Jay Z's luxury watch collection is worth millions and includes one of the most complicated timepieces ever made
- Billionaire rapper Jay Z loves luxury watches — the rarer and harder to get, the better.
- His collection includes new and vintage watches from Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, and Patek Philippe.
Hublot Big Bang
Jay Z, born Shawn Carter, has mentioned his love of luxury timepieces in his songs for years. You can find references to Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Hublot throughout Jay's 30-year music catalog.
He quite literally announced his love of Hublot in the 2011 song "Otis," where he pronounced, "New watch alert: Hublot."
Perhaps it was prophetic: In 2012, his wife Beyoncé reportedly gifted Jay Z a $5 million Hublot Big Bang, an 18-karat white-gold watch encrusted with 1,282 diamonds, for his 43rd birthday. The watch took more than 14 months to assemble, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève reported, and it took more than a year to source all the diamonds.
A year later, the Swiss watchmaker collaborated with the rapper to design a watch under his name. Hublot released the Shawn Carter Hublot Classic Fusion in yellow gold ($33,900) and black ceramic ($17,900) in 2013. The collection was limited to just 350 pieces in total, according to GQ.
Richard Mille 56 "Blue Print"
Jay Z's custom "Blue Print" Richard Mille 56 watch required more than 3,000 hours to produce, GQ reported in 2019. No wonder it cost $2.5 million.
During a 2019 show in his hometown of Brooklyn, the rapper freestyled a tribute to the timepiece: "Blueprint on my wrist cost 2.5/Only thing that flips the script between you and I."
The rapper then purchased another one-of-a-kind Richard Mille 56, this time in green. The price? $3 million.
Richard Mille RM011 Felipe Massa Chronograph Rose Gold
Jay Z expanded his collection of Richard Mille watches with this RM011 Felipe Massa Chronograph in rose gold. It was originally released in 2007 and was designed with its namesake, F1 driver Felipe Massa, the brand said on its website. The timepiece is meant to invoke the racing aesthetic and the sport's history of tech innovation. The watch's crown "resembles a smooth tyre encircling a spoked wheel rim," the maker said.
Mille is no longer making this model, but you can get a used one for $215,000.
Richard Mille RM027 Rafael Nadal
Jay Z wore the Richard Mille RM027 Rafael Nadal to watch Rafael Nadal take on Novak Djokovic at the 2011 US Open championships.
It was designed to be as lightweight as possible and take on all the wear and tear a tennis superstar like Nadal might put it through, Richard Mille said.
Nadal referred to it as his "second skin" timepiece. There were only 50 of these watches made at the time according to Mille. You can buy one on the secondary market for $1.38 million.
Nadal collaborated with Richard Mille on several additional versions of this timepiece that the rapper later acquired. Jay Z has also worn the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal 27-01, which has an anthracite casing.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked
Jay Z shouted out Audemars Piguet in his 2011 "Watch the Throne" track "N—s in Paris" when he said, " Ball so hard, got a broken clock / rollies that don't tick-tock / Audemars that's losing time / hidden behind all these big rocks."
The rapper's Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 26585CE has an openwork sapphire dial and rose gold dial markers. The band and case are black ceramic, featuring a titanium clasp.
You can buy one from AP, but it's "price upon request" — or wildly expensive. To get it on the secondary market, you'll need to shell out between $349,000 and $639,000.
Patek Philippe Reference 6002 Sky Moon Tourbillon
If you buy a Patek Phillip Reference 6002 Sky Moon Tourbillon watch, a truly ornate piece of art, they'll throw in a matching pair of cufflinks.
The brand notes just how much detail was put into creating the timepiece. "The double-faced case, crowns, slide piece, hour/minute hands, and fold-over clasp are entirely hand-engraved with volutes and arabesques," Patek's website reads.
The "second most complicated" Patek Phillip is "price on request," but similar models cost around $6.6 million.
Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 in Tiffany Blue
Jay Z picked up this Tiffany/Patek Philippe collab in 2021.
The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 in Tiffany Blue initially retailed for $52,635, but since only 170 were made, the price went way up on the secondary market. Days after the watches sold out, one was auctioned off for $6.5 million.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 25594ST 'Yves Klein'
Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak 25594ST watch is an ode to the French artist Yves Klein, who developed his own special vibrant blue — international Klein blue 191 — that became associated with his name.
The watch is based on the AP Royal Oak design that debuted in 1972 from watch designer Gérald Genta. It features a perpetual calendar, which keeps track of everything from the time and date to the moon's phases.
Audemars Piguet no longer sells the watch, but you can find one on the secondary market, where they're running around $370,000.
Rolex Daytona #6263 Mk1 Paul Newman Dial
Actor Paul Newman wore a Rolex Daytona 6263 sports watch throughout his life, and the watch became synonymous with the actor.
One sold at Christie's in 2016 for $195,686. But then, in 2017, the actual watch owned by Newman sold at a charity auction for $17.72 million all in.
Many presume this is the one Jay-Z owns, but this hasn't been confirmed.
Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds Chronograph 5004P
Jay Z sported this watch during a decadent, seafood tower-filled lunch meeting with DJ Khaled last March.
The watch is modeled on Patek Philippe's first perpetual calendar watch, released in 1996. A similar watch face with a leather band recently sold for $295,000.
The particular watch, the 5004P model with a silver link band that Jay Z has, is nearly impossible to find, but it's valued at $600,000, according to IFL Watches.
Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300G
The Grandmaster Chime is considered Patek Philippe's most complicated watch ever, with more than 1,500 individual components.
PP made them in 2014 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the company, and only seven were produced. Six went to the watchmaker's most dedicated collectors (who apparently had to apply for the privilege of buying one), while the seventh went to the company's museum in Geneva.
But then PP went on to make the Grandmaster Chime in other fabrications. Jay Z has the white gold version, which runs around $2.5 million, according to reports.
Similar watches are going for nearly $8 million on the secondary market.
Patek Philippe 2499
Patek Philippe produced this watch from 1950 to 1985 in extremely limited quantities — only 349 were made.
Jay Z's Patek Philippe 2499 was previously owned by Swedish watch collector and dealer Tony Kavak, who had the yellow gold band specially made for the piece. As Kavak tells it, the watch wasn't initially for sale.
"The watch is so exclusive that I often chose not to wear it in public, and I always wear my watches, that's my philosophy," Kavak told watch site Bezl.
"You should have seen his happiness," Kavak said in an interview with watch blog Hodinkee. "It just reminded me of how happy I get when I find something rare myself. …So when I saw his face, I knew he was the right person to own the watch."
Neither Kavak nor Jay Z would reveal the cost of the deal, but in 2022 a similar watch sold at auction for $7.68 million.