Ed Sheeran’s Watches
He walks on stage in an oversized sweatshirt, beat-up sneakers, a guitar slung over his shoulder. You’d expect to spot an old Casio F-91W on his wrist. And yet, tucked under the sleeve of that crumpled hoodie that has clearly seen better days, Ed Sheeran is hiding one of the most serious—and most eclectic—watch collections in show business.
Several million euros’ worth of mechanical complications, worn with the nonchalance of someone thinking about their grocery list. The contrast is so stark it almost becomes a gimmick. Except it isn’t: Sheeran is the real deal, and that changes everything. Our “Who Wears What” column takes a closer look at the Ed Sheeran case. Let’s go.
Patek Philippe: an obsession, proudly owned
If Ed Sheeran had a religion, its headquarters would be in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. The British redhead is a convinced Patek-phile.
The Nautilus 5726A: the masterpiece you don’t touch (but he touched it anyway)
The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A is one of the smartest evolutions of Gérald Genta’s original design. In this 40.5 mm integrated steel case, powered by the calibre 26-330 S QA LU 24H, you get an annual calendar—a rational complication that corrects 30- and 31-day months on its own and only needs a manual adjustment at the end of February—plus a moonphase and a 24-hour display. Power reserve: 35 to 45 hours. Price: €53,300.
Sheeran owns a customised Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A with his initials on the dial. In the photo he took himself (above), the added red accents around the markers give an… approximate impression (who said “hideous”?). It almost looks like Posca paint-marker work. The effect clashes brutally with the Nautilus’ disciplined design language. It’s surprising, coming from an enthusiast, to have sabotaged a Patek so thoroughly.
Patek Philippe World Time: the whole world, with a fixed point
The Patek Philippe World Time appears in two references in Sheeran’s collection: the 5130 and its successor, the 5230, both powered by the micro-rotor calibre 240 HU. 39.5 mm case, simultaneous display of all 24 time zones via a peripheral ring and a city disc. Yours for €81,000.
What makes these pieces especially moving in Sheeran’s collection is a detail only he truly knows: he owns a version that includes a reference to the village near where he grew up—and where he owns a home—Framlingham, in Suffolk. The entire globe on the dial, all the world’s capitals aligned in a circle, and at the centre of it all, a discreet marker pointing to the English town where the guitar kid began.
The Nautilus 5711/1300A: when Genta meets Van Cleef
The other Nautilus in the collection pushes the concept in a jewellery direction. The 5711/1300A in 40 mm steel, powered by the automatic calibre 26-330 S C, features a bezel set with baguette diamonds totalling around 3.6 carats.
On a model whose “plain” version already clears €100,000 on the secondary market (and far more for the Tiffany Blue 5711/1A-018, estimated at over €2 million), the gem-set version often soars beyond €500,000.
The 5208P: ultimate mechanical architecture
42 mm platinum case, calibre R CH 27 PS QI. Minute repeater, monopusher chronograph, perpetual calendar. At this point in the conversation, we’re no longer talking about a watch. We’re talking about a miniaturised mechanical cathedral—an engineering feat that demands years of development and a handful of exceptional craftspeople.
Bringing these three complications together in a coherent case requires a level of mastery that even most high-end watch brands can’t claim. Sheeran owns one. A recent new example sells for more than a million euros (€1,276,100 for reference 5308G-001).
The 5370P: the purist’s split-seconds
Platinum split-seconds chronograph, manual column-wheel movement, Geneva-school finishing. Budget €298,000 for the rose-gold version.
A split-seconds is a complication you choose for its own sake: two superimposed hands, one that stops on an intermediate time, the other that keeps going. A mechanical dialogue of rare sophistication, with no practical purpose other than proving that mechanics can brush up against pure art.
Reference 2499 and the 1518: the legitimacy of a heritage collector
The 2499 is one of the most sought-after perpetual-calendar chronographs in the brand’s history. Production was limited to a few hundred pieces over several decades, across different series in yellow gold, rose gold, or platinum. When a 2499 appears at auction, it regularly crosses the million-euro mark. Owning a 2499 is joining the very exclusive club of collectors who know why they’re buying—and for whom they’re buying. A few examples can be found on the pre-owned market for a little over €1.3 million.
The 1518 worn on a Bund strap, wider than the 35 mm yellow-gold case, completes the vintage picture with an elegance underscored by this unusual strap choice, which completely transforms the piece’s aura. As a small anecdote, a 1518 sold for €11 million at auction in Geneva in 2025.
Rolex: the rainbow, and a few classics
No collection worthy of the name is complete without Rolex—even for a Patek devotee. Sheeran has clearly remembered that.
The Daytona Rainbow: unapologetically anti-discreet
The famous reference 116599RBOW in white gold. Bezel set with multicoloured baguette sapphires, pavé indexes. Automatic chronograph. The Rainbow doesn’t aim for discretion—it categorically rules it out. It’s the kind of watch that enters a room before its owner does. It fully owns itself, which is almost respectable in its excess. Expect around €300,000 on the pre-owned market.
