Starting out as a young character actor – that frantic little guy in The Wire and a role in Friday Night Lights – Michael B. Jordan has become a compelling contemporary leading multihyphenate. An action hero, muse and now director with charisma to spare. Someone with giant traps and star appeal and, as it turns out, one of the quirkiest watch collections in show business.
That wealthy and famous people tend to own some nice watches is hardly a revelation, but even if you have more money than Musk, amassing a collection that is well-curated, interesting and tasteful is no easy feat, which puts Jordan’s spectacular arsenal of disco-era Piagets, big time Rolexes and the recent acquisition of Vacheron Constantin’s gold standard, new-meets-old grail into perspective. Tyler, the Creator might have the rare Cartiers, but Michael B. Jordan has become The Guy when it comes to Switzerland’s rarest.
Reissued this year, Vacheron’s 222 is a legendary '70s model that combines all the best bits of flash, sport and dress in one perfectly-proportioned 37mm 18-karat gold case. Jordan, known for his longstanding affiliation with Piaget, turned heads when he showed up to the Black Panther premiere wearing the 222. Is he changing allegiance? Or does he just appreciate what might be the best watch of the year? A piece that is both outlandish — gold, gold… and more gold — with a tonneau-shaped case and an intriguingly grooved bezel and integrated bracelet, but also one that is pleasingly straightforward. Solid, but elegant, with a self-winding movement and date, hours and minutes. Job done.
Piaget has long held a reputation for making some of the thinnest watches in the world. Highly complicated masterpieces on strict diets. At just over 5mm in thickness, Piaget’s Altiplano Ultimate Automatic is a regular showstopper in the Jordan offering. A white gold case set with 90 diamonds and a highly intricate visible movement framing an off-centre hours and minute display.
One of Yves Piaget’s greatest creations, a sparkling dress watch for gentlemen and gentleladies, beloved by the likes of Warhol and his hard-charging cabal, the Piaget 7131 is the ultimate era-defining watch. Disco-ready. Small, loads of gold and with a quartz movement, which at the time was seen as the ‘future’ of watchmaking, even in luxury models. The sort of watch that goes perfectly with moustache and some exposed chest.
Starting out in a tiny village in the Jura mountains, Piaget has been right in the thick of luxury watches for more than 150 years, but only started making wristwatches in the ‘40s, making them relative newcomers in the Very Old world of Swiss horology. A big part of its esteemed rep comes from the late ’90s creation of the Altiplano (oh, and the Polo too, of course) that legendarily thin series of automatic watches inspired by South American high plateaus. This 2020 edition is a svelte 6.36mm with a diamond-studded bezel and brown croc leather strap.
Likely the most decadent piece in the Jordan watch suite, this juiced-up Altiplano with 90 diamonds set around the bezel is bold enough to turn heads, but throw in a self-winding 910P movement inside one of the thinnest watches ever made and you’ve got something for the mechanism fans, too. A watch that prioritises statement over subtlety, and for good reason. That’s a fair amount of diamonds.
The ultimate Big Night Out Rolex, made from a top-secret special Swiss in-house blend of precious metal, the Gold Day-Date is a watch with pedigree, known as the Presidential due to it being a favourite of, err, presidents. Eisenhower, LBJ, JFK, all the big ones. A luxury dress watch that has only subtly changed since it was launched in 1956, and for good reason. Don’t mess with the classics. Rolex, and MBJ, get it, as seen courtside with Creed co-star Jonathan Majors last week.
