the league’s 2021 overall first draft pick, choose? Well, he’s a Breitling ambassador, so it makes perfect sense that he gave out a dozen Avenger Chronograph 45s (which retails for anywhere between $4,350 and $14,400, depending on the version).
Momento
After soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was recently spotted wearing a bespoke Caviar Tourbillon Tsavorites from Jacob & Co., we think it’s safe to say that the Portugal native knows how to spoil himself.
In 2014, Ronaldo surprised his Real Madrid teammates with personalized Diagono watches from Bulgari. Retailing for over €8,000 a piece, each watch was engraved with the player’s name along with Ronaldo’s initials and jersey number. You know, just in case you lost the gift card and couldn’t remember who gave it to you.
Band of Brothers
Music stars like Bruno Mars know there’s a lot of teamwork that goes into not only cutting an album but also to performing live on stage. That’s why, in 2019, he gifted his bandmates with solid gold, Extra-Thin “Jumbo” Royal Oaks Ref. 15202 from Audemars Piguet, complete with matching boxes.
Of course, you can’t put a price on loyalty, but at the time, the retail price of each one of these watches was around $55,400.
Everybody Loves Chris
On her episode of the web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Tina Fey tells the show’s host and director Jerry Seinfeld (a well-known watch collector) that Chris Rock hired her and a bunch of other comedians, including Louis CK and Nick DiPaolo, to punch-up some jokes he was writing for a comedy.
As a thank you, he presented the writers with Rolex Submariners. And on the caseback of each was the inscription “THANKS FOR YOUR HELP MOTHER FUCKER! CR” – how touching!
Bringing the Heat
Dwyane Wade is one of the greatest players in NBA history. He is also one of the most fashionable (I swear the tunnel walk did not exist before Wade) and generous (he supports many charities).
Both of these facets came to the fore when the Hublot brand ambassador honored his fellow Miami Heat players at a celebration on its home court after the team took home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in 2012 by presenting each of his teammates with a specially designed Hublot White Hot Big Bang.
(Front photography by Liam O'Donnell)