Fratello’s Top 5 Watches Spotted At The Wimbledon Championships
Another Friday, another Top 5! This week, we’ll dive into the world of tennis. With Wimbledon nearing its climax after almost two weeks, we have seen quite a few remarkable watches on the All England Lawn Tennis Club grounds. Many of the world’s top players have sponsor deals with watch brands. Some of them are unsurprising, while others are anything but. The Rolex-sponsored tournament always has its fair share of watches from The Crown, and we’ll mix those with some more exotic pieces. So without further ado, let’s look at some of the best of this year’s Wimbledon championships.
Some of the Fratello team members are really passionate about cycling. Others prefer the even faster world of Formula 1. For me, the #1 sport is, without a doubt, tennis. Whichever you prefer, there is plenty of all three to enjoy during the summer months. After the struggles on clay during the spring, the tennis world moves fairly quickly to the lush grass courts around Europe. The climax is the two-week tournament held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Church Road in London. During those two weeks, you get a different kind of tennis than most of the year. But you also get a different atmosphere, one steeped in tradition that dates back to 1877 when the tournament was first held.
Rolex Datejust 41 “Wimbledon Dial” ref. 126331 — Image: The Watch Club
The many watches of Wimbledon
Wimbledon watch spotting consists of more than just noticing the watches of the players. The tournament is visited every year by hordes of celebrities from the worlds of sports, music, and cinema. Additionally, plenty of strangers to the public dress up and complete their look with a nice watch. As a result, there is an abundance of different brands and models to be found at the Rolex-sponsored tournament. For this article, let’s focus on the watches on the wrists of the different players because the variety among them is great.
Image: Richard Mille
In recent years, more players have started wearing a watch while playing their matches. Rafael Nadal has been doing so for years with his Richard Mille watches, but he was one of the few to do it. I have played tennis ever since I was seven years old, and I’ve never felt comfortable with a watch on my wrist. So to see the pros doing it now is fairly surprising. I know that money obviously plays a part in this, but it would be too easy to make it just about the money. Most players that wear watches when they play also choose incredibly lightweight pieces. For this list, though, it’s not just about watches on the wrist during play. It’s simply about five remarkable timepieces that stood out on players’ wrists in the last (roughly) two weeks.
Image: Wimbledon.com
Carlos Alcaraz — Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 126515LN
Carlos Alcaraz is the current No. 1 player in the world and is still in the tournament. The Spanish player became a Rolex ambassador in early 2022 when he was just 18 years old. At this year’s press conference before the tournament, Alcaraz could be seen wearing a remarkable bucket hat on his head and a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona on his wrist. The specific model was the new Everose gold ref. 126515LN with the “Sundust” dial and black sub-dials on an Oysterflex bracelet.
This fancy pick from “Carlito” will set you back €32,100. It’s a step up from last year when he won the US Open in New York wearing the previous-generation stainless steel Daytona ref. 116500LN with a black dial. It will be interesting to see what watch he will wear in the upcoming days.
Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Hubert Hurkacz — Gerald Charles GC Sport Grass
Gerald Charles was Gérald Genta’s last endeavor in the watch industry, and it’s not a brand we see often. But the brand has been making some waves in tennis by sponsoring young American player Jenson Brooksby and top Polish player Hubert Hurkacz. Hurkacz, currently ranked No. 18 in the world, has been seen wearing the Gerald Charles GC Sport since early 2022. At Wimbledon this year, he could be seen wearing the new green-dialed titanium GC Sport Grass during his fourth-round match against Novak Djokovic.
Image: Gerald Charles
The ultra-thin watch has a 39mm case that is only 8mm thick. In total, it weighs only 50 grams and is powered by the GCA 3002 automatic movement developed by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier S.A. The GC Sport Grass is available pre-order for €17,800, with deliveries starting later this month.
