Between Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé, and Ronaldo, who's wearing ...
There have been last minute heroics and heartbreaking defeats; Harry Kane and England have engaged in a sort of multi-game-spanning piece of performance art that serves to ask the vital question: just how mind-numbingly excruciating can a football match be? Georgia made us dream, Italy would rather be on the beach in Sicily, and Dutch fans have been really good at jumping around in the street. And, if you look closely, there have also been some elite watches on display in and around Germany this summer.
Here's some of the best, boldest and most hyped watches worn by players and a couple of the gaffers at Euro 2024.
Kylian Mbappe’s Hublot Big Bang Steel Diamonds
France’s masked golden boy might not have lived up to his fleet-footed, glittering best so far in Germany, but he can’t be faulted when it comes to his choice of wristwear. Mixing elements of a classic stainless steel sports watch with a little sprinkle of bling, Mbappe’s Hublot Big Bang is sturdy without being obscene — at 41mm — with a polished, medical-grade (sounds impressive, doesn’t it?) stainless steel case, a versatile textured rubber strap and 114 diamonds hand-set on the bezel for a little bit of added star power.
Harry Kane’s Patek Phillipe Aquanaut
Footballers love a Patek Philippe, and for good reason (rare, expensive, iconic design). While the legendary Genta-designed Nautilus remains a perennial favourite amongst the game’s elite players, the lesser-spotted Aquanaut is a regular in Harry Kane’s rotation, one which includes rainbow Daytonas and AP Royal Oaks.
The Aquanaut arrived on the scene two decades after Patek’s industry-shifting Nautilus, with the company aiming at a younger consumer. It takes inspiration from its sleek elder sibling, which can be seen in the case-shape, but it doesn’t feature an integrated strap, along with its distinctive guilloché (textured) dial, rubber strap and luminous coating on the numerals. The England captain has been rocking a tasteful 5164G in blue-grey with a matching rubber strap. The sort of watch that means business without drawing too much attention.
Declan Rice’s Richard Mille Extra Flat RM67-01
If you want your watch to say, ‘I’m a professional athlete, look at my extremely elaborate and expensive watch,’ then you’re going to want to have a word with Richard Mille. England’s elegant enforcer and cleaner up of messes, Declan Rice has been spotted out and about with an RM Extra Flat, a descriptively… flat iteration of the brand’s instantly-recognisable sports watches. It features a 38mm titanium case (for lightness), with an automatic skeletonised movement, allowing admirers to gaze upon every tiny intricacy of the watch’s anatomy, and is fixed to a pretty Y2K baby blue rubber strap for a little flash of colour.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Rolex Gold Daytona with mother of pearl dial rainbow bezel
While the free kicks leave a lot to be desired as Team Cristiano, sorry Portugal, crashed out of Euro 2024, at least Ronaldo's watch game is still firing. An avid collector, CR7 has been wearing one of the most desirable Rolex models in recent memory, first launched in 2012, but since discontinued, at the time it was seen as a wild departure from the Swiss monolith’s more subtle forays into colour and bling, with 36 baguette-set sapphires in the bezel, 56 diamonds set into the lugs and case, and coloured sapphire indexes, along with a mother of pearl dial for good measure.
Second-hand versions tend to go for as much as a pretty nice house, which isn’t exactly an issue for Cristiano… but, yeah, they don’t come cheap these days.
Murat Yakin’s Carl F. Bucherer Manero Flyback
A debonair presence on the Swiss touchline, Murat Yakin might have the air of a Bond villain out to build a big laser to fire at 007, but there’s nothing bad about the watch on his wrist.
A thinking man’s luxury timepiece, Yakin has been a long-standing ambassador for Carl F. Bucherer, and has been spotted at the Euros wearing the brand’s Manero Flyback chronograph, a statement 43mm stainless sports watch with an intricate blue dial. Switzerland have been one of the pleasant surprises from the tournament, so you can expect to see plenty more of their manager looking a bit inscrutable on the touchline while Granit Xhaka bosses the midfield.
Vincenzo Montella’s Rolex Sky Dweller
The chaos element in the Euro 2024 draw, Turkey have been living for drama. Yellow cards, a massive, very enthusiastic fanbase and tactics that typically involve adrenaline and some good vibes. The man behind the machine is the Italian Vincenzo Montella, who's been rocking a Rolex Sky Dweller during his managerial duties. In the long, storied history of Rolex, the Sky Dweller is a baby, first launching in 2012, the first entirely new model since the Yacht-Master debuted in 1992, it features a relatively large 42mm case, along with a fairly unusual annual calendar feature, a complication that requires a single adjustment on the part of the wearer once a year — when February turns into March — automatically adjusting to the correct date as long as it is running. A traveller watch, it features twin time zone functionality and a very pretty fluted bezel. The perfect sort of watch for globe-trotting football manager.