Sheeran also owns a so-called “Paul Newman” Rolex Daytona (ref. 6239, black dial), the 2023 centenary “Le Mans” edition—one of the hardest Daytonas to obtain, with lucky recipients including DiCaprio, Jordan and Federer—as well as a left-handed GMT-Master II with a green Cerachrom dial. In other words, he doesn’t get bored on tour.
Richard Mille RM 38-01: a laboratory on the wrist
Quartz TPT case—this composite material made of layers of quartz fibres impregnated with epoxy resin, with the direction shifting by 45° between each layer—tourbillon, G-force sensor. Limited production. Price north of a million euros (€1.9 million pre-owned). Richard Mille designs the watch as a radical technology demonstrator. Where Patek Philippe pursues the perfection of tradition, Richard Mille reinvents material conventions.
In Sheeran’s collection, this piece plays the role of a welcome contradiction: modernity versus the nobility of old-school mechanics. He also owns an RM27-03 Rafael Nadal (one of just 50 pieces, at over a million euros on the market), confirming he doesn’t collect by accident.
IWC Portugieser Chronograph Ceratanium: the watch for ordinary days
Amid seven-figure minute repeaters and platinum split-seconds chronographs, the IWC Portugieser Chronograph Ceratanium looks like the sensible choice. 41 mm case in Ceratanium (a titanium-ceramic alloy developed by IWC—light as titanium, as scratch-resistant as ceramic), IWC manufacture calibre 69355, chronograph. €14,800 retail.
It’s not the piece that makes an auction room wobble. It’s the one you put on without thinking on a Tuesday morning—the one that takes studio sessions and endless days in its stride. In a collection of this scale, that kind of watch says something important: a true enthusiast doesn’t save their watches for special occasions. They wear them.
Audemars Piguet John Mayer
This Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar “John Mayer” is a limited edition of 200 pieces in 18-carat white gold, with a stamped “Crystal Sky” dial—the last model to house calibre 5134. A perpetual calendar displaying week, day, date, astronomical moon, month and leap year.
Price: €350,000 pre-owned.
IWC: the candy-coloured one-off
Ed Sheeran has a long-standing relationship with IWC Schaffhausen. There’s the Big Pilot he was given for his 22nd birthday, the Big Pilot’s Watch 43 Top Gun for dark days. But the most talked-about piece is unquestionably the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar with a pink dial—a unique piece created for the “Camera” music video, the fifth single from his album PLAY (2025). The dial reprises the vivid pink of the album cover.
The watch appears on the singer’s wrist at the exact moment he slips a ring onto actress Phoebe Dynevor’s finger—an unabashed symbol. IWC knows how to do product placement with elegance. Perpetual calendar, IWC manufacture, 46 mm case. The colour is unexpected; the complication remains serious. And, deep down, why should haute horlogerie always be austere?
Roger W. Smith: the craftsman of the Isle of Man
This may be the piece Sheeran speaks about with the most emotion. Roger W. Smith works in the direct lineage of George Daniels, one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century, on the Isle of Man. Annual production of just a few dozen watches, largely in-house manufacturing, hand-finishing of absolute exacting standards, architecture inspired by the co-axial escapement. Estimate: six figures and beyond.
Sheeran commissioned a unique piece for his wedding, with a matching version for his wife. This isn’t ostentatious consumption. It’s commitment. Understanding who Roger W. Smith is, understanding what this artisanal work represents, and choosing to commemorate a life moment with a piece of this nature—that’s what separates the authentic enthusiast from the merely wealthy buyer.
The Tudor Black Bay: the gesture that matters more than the price
At the end of his Divide tour, Ed Sheeran had around eighty customised Tudor Black Bays made. The album logo engraved on the dial, a message on the back. He gave them to his entire touring crew: technicians, roadies, behind-the-scenes managers.
The model itself is far from anecdotal: 41 mm steel case, manufacture automatic calibre MT5602, 70-hour power reserve, COSC certification, 200-metre water resistance. A rigorous watch, built to last, at €4,560 in the standard version. This isn’t a promotional gadget—it’s a serious watch, chosen by someone who knows what they’re buying.
The gesture recalls Keanu Reeves gifting engraved Rolexes to his stunt team at the end of filming John Wick. Same respect for the collective, same elegance. In a collection where some pieces top a million euros, this Black Bay probably says more about Ed Sheeran than all the minute repeaters put together.
Sheeran: the sweatshirt-wearing collector
It would be tempting to reduce Ed Sheeran’s collection to an inventory of dizzying prices. That would miss the point. What stands out is the coherence: vintage Patek Philippe and modern grand complications for historical depth; Richard Mille for contemporary radicalism; IWC for everyday use and anecdote; Audemars Piguet for friendship and the moment; Roger W. Smith for meaning; Tudor for the collective.
Under the shapeless sweatshirt, there isn’t an excited amateur spending without understanding. There’s a collector who has done his homework, who can read a calibre, who can explain why the 5208P is an engineering miracle—and who, despite all that, is still capable of letting a workshop scribble red Posca-style indexes onto a Nautilus.
We don’t know whether it’s genius or provocation. Probably both. We’ll leave you by admiring a few more watches owned by Ed Sheeran.
