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The Watches Worn at the 2024 Olympic Games
All eyes are on Paris right now as the French capital plays host to the XXXIII Olympic Games.
We’ve had the opening ceremony which was, well, it just…was, and now we can concentrate on watching the world’s greatest athletes do battle against each other, the elements and the clock.
What Timepieces Do Olympic Athletes Wear?
The importance of timekeeping is paramount with just about every Olympic discipline, where the difference between gold and silver medals, or sometimes gold and no medal at all can often be measured in tenths or even hundredths of a second.
It stands to reason then that elite athletes and elite watchmakers have long held a close relationship, with those at the very top of their field frequently acting as ambassadors for a number of luxury brands.
However, even those with no official connection can usually be seen sporting some incredible pieces on their downtime, and occasionally during their actual events too.
Below we have picked out some of the favorites we’ve spotted so far.
Richard Mille
We all know Olympians are superhumans, able to perform miracles and endure adversities we mere mortals can only dream of. The stresses imposed on their bodies by many sports are punishing to the extreme, taking athletes years of conditioning to withstand.
In addition, top level sportsmen and women tend to be the mavericks of the world, the rulebreakers and the rebels.
It is a combination of all of these factors which lead so many to favor that most nonconformist of marques, Richard Mille, as their preferred wristwear provider.
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal wore his latest Mille collaboration piece, the RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon, as he performed his opening ceremony torch bearing duties. Accepting the Olympic flame from fellow sporting great, Zinedine Zidane, Rafa climbed aboard a boat to sail down the Seine alongside four-time gold medal winner Serena Williams, nine-time gold medalist sprinter Carl Lewis and Nadia Comǎneci, the first gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 and the winner of five Olympic golds.
The RM 27-05 is reportedly the most technical piece Mille has ever made, which is quite the statement for a brand which has rewritten the rule book on what a watch can do. Constructed from Carbon TPT (thin ply technology) the name describes a process for weaving ultra-thin, resin-impregnated sheets of carbon which results in a form both remarkably strong and exceptionally light. Clocking in at a mere 11.5g without its strap, Nadal’s new watch is the lightest tourbillon in the world. Not only that, it can reportedly tolerate forces of up to 14,000g, perfect for his vigorous playing style.
There have been other notable Mille models on display too. Game changing, British-born New York fencer, Miles Chamley-Watson, was spotted wearing his bright yellow RM 65-01 Automatic Split-Seconds Chronograph. Their most complicated automatic watch to date, the Vaucher-supplied RMAC4 movement inside the RM 65-01 consists of 480 components and beats at 5Hz, or 36,000vph, meaning the highly complex chronograph can time increments down to 1/10th second.
The watch was released only this year, in two versions. Chamley-Watson’s is limited to just 120 units. The other comes in a pastel blue and will join the regular collection as a non-limited edition. Both are forged from Quartz TPT and retail at around $380,000.
And it wasn’t just the competitors rocking the Mille. 13-time Grammy Award-winning musician Pharrell Williams was the final torch bearer at the opening ceremony, carrying the flame to the top of the Basilica of Saint-Denis and wearing the extraordinary RM Up-01 Ferrari while he did so. Officially the thinnest mechanical watch in the world at just 1.75mm in height, the $2m time-telling credit card was designed in collaboration with Ferrari itself, with Williams’ piece one of only 150 being made.
Audemars Piguet
Even more well represented than Mille, Audemars Piguet are also having a good games. The avant-garde Swiss maison can lay claim to inventing the category of the luxury sports watch with the 1972 release of their iconic, Gerald Genta-penned Royal Oak. So it seems only right the latest models in that revered collection should find their way onto the wrists of some true Olympic greats.
The aforementioned Serena Williams, holder of one gold medal in the singles and three in doubles tennis, playing next to sister Venus, wore a stunning 41mm Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel piece with its beautiful rose gold movement on show through the skeletonized dial.
The 42-year old, 23 Grand Slam Title winner has been spending her well-earned retirement as a philanthropist and activist as well as fulfilling her lucrative contract as an official AP ambassador.
Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, LeBron James, has an Olympic record almost the equal of Serena’s. The 39-year old will be looking to add to his tally of two golds and a bronze as he lines up next to the likes of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant in Paris.
He was also pictured wearing a Royal Oak as he took on the role of Team USA flagbearer at this year’s games, although one with a little more bling. The Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin is a 41mm, solid rose gold model with 32 stunning sapphires arranged in its bezel and AP’s trademark tapisserie dial in a coordinated deep blue.
Team mate Anthony Davis, the LA Lakers power-forward ,went same brand, different collection. His amazing Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph ‘25th Anniversary’ Pink Gold piece, limited to just 50 units, is a 45mm eccentricity with a semi-detached dial and a case like a Cybertruck.
And Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum opted to follow in Serena Williams’ footsteps with the Double Balance Wheel Openworked Steel reference, except his replaced the rose gold movement with one forged in black rhodium, giving an altogether more masculine aesthetic.
Omega
Another brand which definitely earns its place in the Olympics spotlight, Omega has acted as official timekeeper at 31 of the last 33 games.
We will be dedicating an entire article to that enduring relationship soon, but for now we can indulge in a little Omega-spotting amongst the Parisian crowds.
Snowboarding GOAT, the three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White donned a wonderful Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Moonshine Gold with a sunbrushed PVD emerald green dial to watch the opening ceremony.
The 42mm reference is forged in an alloy of Omega’s own recipe, with added silver, copper and palladium. Paler than traditional yellow gold, Moonshine gold is meant to mimic the look of moonlight in a dark blue sky.
Superstar Swedish/American pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, actually broke his own world record at this year’s Games, clearing an incredible 6.25m.
He has also been an Omega ambassador since 2020 and recently had a new Aqua Terra 150M created in his honor. The predominantly blue with yellow accent model was made to represent the Swedish flag. However, Mondo is known to wear the Seamaster Aqua Terra Ultra-Light while competing, with the titanium watch weighing only 55 grams. It is, incidentally, the same watch worn by golfer Rory McIlroy and 400m Dutch sprinter and hurdler Femke Bol.
We will be doing a series of Olympics-themed posts over the next week, so make sure to check back in during the games.
Featured Photo: Y.Leclercq [Wikimedia Commons (cc)], Quang Viet Nguyen [via Pexels (cc)], mixed art by Oriol Mendivil.
