Tom Brady is a man on a horological mission. While the seven-time Super Bowl champ has an extensive collection that includes rare, complicated Patek calendar watches and military-inspired IWC pilot’s watches, recently he’s been amassing pieces from a little brand you might’ve heard of called Rolex. From rare Middle Eastern-market Day-Dates to ref. 6241 “JPS” Daytonas to “Emoji”-dial models and gem-set GMT-Masters, his collection is simply awash with eye-popping Rollies.
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Despite all of his unobtainium watches, even the G.O.A.T. himself doesn’t seem to be immune to the simple charms of a run-of-the-mill stainless steel catalog model. Case in point? Brady was spotted leaving the gymnastic final at the Paris Olympics wearing the ref. 126710GRNR, aka the new GMT-Master II launched at Watches & Wonders this year. Unlike many other references in Brady’s collection, this is neither a modern piece of restricted production nor an ultra-rare vintage model whose acquisition takes both enormous sums of money as well as infinite well of patience to acquire. Rather, the GRNR—for “gris noir,” aka “grey black”—is simply an extension of the GMT-Master collection into a new colorway.
Brady’s new ref. 126710GRNR was Rolex’s big Oystersteel release for 2024—having tried it on in Geneva, I can attest to its comfort and handsomeness. Even the grey-and-black 24-hour bezel insert differentiating daytime and nighttime hours have a surprising contrast in person. Measuring 40mm in diameter and equipped with the aforementioned bidirectional, rotating bezel with Cerachrom 24-hour insert, the watch is powered by the automatic cal. 3285 Rolex manufacture movement with an independently adjustable local hour hand and 70 hours of power reserve.
For someone like Brady, who seemingly pops up in a different far-flung locale each week, the GMT-Master II’s functionality is genuinely useful: When he sets down in, say, Paris, it’s merely a matter of jumping the local hour hand forward a few turns to update to local time, while the GMT hand could be either left alone or quickly reset to track time back in the States.
Next to all the fancy Arabic-dial DDs, IWC perpetual calendars, and ultralight Richard Mille models in Brady’s collection, this more “humble” GMT-Master II may not command quite the same arched eyebrow from the jaded collector. However, it’s quite simply an awesome watch.
Jimmy Fallon’s Cartier Tank
The Olympic watch spotting has unfortunately wound to a close this week—but not before we scoped Jimmy Fallon rocking a classic Tank Louis Cartier while attending Team U.S.A’s faceoff against Team France in men’s basketball. The Tank “LC,” launched in 1922, was not the first Tank model—that would be what we call the “Normale,” which was designed during the First World War—but today, it’s considered the prototypical Tank. Measuring 25.5mm in diameter, Fallon’s watch appears to be the rose gold model. Powered by a manually-wound Cartier movement and fixed to a leather alligator strap, its white Roman-numeral dial and sapphire cabochon crown still ooze class over a century following the models’ conception.
Jimmy O. Yang’s Seiko X Rowing Blazers Seiko 5
Actor-comedian Jimmy O. Yang is most definitely a watch guy. He snagged this Seiko 5 from Eric Wind, who helped design the collection with his friend and Rowing Blazers founder Jack Carlson. (In fact, Yang outfitted his Space Force cast members with watches from the capsule, spreading the horological love in a manner that we most thoroughly approve of.) This particular version on Yang’s wrist, with its mint-green NATO strap and checkered “racing” bezel, is particularly cool. The day and date complications, powered by the automatic Seiko 4R36 movement, are housed in a 42.5mm steel case, making the watch an excellent, rugged choice for summer adventures.
Austin Butler’s Breitling Chronomat B01 42
Which watch would you throw on for flying through the skies? For Austin Butler, the answer is the Breitling Chronomat B001 42, a large-and-in-charge chronograph powered by the brand’s own automatic, in-house B-01 movement, first produced in 2009. Measuring 42mm in diameter in stainless steel, Butler’s reference features a cool “panda” dial—black chrono totalizers against a silver background—plus a handy rotating, count-up timing bezel and a cool matching steel bracelet with cool “Rouleaux” links. COSC-certified and water resistant to 200m, it has “luxury sports watch” looks without the Patek- or AP-level price tag.
Brad Pitt’s Patek Philippe Nautilus
We have to hand it to Brad Pitt—he brought out the big guns for his GQ cover shoot with buddy George Clooney, and couldn’t have picked a cooler watch: His 3800/1J is the second reference produced in Patek Philippe’s beloved Nautilus collection, the model conceived of by none other than Gérald Genta and released in 1976. A perfect encapsulation of the “luxury sports watch,” the Nautilus features a solid yellow gold case and bracelet, a matching gold dial, and the famed case “ears” and horizontal grooves of the collection. For those who love the original ref. 3700 “Jumbo” model but prefer a slightly smaller 37.5mm diameter, the ref. 3800 is just the ticket.