With the World Cup fully underway, the flames of football fever have begun to ignite as fans across the globe tune in to watch their country play for this most prestigious of trophies in the beautiful game. With all the football hype taking its grip, we at William May thought we’d look at the favourite players for this year’s World Cup and their stunning watches. From personalised Hublots to golden Rolexs, these footballers certainly know how to keep their time and style in check just as much as their honed skills on the pitch.
Neymar - Brazil
This famous forward player for Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil has an extensive collection of GaGá Milano watches which he has been putting together for a number of years. Prior to the 2014 World Cup in his home country, Neymar spent over £134,000 alone on the brand, adding 16 unique time pieces to the collection which is still growing to this day!
In recent years the footballer has even had a watch named after him by the quirky Swiss watchmakers. Known as the Neymar Jr. Limited Edition, this stainless steel and carbon fibre watch is powered by a complex Swiss mechanism which has a power reserve of 36 hours and is retailed at a reasonably modest price of £1570. Neymar himself has a bespoke version which has a diamond set number 11 on the watch face as a reference to his former position at Barcelona FC and is probably worth a lot more than GaGá Milano’s standard range!
Mats Hummels – Germany
Star of the Bundesliga and his club, Bayern Munich, defender Mats Hummels returns to the German team this year to uphold his nation’s world champion title. However, off the pitch, Hummels is also quite the watch connoisseur. An ambassador for Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer, Hummels has been involved with the brand for a number of years now, fronting the campaign for Heuer’s Modular 45 and raising €10,000 for UNICEF in the process.
The TAG Heuer Modular 45 itself is a digital smart watch which comes in a variety of designs and preferences. This hi-tech watch can be worth up to £5,700 and these feature a titanium grade 5 finish, a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal face and a diamond bezel around the watch’s perimeter, making it quite the flamboyant fashion accessory!
Harry Kane – England
Perhaps the most famous and promising English players in football at the moment, the Tottenham Hotspur striker is set to lead England’s hopes for World Cup glory this year. A loyal player for Spurs, Harry Kane has a particularly interesting, bespoke watch made for him back in 2015. Following Tottenham’s amazing season that year and Kane’s PFA Young Player of the Year award, the footballer was gifted a personalised watch by Hublot to commemorate Harry Kane’s brilliant year.
Based off Hublot’s Big Bang Unico King Gold range, the watch is plated with 18 carat rose gold and ceramic finishes as well as sporting a massive 72 hour power reserve and a crystal sapphire, anti-reflective face. Retailing at around £25,200, the watch Kane owns also incorporates a custom-made back-face with the number 18 (his old squad number) and a personal message, as well as a blue and white leather strap.
Sergio Ramos – Spain
Real Madrid captain and defender Sergio Ramos takes to the field again for his home country aiming to recreate Spain’s stunning World Cup performance in South Africa 2010. When it comes to watches, Ramos is quite the fan with an extensive range of time pieces including a number of Rolexs and Cartiers.
More recently however the Spanish footballer has been seen wearing the glamourous IWC Portugieser Chronograph, an exquisite time piece reserved for those with a true passion for watches. Retailing at nearly £13,500, the IWC Portugieser Chronograph is quite the celebrity time keeper, featuring an 18 carat rose gold case, black alligator leather strap and a 44 hour power reserve. Whilst certainly a spectacular watch, it’s probably a tad bit too expensive for most of us!
Antoine Griezmann – France
Budding protégée of the French team and Atlético Madrid, Antoine Griezmann returns for his second World Cup and first starting line up in the contest. Despite his young age, the French footballer has already earned a place amongst the celebrity watch range after the Swiss manufacturer HYT designed a unique watch in honour of the player.
The H1 Antoine Griezmann, like many of HYT’s watches, is a strange looking time piece which incorporates the company’s signature liquid hour display and hefty design. Created in collaboration with Antoine, the watch is designed to be sporty but elegant and features black DLC titanium and blue PVD in its casing as well as being patterned in the footballer’s favourite colours: white and blue. Retailing at around £49,100, the watch really is a substantial timepiece at 48.8 mm by 17.9 mm in circumference, a size which is luckily compensated for in the watch’s carbon fibre body.
Lionel Messi – Argentina
Lionel Messi is probably the most famous football player in the world and the Barcelona forward is set to uphold his status for Argentina once again in this year’s World Cup. With a fame a as grand as his, it is quite unsurprising that Messi has had a watch named after him, although this one is really quite something.
Retailing at around £63,000 when it was released, the limited-edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Leo Messi is a masterpiece in watch design. Clean and simple, yet still elegant and stunning, the platinum plated time piece features gold and jewelled interior workings as well as a 40 hour power reserve. The watch was originally released in platinum, gold and stainless steel, with Messi himself being gifted a platinum variant of his own. Being a limited-edition watch, the Royal Oak Leo Messi is no longer available to buy new, however, with models now being worth up to £99,995 second hand, you might want to limit your spending with this one…
Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal
Real Madrid’s star forward once again takes to the field in the green and red of Portugal for the 2018 World Cup. No stranger to success and style, the Portuguese idol has been seen wearing a number of watches over the years as well as releasing a time piece of his own.
However, this year Ronaldo and the whole Real Madrid team were rewarded with a special gift in the form of over £627,000 worth of Rolex watches. To congratulate the team on winning their 12th European Cup title (now matched by their 13th title this year!), the Real Madrid squad each received a luxury Rolex Submariner Date. Featuring an 18 carat white gold casing and an oyster bracelet, these £9,900 watches also hold a 48 hour power reserve and are fitted with gold coated numerals and graduations.
The move by the club mirrored Ronaldo’s own gift to the team back in 2014 when the footballer gave a personalised Bulgari worth £6,500 to each player after Real Madrid won their 10th Champion’s League title.
