Known for his vibrant persona, Elton John is not just your average popstar — he is a legend, one of the grandest pop culture icons the world has ever seen. With more than 300 million records sold to date, the Briton is a popular name around the globe. As such, it’s not surprising that Elton John boasts an enviable collection of luxury accessories, ranging from sunglasses to watches.
While he’s rarely not in the news, the singer-composer recently made headlines for putting 31 timepieces from his cherished collection up for auction. Titled ‘Goodbye Peachtree Road’ sale, the auction by Christies included Elton John’s home decor items, photographs, paintings, boots, sunglasses and dinnerware, in addition to his watches.
What caught our attention the most was Elton John’s fabled leopard-print Rolex Daytona. The timepiece contains 36 orange sapphires in the bezel with another 48 diamonds in the lugs. As previously mentioned, the dial and strap of this model boast a leopard-skin print. The rest of the watch retains all the trademark features of a Rolex Daytona.
So is it only the design of the watch that makes it so special? While it is a boon, the design is not the only factor. According to reports, this timepiece was auctioned off for — wait for it — USD 8 million! Two more watches from John’s collection recorded notable bids before going down the hammer — while his limited-edition Cartier Crash was sold for USD 277,200, his signed Cartier Tank Normale fetched USD 176,400.
With his luxury watch collection now being the talk of the town, we decided to take a detailed look at the impressive array of Elton John’s watches.
Which are the best watches in Elton John’s collection?
Cartier Pasha
Price: USD 25,000
The Cartier Pasha reference 2495 from the British singer’s collection is one of the rarest timepieces on the planet. In fact, Cartier made only 20 pieces of this particular limited edition model.
But what makes this watch such a prized possession? The bezel of the watch is set with diamonds, while an additional fragment of diamond adorns the crown. On the other hand, the 36-millimetre dial of the watch is decorated using the cloisonné technique. For the uninitiated, this is an enameling technique where the shapes are initially outlined by applying metal wires. The enamel is then poured inside.
This Cartier watch, with a dragon design on the dial, certainly stands out as one of the best watches in Elton John’s collection.
Piaget Tanagra
Price: USD 18,000
Not every timepiece can match the flamboyance of Elton John.
The regular gold-case variant of Piaget Tanagra would have looked bleak on the legendary singer’s wrist. Keeping this in mind, the watchmaker came up with a new model tailor-made for John.
This watch features gold, diamonds and gemstones all over its body. The 33.5-millimetre paved dial comes with a fluted bezel featuring a host of multi-coloured crystals. The timepiece is a true reminder of the showman John was, is and will remain forever.
Chopard Imperiale
Price: USD 18,000
The crafter of the iconic 201-Carat Watch, Chopard’s timepieces look more like jewellery and the Imperiale is no different. While it comes in several variants such as rose gold and lucent steel, Elton John’s collection features a limited edition Chopard Imperiale watch made of yellow gold.
As opposed to the rest of the Imperiale models, the one in question has diamond bits on the dial. The 36-millimetre timepiece also comes equipped with a black leather strap, while its fluted bezel is fitted with sapphire.
The watch itself is powered by a self-winding mechanical movement, with one winding offering a power reserve of up to 65 hours. It has 188 movement parts and is water resistant upto 50 metres.
Cartier Tank Divan
Price: USD 18,000
While luxury watchmakers have often gone the distance to adorn their timepieces with rubies, diamonds and even sapphires in their special edition variants, not many of them have thought about adding new functionalities. This is where Cartier takes the cake.
The limited edition Tank Divan watch in Elton John’s collection ranks among the best in his vault as it comes with dual-time functionality. In practice, this means that the wearer can set two time zones on the watch.
In terms of the materials used, the timepiece is crafted out of white gold with diamonds on the bezel. It sports a black leather strap with a diamond-set buckle and is powered by quartz movement.
Jaegar-LeCoultre Master Control
Price: USD 18,000
Jaegar-LeCoultre, known for installing one of the world’s tiniest mechanical movements in their historic Joaillerie timepiece, has also found a place in Elton John’s collection of watches. Much like the rest of its models, the Master Control is an exquisite work of art.