Image: De Bethune
Tommy Paul — De Bethune DB28 LTC
On the first day of Wimbledon, the partnership between Tommy Paul — the world’s current No. 15 player — and De Bethune was announced. The talented 26-year-old American started the tournament wearing his new De Bethune DB28 LTC. This special piece features a 39mm ultra-light titanium case. As you can see, it is graced by a dial in the famous Wimbledon colors. The central part is a “rippling” guilloché green dial that references Wimbledon’s grass.
Image: De Bethune
In addition to that, the outer purple titanium ring features tennis courts in between the hour numerals. Another little playful element comes in the form of a gold-toned titanium 3D tennis ball at 12 o’clock. It’s a pretty spot-on homage to Wimbledon that Paul wore until he lost to Lehecka in the third round. We will surely see more great pieces from De Bethune around Tommy Paul’s wrist soon.
Image: ATP
Andrey Rublev — Bvlgari Aluminium Match Point Edition ref. 103854
Next up is another remarkable sighting. Current No. 7 in the world, Russian player Andrey Rublev, made it to the quarter-finals of this year’s Championships, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in a tough battle. During that match and those before it, Rublev could be seen wearing his green Bvlgari Aluminium Match Point Edition ref. 103854. Rublev has been a Bvlgari ambassador since June of 2021 and has worn different models. This year, he has been seen wearing the Bvlgari Aluminium during press conferences but not wearing a watch during his matches until now.
Image: Bvlgari
He has been known to wear quite a few bracelets around his left wrist, and during Wimbledon, he debuted the green Bvlgari. This special tennis edition features a 40mm aluminum case and a green rubber bezel and strap with a Velcro closure for comfort during play. The watch has the crown on the left side of the case and was a limited edition of just 800 pieces for €3,600. You can still get one from Bvlgari’s UK website for £3,110.
Image: AP/PTI
Roger Federer — Rolex Sky-Dweller ref. 336934
I had to close out this list with the greatest player of all time. Roger Federer’s return to Wimbledon was one of the most widely covered happenings at this year’s Championships. Federer and his wife Mirka took their seats in the Royal Box next to the Princess of Wales. Both of them were wearing beautiful Rolex pieces. Mirka Federer was wearing a very rare Rolex Day-Date 228396TEM. This 40mm platinum Day-Date features an emerald-set bezel, a diamond-set dial, and two baguette-cut emerald stones at 3 and 9 o’clock. The watch was a whopping €430,000 in 2016.
Image: Getty Images
The maestro himself wore the brand-new Rolesor Rolex Sky-Dweller ref. 336943 in white gold and stainless steel (€15,500). Federer wore the variant with a blue dial instead of the green- or black-dial versions. Overall, a lot of media outlets agreed that he was the best-dressed man on the grounds on that day. Despite Federer retiring from tennis last year, his impact on the tennis world is still enormous. On top of that, it’s great to see that he still is a Rolex ambassador that gets to wear the newest models. That tells you all you need to know about Federer’s global impact on the brands he works with.
Image: De Bethune
Final thoughts on the best watches of Wimbledon
Of course, this list could have been a lot longer and different. There are a ton of watches that could have taken these spots, from Novak Djokovic’s green Hublot Big Bang to Grigor Dimitrov’s Bianchet Tourbillon B1.618 Openwork Carbon. Sebastian Korda wore his Richard Mille RM 67-02, and Daniil Medvedev rocked the debatable Bovet Fleurier Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two Tourbillon 44 mm T10GD045. Those are just some of the other exotic watches we have seen.
And there have been more Rolex watches on the wrists of the brand’s ambassadors. Stefanos Tsitsipas wore the same Daytona as Alcaraz, Iga Świątek wore a rose gold Day-Date, Holger Rune wore the white gold Yacht-Master 42, and Alexander Zverev wore the same Rolesor Sky-Dweller as Federer but on a Jubilee bracelet. Those are just a few of the many Rolex watches worn by top players. Let us know your favorite watch spotted at Wimbledon in the comments section. We will see you next week for another Top 5 list.
Cover image: Shep McAllister on Unsplash
