How watch brands, from Rolex to Timex, are embracing bespoke designs to cater to individual tastes – from The Rock’s custom timepiece on the Moana 2 red carpet to NFL star Tom Brady’s rare collection

Feb 25 , 2025

Watch brands, from Rolex to Timex, are embracing bespoke designs to cater to individual tastes – from The Rock’s custom timepiece on the Moana 2 red carpet to Tom Brady’s rare collection. Photo: Handout

Tom Brady’s rare and customised timepieces, recently auctioned at Sotheby’s, highlight a growing trend for personalised luxury watches from big and small brands

The most famous quarterback in NFL history, Tom Brady amassed an astonishing collection of luxury watches over his 23-year career. With an incredible seven Super Bowl wins to his name, Brady retired in early 2023 with an impressive haul of horological heavyweights to add to his football trophies, from grail Rolexes to highly limited, six-figure Richard Milles.

Last December, for the first time ever, Brady’s most prized and rarest watches were the focus of a show-stopping auction, alongside a series of memorabilia and game-worn jerseys, at Sotheby’s in New York. “To put it simply, this is a collection that collectors can only dream of,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, ahead of the sale. “From Tom Brady’s collegiate journey to his NFL Combine appearance, and remarkable rise from humble beginnings to Super Bowl triumphs with both the Patriots and Buccaneers, each item in this auction embodies these pivotal moments.”

Tom Brady put up a few of his rare watches for auction at Sotheby’s. Photo: Getty Images

Brady’s passion for horology began in high school, when his parents gifted him his first timepiece to celebrate his graduation and acceptance to the University of Michigan in the mid-1990s. After winning his first Super Bowl in 2002, the New England Patriot famously bought an IWC GST Chronograph Rattrapante, a Panerai Luminor Marina and an IWC GST Automatic Alarm from the Tourneau store in Manhattan, and his passion for collecting luxury watches truly began. Since then, Brady has been spotted wearing some incredible timepieces from labels including Patek Philippe and Rolex, along with custom models linked to key moments in his career.

The stand-out lot from the December 2024 sale – which was titled “The GOAT Collection: Watches & Treasures from Tom Brady” – was a customised Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon, worn by Brady on Netflix’s The Roast of Tom Brady. Sold for a staggering US$720,000, the watch features a white gold case with a baguette diamond-set bezel, a salmon dial and an engraving of Brady’s name, plus the number of Super Bowls he won in Roman numerals, spelled out in diamonds. Other highlights included a yellow gold Patek Philippe Nautilus, bought in 2017, which sold for US$132,000, as well as a Richard Mille 35-03 “Baby Nadal” in blue quartz (US$384,000).

Tom Brady wore a customised Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon for Netflix’s The Roast of Tom Brady. Photo: Handout

Showcasing the full spectrum of Brady’s collection, the monumental sale also highlights a rising trend for custom watches, which has seen brands big and small introduce services to allow anyone to personalise their timepieces.

“In this world of mass-market luxury, individuality is what people want. You can see this in the designs of cars, clothes, shirts. People don’t want to be the same as everyone else,” says George Bamford, a custom-watch specialist who has created personalised timepieces under his eponymous brand, Bamford London, for over two decades. “I think Covid turbocharged this as people started to understand their own styles, and we’re now seeing this widespread change. Personalisation and customisation are key to that, and help people curate their taste.”

The Franck Muller Crazy Hours Snoopy-inspired watch is a collaboration with Bamford London. Photo: Handout

His latest custom piece is in partnership with Swiss manufacturer Franck Muller, reworking the brand’s tonneau-shaped “Crazy Hours” watch with the Peanuts characters Snoopy and Woodstock. Limited to just 50 pieces, the new “Crazy Love” watch has been customised with a silver version of the beloved canine that has been cleverly incorporated into the dial to indicate the current hour, while Snoopy’s partner-in-crime, Woodstock, is perched above the one o’clock mark.