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He arrives on stage in a loose sweatshirt, worn sneakers, guitar slung over his shoulder. You would expect to find an old Casio F-91W on your wrist. And yet, under the sleeve of this wrinkled hoodie which has clearly seen better days, Ed Sheeran hides one of the most serious, and most eclectic, watch collections in the entertainment world.
Several million euros of mechanical complications, carried with the casualness of someone thinking about their shopping list. The contrast is so obvious that it almost becomes a gimmick. Except no: Sheeran is truly passionate, and that changes everything. Our “Who Wears What” section looks at the Ed Sheeran case. Here we go.
Patek Philippe: an assumed obsession
If Ed Sheeran had a religion, it would have its headquarters in Plan-les-Ouates, in Geneva. The British redhead is a convinced Patekiste.
The Nautilus 5726A: the untouched masterpiece (but still touched)
The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A is one of the smartest versions of Gérald Genta’s original design. In this integrated 40.5 mm steel case, powered by the caliber 26-330 S QA LU 24H, we find an annual calendar, a rational complication which corrects only the months of 30 and 31 days and only requires manual adjustment at the end of February, a moon phase and a 24-hour indication. Power reserve of 35 to 45 hours. Its price: 53,300 euros.
Sheeran owns a personalized version of the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5726A with his initials on the dial. In the photo taken by himself (above), the red indexes added around the markers give an impression… approximate (who said disgusting?). It almost looks like Posca felt work. The effect contrasts sharply with the rigor of the Nautilus drawing. It is astonishing for an enthusiast to have sabotaged a Patek so much.
Patek Philippe World Time: the whole world, with a fixed point
The Patek Philippe World Time exists in two references in Sheeran’s collection: the 5130 and its successor the 5230, both powered by the micro-rotor caliber 240 HU. 39.5 mm case, simultaneous display of 24 time zones via a peripheral disk and a city ring. It’s yours for 81,000 euros.
What makes these pieces particularly touching in Sheeran’s collection is the detail that only he knows: he owns a version which incorporates a reference to the village near which he grew up and where he has a house: Framlingham, in Suffolk. The entire globe on the dial, all the capitals of the world lined up in a circle, and at the center of it all, a discreet marker towards the English town where the kid with the guitar left.
The Nautilus 5711/1300A: when Genta meets Van Cleef
The other Nautilus in the collection pushes the concept in a jewelry direction. The 5711/1300A in 40 mm steel, powered by the automatic caliber 26-330 SC, features a bezel set with baguette diamonds representing approximately 3.6 carats.
On a model whose sober version already exceeds €100,000 on the secondary market (and much more for the Tiffany Blue 5711/1A-018, estimated at more than €2 million), the gem-set version often flies away beyond €500,000.
The 5208P: the ultimate mechanical architecture
42 mm platinum case, caliber R CH 27 PS QI. Minute repeater, single-push chronograph, perpetual calendar. At this level of the conversation, we no longer talk about watches. We’re talking about a miniaturized mechanical cathedral, a feat of engineering that requires years of development and a handful of exceptional craftsmen.
Bringing together these three complications in a coherent case is a mastery that even most fine watchmaking brands cannot claim. Sheeran has one. Its recent new version sells for more than a million euros (1,276,100 euros for reference 5308G-001).
The 5370P: the purist’s rattrapante
Split-seconds chronograph in platinum case, manual column-wheel movement, Geneva school finishes. Count 298,000 euros for its rose gold version.
The rattrapante is the complication that is chosen for itself: two superimposed hands, one which stops on an intermediate point, the other which continues its path. A mechanical dialogue of rare sophistication, which has no other practical purpose than to prove that mechanics can border on pure art.
Reference 2499 and 1518: the legitimacy of the heritage collector
The 2499 is one of the most sought-after perpetual calendar chronographs in the history of the house. Production limited to a few hundred examples over several decades, different series in yellow gold, pink gold or platinum. When a piece of this reference comes up for sale at auction, it regularly crosses the million euro mark. Owning a 2499 means joining the very exclusive club of collectors who know why they buy, and for whom they buy. A few copies can be found on the second-hand market for a little more than 1.3 million euros.
The 1518 worn on a Bund bracelet, larger than the 35 mm case in yellow gold, completes the vintage picture with an elegance underlined by this unusual choice of bracelet which completely transforms the aura of the piece. For the record, a 1518 was sold 11 million euros at auction in Geneva in 2025.
Rolex: the rainbow and some classics
No collection worthy of the name without Rolex, even for a Patekiste. Sheeran obviously remembered this.
The Daytona Rainbow: the assumed anti-discretion
The famous reference 116599RBOW in white gold. Bezel set with multicolored baguette sapphires, paved indexes. Automatic chronograph. The Rainbow does not seek discretion, it categorically excludes it. It’s the kind of watch that enters a room before its owner. She takes complete responsibility for herself, which is almost respectable in its excess. It is found around 300,000 euros on the second-hand market.
