Celebrity Vintage Rolex Watch Collectors

In today’s world of mass-produced items and Insta-fame, people are veering towards the rare, special, and intensely personal – and vintage watches are among them. It used to be that watches were simply a status symbol, but we are seeing an increased level of interest in a watch’s history and provenance, even among younger collectors.

Many celebrities are known for their iced-out, opulent watch collections but there are also a growing number of them whose interest lies in storied, hard-to-find pieces and the gratification of finally owning a particular watch.

Here are some celebrities who collect vintage Rolex watches:

Orlando Bloom was a quiet watch aficionado, whose hobby only came to public consciousness in 2009 when he was robbed by the infamous “Bling Ring”. He was able to retrieve his cherished pieces, including seven Rolex watches with rare vintage references.

The passionate watch enthusiast reportedly has over forty luxury timepieces and he counts one of Rolex’s longest-running models in it: the GMT-Master 1675 with a red and blue bezel, more popularly known as the “Pepsi”.

Other watches in his collection: Rolex Explorer ref 1016, Rolex Explorer II “Orange Hand” ref 1655, Rolex Milgauss ref 6543.

John Mayer’s watch collection is one of the most famous among celebrities’, and he has established a reputation among the watch community as a tastemaker and critic. He writes regularly about horology, became part of the jury of the venerable Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, and a go-to guy for other celebrities (like Drake and Aziz Ansari).

His collection is now in the tens of millions, and of course, he has one of the most coveted pieces ever – a Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona 6263.

Other watches in his collection: COMEX-issed Rolex Submariner ref 1680, Rolex Military Submariner ref 5517, Rolex Explorer II “Orange Hand” ref 1655.

Comedian Aziz Ansari cut his teeth as a stand-up during his early years in NYU, which paved the way for his successful acting career. He has since landed his own series – the Netflix hit Master of None for which he has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

These days, Aziz likes to reward himself with vintage watches to celebrate an important milestone in his career. One of the first watches he ever bought was a vintage Rolex Explorer 1016, which he got in his late 20’s after realizing that he has “made it”.

Other watches in his collection: vintage 18k yellow gold Rolex Day-Date ref 18038 with onyx dial, and a Rolex Pre-Daytona ref 6234.

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine was most visible on TV as a celebrity judge on The Voice, and it was the perfect opportunity to show off his vintage Rolex collection. He wore a different timepiece each week, and many would tune in not just to watch the performances but to see what he’s going to wear.

Among his solid collection of cool and historically significant pieces is a rare vintage Rolex Submariner ref 5508 which has no crown guards.

Other watches in his collection: vintage Rolex GMT-Master with a black bezel and dial on a yellow gold Jubilee bracelet, and three Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytonas – yellow gold with black dial, steel with white “Panda” dial, and steel with a black dial.

PHOTO CREDITS: Orlando Bloom by discutivo licensed by CC BY 2.0, and Aziz Ansari by The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas licensed by CC BY-ND 2.0, via Flickr / John Mayer By Eric Chan (Flickr) licensed by CC BY 2.0 and Adam Levine by karina3094 licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.