The bezel of the watch is fitted with baguette diamonds. These shiny crystals perfectly complement the elegance of the platinum dial and body of the timepiece.
It is widely believed that John acquired this watch in the early 2000s, although the exact date remains unknown. Interestingly, the watchmaker released three other variants of this model — with sapphires, rubies and emeralds.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
Price: USD 15,000
Arguably one of the most renowned luxury watch series, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak lineup was designed by Swiss clockmaker and artist Gérald Genta. It shares a distinct rivalry with Patek Philippe’s Natilus collection. Interestingly, both of them were the products of the ‘Quartz Crisis’ that arose in 1969 with the introduction of the quartz movement by Seiko’s Astron.
Coming back to Elton John’s watches, the Audemars Piguet timepiece in question has a narrow 33-millimetre dial. Its bezels are adorned with baguette-cut sapphires, while the blue mother-of-pearl dial is set with brilliant-cut diamonds for indices. The body of the watch is crafted out of white gold.
Franck Muller Perpetual Calendar
Price: USD 15,000
Most of the watches in Elton John’s collection boast of diamonds and sapphires. However, that’s not the case for the Franck Muller Perpetual Calendar. This timepiece has earned its place in this collection because of its unique set of functionalities.
Apart from its regular timekeeping ability, this watch features moon phases as well as retrograde month and leap year indication functionalities. The 39-millimetre case is made of rose gold.
But is it similar to the other Perpetual Calendar models by Franck Muller? The answer is a resounding no. As opposed to the regular models with white dials, the Perpetual Calendar variant in the Briton’s collection comes with a black dial. This minute detail makes the model a limited-edition timepiece.
Chopard ‘Mille Miglia Elton John’
Price: USD 12,000
Chopard made a limited-edition signature model for Elton John, such is the Briton’s charisma. This special Mille Miglia timepiece comes with a 39-millimetre stainless steel case, a sapphire crystal back and a coral mother-of-pearl dial. The fluted bezel of the watch is fitted with diamond bits.
Under its hood, the watch sports an automatic self-winding COSC movement with chronograph functions, and one winding of the movement offers an estimated 40 hours of power reserve. The exquisite timepiece is also water-resistant upto 30 metres.
Hublot Big Bang Tutti Frutti Caviar
Price: USD 12,000
Hublot Big Bang is one of the most iconic watches in the world. So it is only fitting that it finds a place in the collection of one of the greatest pop culture icons in history.
The Tutti Frutti Caviar owned by Elton John comes with a ceramic and DLC-coated case and sports a massive 41-millimetre dial. This timepiece is powered by an automatic self-winding movement and even fashions a date window on the dial. Additionally, the black body of the watch is adorned with purple sapphire bits on the fluted bezels. Given its impressive appeal, this timepiece would even be a perfect fit on Black Panther’s wrist.
Chopard Happy Sport
Price: USD 10,000
Rounding off our list of Elton John’s best watches is the Chopard Happy Sport.
Launched in 1993, it is the first watch in history to combine diamonds with a stainless steel case. The timepiece stands as a testament to Chopard’s creativity and watchmaking excellence.
The watch came with a black leather strap and diamond bits set on the fluted bezel. However, the highlight of this 36-millimetre watch lies in its dial. Right at the six o’clock index, there lies a diamond ‘E’ and a diamond ‘J’ on either side of the marker. Talk about personalised luxury.
(Main Image Credits: Elton John/Instagram and Rolex; Featured Image Credits: Elton John/Instagram)
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Written by
Uddipta writes about sports and watches besides occasionally venturing into the world of automobiles and technology. He was associated with the Indian Express in the capacity of a sub-editor at their Lifestyle desk. A journalism and mass communication student from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, Uddipta devotes most of his leisure time to photography and filmmaking. He has contributed photographs to Vogue Italia and several exhibits, and has directed award-winning short films screened at film festivals in India and abroad.