Sheeran also owns a Rolex Daytona called “Paul Newman” (ref. 6239, black dial), the “Le Mans” centenary edition from 2023, one of the most difficult Daytonas to obtain, whose lucky winners include DiCaprio, Jordan and Federer, as well as a left-handed GMT-Master II with green Cerachrom dial. Needless to say, he doesn’t get bored on tour days.
Richard Mille RM 38-01: the laboratory on the wrist
Quartz TPT housing, this composite material with layers of quartz fibers impregnated with epoxy resin, the direction of which varies at 45° between each layer, tourbillon, G force sensor. Limited production. Price exceeding one million euros (1.9 million euros used). Richard Mille designs the watch as a radical technological demonstrator. Where Patek Philippe seeks the perfection of tradition, Richard Mille reinvents material conventions.
In Sheeran’s collection, this piece plays the role of the welcome contradiction: modernity against the nobility of ancient mechanism. He also owns an RM27-03 Rafael Nadal (one of 50 existing pieces, worth more than a million euros on the market), confirming that he does not collect by chance.
IWC Portugieser Chronograph Ceratanium: the watch for ordinary days
Amid seven-digit minute repeaters and platinum split-seconds chronographs, the IWC Portugieser Chronograph Ceratanium is a reasonable piece. 41 mm case in Ceratanium (titanium-ceramic alloy developed by IWC, as light as titanium, as scratch-resistant as ceramic), IWC manufacture caliber 69355, chronograph. €14,800 in catalog.
It’s not the piece that makes an auction house falter. It’s the one you put on without thinking about it on a Tuesday morning, the one that endures studio rehearsals and endless days. In a collection of this scale, this type of watch says something important: the true enthusiast does not reserve his watches for special occasions. He wears 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, embossed “Crystal Sky” dial, the latest model to feature caliber 5134. A perpetual calendar that displays week, day, date, astronomical moon, month and leap year.
Price: 350,000 euros second-hand.
IWC: the unique candy-colored piece
Ed Sheeran has a long-lasting relationship with IWC Schaffhausen. There is the Big Pilot offered for its 22nd anniversary, the Big Pilot’s Watch 43 Top Gun for dark days. But the most noticed piece is undoubtedly the Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar with a pink dial, a unique piece designed for the video for “Camera”, the fifth single from his album. PLAY (2025). The dial repeats the bright pink of the album cover.
The watch appears on the singer’s wrist at the precise moment when he puts the ring on actress Phoebe Dynevor’s finger, an assumed symbol, IWC knows how to do product placement with elegance. Perpetual calendar, IWC manufacture, 46 mm case. The color is unexpected, the complication remains serious. And ultimately, why should fine watchmaking always be austere?
Roger W. Smith: the craftsman of the Isle of Man
This is perhaps the piece that Sheeran speaks about with the most emotion. Roger W. Smith works in direct continuity with George Daniels, one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century, on the Isle of Man. Annual production of a few dozen watches, mainly integrated manufacturing, extremely demanding manual finishing, architecture inspired by the co-axial escapement. Estimate: six figures and beyond.
Sheeran ordered a unique piece for his wedding, with a matching version for his bride. This is not conspicuous consumption. It’s involvement. Understanding who Roger W. Smith is, understanding what this artisanal work represents, and deciding to commemorate a moment in life with a piece of this nature: this is what distinguishes the authentic enthusiast from the simple wealthy buyer.
The Tudor Black Bay: the gesture that counts more than the price
At the end of his tour DivideEd Sheeran has about eighty custom Tudor Black Bays produced. Album logo engraved on the dial, message on the back. He offers them to his entire road team: technicians, roadies, shadow managers.
The model itself is far from being anecdotal: 41 mm steel case, automatic MT5602 manufacture caliber, 70-hour power reserve, COSC certification, water resistance to 200 meters. A rigorous watch, built to last, at 4,560 euross in standard version. This isn’t a promotional gimmick, it’s a serious watch, chosen by someone who knows what they’re buying.
The gesture is reminiscent of that of Keanu Reeves offering engraved Rolexes to his stuntmen at the end of the filming of John Wick. Same respect for the collective, same elegance. In a collection where some pieces exceed a million euros, this Black Bay undoubtedly says more about Ed Sheeran than all the minute repeaters combined.
Sheeran: the collector in a sweatshirt
It would be tempting to summarize Ed Sheeran’s collection as an inventory of dizzying prices. That would miss the point. What is striking is the consistency. Vintage Patek Philippe and modern grand complications for historical depth. Richard Mille for contemporary radicalism. IWC for use and anecdote. Audemars Piguet for friendship and the moment. Roger W. Smith for meaning. Tudor for the collective.
Under the shapeless sweatshirt, there is not an enthusiastic enthusiast who spends without understanding. There is a collector who has done his homework, who knows how to read a caliber, who can explain to you why the 5208P is an engineering miracle, and who, despite everything, is still capable of letting a workshop scribble indexes in red Posca on a Nautilus.
We don’t know if this is genius or provocation. Probably both. We leave admiring other watches owned by Ed Sheeran.
