The Watches of Ed Sheeran

26-year-old, West Yorkshire born, Suffolk raised, Edward Christopher Sheeran — Ed Sheeran, to you and I — broke into the global music scene, back in 2011, with his debut album + (read “plus”).

From those days of his, as the guy with the dinky, kid-sized LX1E Little Martin; loop pedal stomping, singing, rapping, Rupert Grint look-alike breakout artist, he stands today as a headliner.

And what, with Spotify having recently announced him as their most streamed artist this year — with 6.3 billion plays — or that surprize appearance of his in Game of Thrones’ season 7 premiere, “Dragonstone”, as a Lannister soldier — it’s safe to say that Sheeran’s having a phenomenal 2017.

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But he’s clearly not done with his year yet. Just yesterday, the singer was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music and charity during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London (December 7, 2017).

Following which, he swiftly flew off to play a Madison Square Garden gig alongside Taylor Swift, The Chainsmokers and Sam Smith, today (December 8, 2017).

Thing is, while the rest of the sane world was congratulating Sheeran on his MBE in that moment, the watch nerds of the universe went bonkers congratulating him on the watch he was wearing when receiving the appointment from the Prince of Wales: A Patek Philippe 5130R; in plain sight. Oh, and just in case you are vaguely interested, the tails that he wore to the investiture, was made by Gieves & Hawkes.

Perhaps such a reaction was to be excepted. In the time that Sheeran took to become the global sensation he is today, he’s also come to be known as quite the watch collector, with plenty of cool timepieces spotted on his wrist at concerts and other appearances.

Victoria Secret Fashion Show 2014
London, England - December 02: (L-R) Singers Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande attend the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show at Earls Court; upon close inspection, Ed Sheeran is wearing a Paul Newman Daytona on a bund strap (Photo by Michael Stewart / FilmMagic via Getty Images)

From Hublots, to APs, to that Paul Newman Daytona he wore when he performed at the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, his Everose Yacht-Master, the 5726 Patek Philippe Nautilus — the list goes on. But, as of late, his fascination seems to have settled quite firmly on Richard Mille watches.

In fact, after the year long hiatus he took from the public eye, when he reappeared late in 2016, the first couple of interviews he did were all done with a Richard Mille RM 26-02 Tourbillon Evil Eye on his wrist. Quite possibly a symbolic measure, considering the reasons behind his hiatus. Even on his episode of Carpool Karaoke with host James Corden, he was wearing the RM 26-02.

Later at the MTV VMA 2017 event, Sheeran was spotted with a white Richard Mille RM 38-01 Tourbillon G-Sensor Quartz TPT on his wrist. The most recent and fresh of out the oven Richard Mille, though, that Sheeran’s been seen wearing, has to be the Richard Mille RM 27-03 Tourbillon Rafael Nadal.

It’s not to say that Richard Milles were the only things he has been wearing this year. For instance, in October when he badly injured himself after a bicycle accident and had to cancel a whole bunch of concerts while recovering, he appeared at the Q Awards in London wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak GMT Tourbillon Concept.

The avant-garde watches aside, his affection for Patek Phillippe, doesn’t seem to have ever left his side.

He’s been spotted with many a Patek Philippe chronograph calendars over the course of time, but in recent days a significant piece he’s been seen wearing has to be the ref. 5370 split-seconds chronograph.

And then check out this chat he had with fellow musician Stormzy, where he’s asked point blank about the watch on his wrist.

Sheeran, then coyly fills in the silence saying that the watch is a, “Travel Time Pilot’s Watch” (or, the Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time ref. 5524), adding that it’s one that’s hard to get.

Talk about hard to get. This is most likely the same piece Sheeran wore on the cover of the British GQ magazine earlier this year — Tiffany stamped, by the way.

But just to jolt you back into the avant-garde state of mind again, how about a blacked-out Nautilus Annual Calendar ref. 5726? Now, of course, the latest one to have been seen on his wrist is the 5130 World Time.

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Sheeran once shared that he gets tattoos to mark milestones in his career.

Suffice to say that his watch purchases probably occur along the same lines.

Which is why, in a moment when is career is booming, so is his watch collection.

No doubt, Sheeran’s living the best years of his life. And what more, at the tender of just 26.

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