Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Had a Positively Watchtastic Apply Session

Welcome to Watches of the Week, the place we’ll monitor the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches noticed on celebrities.

Roger Federer performed what’s being described as his final “aggressive” match Friday. However wanting on the pictures from the smiley follow classes earlier within the week, it didn’t take lengthy for Federer to choose up some new strikes from his longtime rival Rafael Nadal.

It wasn’t a shock to see the watch on Nadal’s wrist. The Spaniard all the time wears considered one of his tickers made in collaboration with Richard Mille, the maker of super-powered sport watches. Recently, Nadal has been religiously sporting the RM 27-04, the latest piece to return out of his partnership with the model. The watch includes a single metal cable threaded and criss-crossed by the case to imitate a tennis racket.

Switzerland’s Roger Federer (R) and Spain’s Rafael Nadal take a break throughout a follow session forward of the 2022 Laver Cup on the O2 Enviornment in London on September 22, 2022. – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Picture by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Picture by GLYN KIRK/AFP by way of Getty Photos)GLYN KIRK/Getty Photos

What made Federer and Nadal’s rivalry particular was that they appeared to be polar opposites in all the things: play fashion, character, handedness. Watches had been one other level the place they differed. The place Nadal rocks his RMs on the court docket, Federer by no means wore a watch throughout play; he was extra snug with the post-match and pre-championship ceremony routine of gathering his belongings and pulling his chosen Rolex from his bag.

Federer modified his method throughout his follow classes with Nadal, although. Rog got here out sporting not simply any Rolex, however one of many Crown’s most enjoyable new releases of the yr: the “destro” (lefty) GMT-Grasp II. That is the primary watch Rolex has made expressly for lefties, and the green-and-blackcolor mixture (christened the “Sprite” by collectors) can also be new to the model. Coincidentally, the “destro” structure is ideal for a tennis participant: the watch’s winding crown factors up Fed’s and doesn’t threat digging into his wrist throughout a swing. (Audemars Piguet custom-made a look ahead to Serena Williams with this configuration to permit her to put on it throughout play.) Both approach, the brand new GMT was a becoming companion for Federer’s final dance.

Drake’s Rolex Day-Date

This week’s version of Watches of the Week options solely heavy hitters sporting heavy hitting watches. Kicking this social gathering off is Drake in a really icey model of the Day-Date. The Day-Date is called the “President” watch and infrequently comes dressed up in methods match for that oval-shaped workplace: refined, delicate, buttoned-up. That’s what makes Drake’s model so enjoyable—it throws decorum out the window for a blizzard of diamonds and sapphires.

Ed Sheeran’s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

You already know it’s week in watches when preeminent collector Ed Sheeran and his fresh-off-the-production-line Royal Oak solely mkae the third spot. This Papa Smurf watch was solely formally introduced earlier this week (after leaking on the very finish of August), so Sheeran is actually displaying off. The brand new watch furthers AP’s already enjoyable experiments with ceramic—the model makes the Royal Oak in all white and all black—through the use of the fabric to prove this blueberry-hued timepiece. This watch checks each field: the ceramic materials is rugged and scratch-proof, the perpetual calendar reveals off imply technical chops, and the blue shade brings all of the enjoyable.

John Mayer’s Apple Watch Extremely

As he wrote on Instagram, the Apple Watch often isn’t John Mayer’s cup of tea as a mechanical watch collector. What received him over? The do-it-all Apple Watch Extremely is loaded with options, like an 86-decibel misery siren and a spot-on GPS that tracks the wearer’s mountain climbing trails. This can be a win-win: Mayer provides one other piece to his dazzling assortment and Apple will get a very powerful co-sign within the watch world.

Melinda Gates’s Patek Philippe Nautilus

Whereas ex-husband Invoice Gates is known for sporting a sub-$50 Casio, Melinda has proven she isn’t afraid of spending her huge fortune. That largely means giving giant parts of it away to charity—but additionally spending a (comparatively) small chunk to purchase a powerhouse watch. At Michael Kors’s NYFW present, Gates wore a reasonably gold Nautilus. The collector-favorite Nautilus has gotten a nasty rap as the selection of the Bitcoin bros and nouveau riche, however Gates proves that it’s really a watch capable of carry all rich folks collectively. How beautiful.