It’s tough to fault a guy for wanting to cultivate an “everyman” image while occupying the highest political office in the free world. For much of his presidency, Barack Obama rocked a roughly $400 Jorg Gray quartz watch gifted to him by the Secret Service. Once he stepped out of the Oval Office for the last time, however, the former President reached for something a bit more refined.
It was 2017 when the greater horological internet began noticing the Rolex Cellini on President Obama’s wrist. At the time, the Cellini was—and had been for many years—Rolex’s dress watch line. Of course, Rolex is known first and foremost as a producer of refined tool watches, and the thing about the Cellini was that you just didn’t see many of them out and about. Submariners? Sure. Daytonas? Yup. But a 39mm, white gold, time-only dress piece with a Rolex crown on it? That was Obama’s thing. He likes the Rolex so much it is immortalized in his official presidential portrait.
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His particular Cellini ref. 50509 is a bit pricier than the ole’ Jorg Gray—it retailed for $15,200 when it was still in Rolex’s catalog—and features a 39mm white gold case with a handsome, knurled bezel and a white dial with applied indices, an inner minute track, and an alpha handset. It’s an objectively handsome watch, as many Crown offerings are, and frankly looked great peeking out from the President’s cuff while on display at the Democratic National Convention this week. The Presidential boost doesn’t seem to have done much for secondary market pricing on this particular time-teller: the now-discontinued ref. 50509 trades for well under its former retail price.
In 2022, Rolex made a hard left turn when it discontinued nearly every Cellini reference save the moonphase-equipped ref. 50535. At the time, the watch world held its breath, unsure of what the move signified. Was Rolex closing ranks and doing away with its dress watch business altogether? In hindsight, this proved not to be the case: Just a year later, at Watches & Wonders Geneva, the Crown introduced its Rolex Perpetual 1908 collection, the spiritual successor to the Cellini. Currently consisting of a single model—a 39mm dress watch in white gold, yellow gold, or platinum with automatic winding and a transparent caseback—the 1908 is clear evidence of Rolex’s continued belief in watch collecting, and that a person who wears a Submariner most every day will still want to put on something a bit more elegant when wearing a tuxedo or, say, when they have a prominent speaking engagement.
The Cellini ref. 50509 will likely forever remain associated with President Obama. This truly is a case of the watch fitting the man—though more to the point, there was simply never a more famous personality ever tied to this dressy, reserved Rolex collection.
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Ed Sheeran’s F.P. Journe Chronomètre Bleu
Renowned watch collector—we hear he’s also a musician?—Mr. Ed Sheeran was spotted at Ipswich Town’s Premier League match in a handsome Chronomètre Bleu from F.P. Journe, the eponymous brand from one of the world’s most talented watchmakers. Even within Sheeran’s extensive collection, this beautiful piece sticks out: Measuring 39mm in dark grey tantalum, it features a chrome-blue dial with stylized Arabic indices, a chemin de fer minute track, an offset sub-seconds indicator between 7 and 8 o’clock, and Journe’s signature handset. Powered by a stunning, hand-wound movement in 18K rose gold with dual barrels, the Chronomètre Bleu is a restrained-looking dress piece that nevertheless packs a significant horological punch.
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Jenna Ortega’s Hublot Classic Fusion Orlinski Titanium Alternative Pave 40mm
Actress Jenna Ortega appeared on the Today show to promote Beetlejuice Beetlejuicein a Hublot Classic Fusion Orlinski Titanium Alternative Pave 40mm. Despite being positively slathered in diamonds, the Orlinski is nonetheless one of the Swiss brand’s more restrained models. The watch measures 40mm in Grade 5 titanium and features a diamond-set bezel and matching, diamond-set bracelet, plus a faceted black dial with applied indices and a dauphine handset. Powered by an automatic movement, its slightly avant-garde, luxury-sports-watch looks stand out in the Hublot catalog, whose left-of-center wares are generally sportier these days.
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Jay-Z’s Jacob & Co. Bugatti Tourbillon
The world’s foremost watch collector strikes again! (Well, maybe he and John Mayer can fight it out for that title—but you get the point.) Jay-Z was spotted this week in Jacob & Co’s Bugatti Tourbillon, a watch with a tiny animated V16 engine block automation. Inspired by the Bugatti Tourbillon—the automobile, that is—it does indeed feature a tourbillon complication, plus the engine block automation, plus a jumping retrograde hours display, plus a retrograde minutes display, plus plus plus a dual-power reserve display. This watch, in case you hadn’t noticed, is complicated—which at least partially explains its $340,000 price tag. Limited to 150 pieces, this is a watch few people not named Jay-Z will have the chance to handle in person.
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Tyler the Creator’s Cartier Pebble
Fine—we’re sort of cheating with this one: We didn’t spot the actual Tyler in a Pebble recently. (The dude totally owns one, however.) But we did spot this sick new Supreme photo tee which features Tyler wearing said Pebble…as well as a Supreme t-shirt. The Pebble, of course, has become one of Cartier’s most sought-after watches, with prices for the original run hitting multiple-six figures. Besides the six or so original pieces made in the early 1970s, Cartier issued a limited run of 150 pieces back in 2022. Those hand-wound, solid-gold watches, which retailed for £40,000, are hard to come by…but one of them is now forever linked to Supreme.
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