Up to now few years, Tyler, the Creator has turn into probably the most fascinating watch collectors of our time. He went from an reasonably priced Casio that he wore religiously to a set of Cartier watches so uncommon they’d make the archivists on the model’s Parisian headquarters blush. Does something say extra about how deeply watches can sink their tooth into you than Tyler’s journey, which discovered him so deep into the passion that he popped up at Monaco auctions in 2021 to seize new items? However final evening, at GQ’s 2024 Males of the Yr Get together in Los Angeles, Tyler confirmed that his wristwear tastes are zagging but once more with a brand new peculiar watch.
Let’s zoom in on this magnificence.
What on the earth? Whereas Tyler skipped the occasion’s purple carpet, he created one in all his personal when he pulled as much as the venue in one in all his immaculate classic automobiles. Upon stepping out, we received a reasonably clear have a look at the watch on his wrist, which resembled…a painter’s palette.
My first intuition was to ask the oldsters at Cartier whether or not they occurred to be answerable for the piece. It’s unlikely, however I didn’t wish to rule it out fully given the mix of Tyler’s loyalty to the model and its historical past of surprising shapes. And whereas the maison has a historical past of making piece uniques for its finest shoppers, it will be a stretch to suppose Cartier would produce a completely new form as a one-off, even for somebody with Tyler’s degree of fame. A Cartier consultant couldn’t instantly verify or deny this longshot.
The extra probably reply is that Tyler is sporting an especially reasonably priced quartz watch. A list for a chunk just about an identical to Tyler’s continues to be seen on WatchCharts. The watch matches the palette form and its splotches of paint standing in as hour indices. It’s laborious to inform precisely who made Tyler’s precise piece, however plainly a provider produced this mannequin for a number of manufacturers. Some are made by a model referred to as St. Marin and say both “Hong Kong Movt” or “China Movt” on the backside. Others have “Geneva” on the heart of the dial and “Japan Movt” on the backside. And what do these watches, one in all which Tyler probably wore to GQ’s Males of the Yr Get together, sometimes price? Not more than $20!
