In the watch collecting community, the idea of a ‘retirement watch’ is a well-known concept. Frankly, these days, collectors will look for any excuse to dub something a milestone worthy of being commemorated with a watch. The idea of a retirement watch, however, is as legit as they come. Whether retirement, or years of service, many horological fans celebrate with a perfect replica Rolex – a symbol of success and prosperity. Tom Brady, one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, which pains me to write as a New York Giants fan, officially retired from American football in February 2023. Now, Tom has long had ties to high quality fake watches, whether through his former ambassadorships for both TAG Heuer and IWC, or his continued status as a stakeholder in Hodinkee. Now free of the shackles of ambassadorship, he can wear whatever he wants, and in his retirement and with more time on his hands, the 46 year has been going on an absolute horological bender – bringing in new super clone watches online to his rapidly growing collection.
April 2023: Fake Rolex Day-Date 40 platinum with ice blue Arabic dial
Watch-spotters started paying more attention to Tom Brady in April this year, when he delivered keynote remarks in Miami at eMerge Americas 2023 – an annual event centred around tech companies, start-ups, and more. Yes, Brady is primarily known as an athlete. But, according to eMerge Americas: “Brady’s serial ventures include Autograph, a first-of-its-kind, experience-driven NFT platform that brings together the most iconic brands and biggest names in sports, entertainment fashion, and pop-culture to create unique digital collectibles, and his namesake next generation apparel brand, BRADY. He is expanding his portfolio with his global, multi-platform content company 199 Productions, which already boasts numerous high-profile projects including a partnership with ESPN, Disney, and Religion of Sports to produce the tentpole docuseries Man in the Arena, to tell the story of Brady’s iconic NFL career.” His savviness off the field is clearly paying dividends, as the luxury replica Rolex Day-Date 40 in platinum with a rare ice blue Arabic dial typically sells on the secondary market for ‘price upon request’, with more transparent listings offering the copy watch for anywhere between US$130k – US$400k.
June 2023: Replica Rolex Day-Date 40 white gold with green Arabic dial
A few months later, Tom Brady would be photographed at Roland Garros spectating the French Open final between Hublot ambassador Novak Djokovic and Fleming ambassador Casper Ruud, seated next to Djokovic’s wife Jelena. Confoundingly, Brady, known as a conservative in America, once again finds himself wearing an Arabic-dialed 1:1 replica Rolex Day-Date – but this time with a green dial and case and bracelet in white gold. As we have established he is in a rather investor phase of his life, I am inclined to believe he is well aware of the value of these rare Swiss movement fake Rolex watches and that this aspect is the big draw for him.