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Gold Watches Fit for Gold Medal Winners
I’m sure, like us, you have all been glued to the incredible once-every-four-years spectacle that is the Olympic Games.
Witnessing the greatest athletes on the planet do battle is just about as good as it gets for anyone who relishes in the pinnacle of sporting achievement.
Then, of course, for those of us who proudly lay claim to the description of horology nerd, it affords the perfect opportunity to indulge in some watch spotting.
Elite sportsmen and women tend to wear some elite timepieces, often during press conferences and occasionally even while competing. The Paris 2024 Games are no different, and we have noticed a number of stunning pieces on display.
We have covered many of those we saw during the opening ceremony in an earlier post. For this one, we are going to see which gold medalists, past and present, have paid tribute to their victories by donning solid gold watches.
Noah Lyles
None other than four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson described the men’s 100m sprint final at the Paris Games as ‘absolutely the best’ he had ever seen, ‘bar none.’
And, with all eight runners crossing the line in under 10 seconds, it was also the fastest race in history. Just 0.12 seconds separated first from last.
Even more incredibly, the gap between gold and silver medal-winning positions was only five-thousandths of a second, with Noah Lyle’s desperate torso dip on the line securing the title for the USA over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson with a time of 9.79 seconds.
It was Lyle’s first ever Olympic triumph, and the eagle-eyed among you might have spotted he did it while wearing an Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Special Edition.
Now, far be it from me to tell the man how to do his job, but surely in a race determined by a timespan 20 times shorter than an eyeblink, shedding every unnecessary ounce of weight has to be an advantage.
Lyle is one of Omega’s most famous brand ambassadors, with a contract which most likely stipulates he wears the manufacture’s watches before and after a sprint, when the cameras get their closeups. But wearing one during it seems to have been his own choice, and with a name like Speedmaster, it was a perfectly appropriate selection.
However, for the post-race interview, Lyle swapped the 44.25mm Black Ceramic Dark Side of the Moon for an even more fitting alternative. In front of the world’s press, he highlighted his new Olympian status with a solid yellow gold, 39mm Omega Constellation with gold dial.
Part of an extensive collection which today covers five sizes and six different metals, the Constellation was Omega’s first ever mass-produced chronometer and is their oldest line of watches, making its debut in 1952. Famed for their integrated bracelets and claw bezels, they represent a beautiful meeting of vintage styling and modern day engineering. Lyle’s model retails at $42,000, just shy of the $37,500 prize money he collected for winning his medal.
Gabby Thomas
Another U.S. sprinter taking gold, another Omega ambassador and another fan of the brand’s Constellation series.
200m runner Gabby Thomas stormed to victory in her event on the 6th August at the Stade de France, recording the fastest women’s time this year of 21.83.
Thomas entered the race as hot favorite, with her closest rival, St. Lucia’s Shericka Jackson, missing out through injury.
As with Lyle, this was the first Olympic gold for Thomas, having taken a bronze and silver in Tokyo in 2020, and the outpouring of emotion at the finish line was plain to see.
Also clearly visible was her Omega Constellation, even though it was one of the range’s smallest 25mm models. The beautifully dainty watch can be had in either steel or two-tone guises; however, obviously doing everything she could to manifest the win, Thomas too opted for the solid yellow gold version.
Tiny in stature and powered by the quartz Caliber 4061, the piece retains the series-wide half-moon claws on the case and the famous mono-rang bracelet, and comes with a diamond-paved bezel and further diamonds used for hour markers on the white mother-of-pearl dial. On the reverse you will find the signature Constellation Observatory medallion stamped on the case back.
A superb watch for a top-class athlete, Gabby Thomas’s watch retails at $23,900.
Usain Bolt
Watching on from the Parisian sidelines and enjoying a very well-earned retirement is the reigning fastest man alive and eight time Olympic gold medalist, Usain Bolt.
The legendary sprinter dominated the sport for nearly 20-years and is still the only man in history to win 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Games. His world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100m has stood since 2009.
These days he is loving his downtime and the opportunity to watch events other than track and field, with basketball becoming a particular passion.
A larger than life character, ‘Lightning’ Bolt has been an Hublot ambassador since 2010 and the brand has dedicated an entire line of watches to the partnership.
The first, the King Power Usain Bolt from 2012, was a black ceramic limited edition of 250 pieces, with a golden strap made from the same leather as the running shoes Bolt wore when he set his world record in Beijing.
That was followed up in 2016 with two additions to the iconic Big Bang collection, the Big Bang Unico Usain Bolt Yellow Gold and the Big Bang Unico Usain Bolt Ceramic. Both also limited editions (100 pieces and 250 pieces respectively), the former features an 18k yellow ‘magic gold’ case and a gold-colored strap of calfskin sewn onto rubber, and each has been given yellow and green highlights to represent the Jamaican flag. Look closely, and you will see both watches have seconds hands shaped like lightning bolts too.
Most recently, we saw the introduction of the Big Bang Unico Usain Bolt Sapphire. As with the others, this 2017 release measured a healthy 45mm, with the bezel, middle case and case back all cut from a single block of scratch resistant sapphire, and pushers, crown and screws all in gold. To further up the desirability, only eight were made and all packaged with a pair of autographed Puma Gold sprinting spikes, the same ones Bolt wore during his final Games in 2016.
He may have hung up his running shoes, but Usain Bolt is still an undeniable legend in sports.
Michael Phelps
Speaking of which, the most decorated Olympian of all time has also been spotted in Paris enjoying the Games as a spectator.
The holder of an almost unbelievable 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold, swimming’s Messi, Federer and Jordan all rolled into one has amassed an enviable watch collection over the years as well. And it should come as no surprise as to where most of them come from.
Has there ever been a better fit between athlete and brand than Phelps and Omega? The Baltimore Shark joined as ambassador in 2004 and, just as Noah Lyle found the ideally named collection in the Speedmaster, the only choice for Phelps had to be the Seamaster.
He has worn a number of different models from the Planet Ocean collection over the years, including his own dedicated ‘Michael Phelps’ Limited Edition in a striking blue and orange livery.
More recently, he was pictured with the beautiful 18k yellow gold Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 41mm-Tokyo 2020, but if you looked really hard up into the stands at Paris’s La Defense Arena in the last few days, you might have seen Phelps sporting the extraordinary red gold Aqua Terra Chronograph GMT.
The hulking great chrono has been retired from Omega’s line-up for a few years, but was an imposing sight, with its dark grey Teak Concept dial finished to recall the look of a sailboat’s wooden deck and its black bezel all contrasting warmly with the rose-colored tone of the case and bracelet.
Along with the stopwatch feature the watch also came with a GMT complication, an additional hour hand pointing out the second time zone on the engraved surround, making it a very handy and luxurious multifunctional tool.
At 44mm it was an ample model, but with Phelps standing at 6’4 and with an arm span of 6’7”, it is the ideal fit for arguably history’s supreme athlete.
Featured Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil, Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium, jenaragon94, jenaragon94, all pics via Wikimedia Commons (cc). Mixed art by Oriol Mendivil.
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