David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, yes, but Michael Wong? Watches with celebrity endorsements – why some work and some don’t
Support from people at the top of their fields say something about a brand – but what’s with the C-listers?
I like Bremont, I do, it makes decent watches. But its collaborations with Wong, with a new addition this month, I cannot fathom. I might be wrong, but Wong is at best a C-list movie star. Beyond that, he endorses everything – whisky, wine, caviar, luggage, shoes, clothing and that’s just off the top of my head. Wong and Bremont’s new watch, the MWII Flying Tiger, is positioned as an aviation piece as, I think, Wong played a helicopter pilot once, or something, probably. I really don’t know.
Look, I’m not dunking on Wong, or Bremont, but who is this watch aimed at? And if you are one of those people, I want you to hand over your wallet for inspection because I am the Wallet Inspector.
Richard Mille is perhaps the gold standard when it comes to celebrity collaborations. The watches it has made for tennis star Rafael Nadal, golfer Bubba Watson and various racing drivers show off the brand’s technical mastery and associates it with relevant, top-of-their-profession people. For example, Nadal wore his RM27-03 (sticker price US$725,000) on court when he won the US Open. The delicate mechanical movement stood up to the superhuman whip force he puts into his ground strokes and it kept ticking. And so many stories were written about it. Vamos, Rafa!
Other examples make sense on a technical level, from a relevance perspective or just as an association with A-list fame. Here are three I’ve come across recently.
Let’s start with David Beckham and the Tudor Pelagos dive watch. Beckham is many things but he’s not a diver (well, perhaps on the football field on occasion) so the association with a legitimate dive watch might seem strange. But Becks has super-wattage celebrity so he could put on a plastic Mickey Mouse watch and it would sell – he’s just cool and relevant even though he has a squeaky voice.
Luckily, Beckham has great taste and the Pelagos is worthy of his endorsement. If you’re keen on it, the particulars are that it has a 42mm titanium-and-steel case, a unidirectional bezel, a date window and an in-house MT5612 movement with a whopping 72 hours of power reserve. And if you ever do take it for a dip, its got 500 metres of water resistance. The watch is priced at HK$33,600.
If Beckham is just too famous, how about associating with someone who is arguably the best there has ever been in their chosen field? That’s what Breitling did when it linked up with American surfer Kelly Slater, the winner of a record 11 world championships. He’s been sporting the Superocean Heritage Ocean Conservancy Limited Edition, which was launched to raise awareness about ocean pollution.
Associating your dive watch with both Slater and ocean conversation, well, it’s a win-win. On top of that, it’s a very handsome watch. Priced at HK$48,000 and limited to 1,000 pieces, the 44mm case comes in steel and houses a Breitling 13 movement with 48 hours of power reserve.
Features include the chronograph, 200 metres of water resistance, day and date indications and a recycled nylon strap. All the packaging is recycled, too.
Some of the most interesting endorsements are with wacky daredevils in hyper-niche pursuits. Such as with Omega’s Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional, which isn’t on sale yet, but will be after a successful collaboration with adventurer Victor Vescovo.
Omega backed Vescovo to make the world’s deepest dive, which he managed earlier this year when he took his submersible down 10,928 metres to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Vescovo took with him the specially made Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional watch, which is rated to dive to 15,000 metres.
Keep your eyes peeled for this watch, or another timepiece that harnesses the awesome tech it uses.
