Key Takeaways
- At Fanatics Fest’s Gold Standard event, Jay-Z jokingly pretended to run off with a rare Audemars Piguet watch he was examining, briefly startling the dealer before laughing it off and embracing him.
- The moment highlighted Jay-Z’s status as a serious watch collector, as he was already wearing his own 1-of-1 Audemars Piguet 26586XT and is known for rare pieces from AP, Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, and Rolex.
- Jay-Z has said he actually wears and enjoys his watches rather than treating them as museum pieces, recently flexing grails like the diamond-loaded Rolex Daytona during his Yankee Stadium shows.
Jay-Z nearly gave a watch dealer a heart attack at Fanatics Fest after he pretended to run off with an Audemars Piguet watch.
On Friday (July 17), during the Gold Standard event at Fanatics Fest, Hov was given a rare AP watch to examine — while wearing his own 1 of 1 Audemars Piguet 26586XT watch. As he looked over the watch, Jay made the split decision to escape with it — or, at least, just give the watch dealer a heart attack.
Jay-Z pretended to dash to his left, moving so fast that the watch dealer was caught off guard. Then the legendary rapper stopped and laughed as the dealer realized what happened and hugged him — perhaps realizing that the Z in Jay-Z should stand for Zip. Check out the video of the moment below.
Jay-Z knows his way around expensive watches. He has one of the most impressive watch collections in the world and has been photographed wearing custom APs, Richard Millies, and Patek Philippes as if they were pairs of shoes he switches around on a daily basis. He was even the cover star of WatchTime magazine in 2005.
In a cover story with GQ earlier this year, Jay-Z spoke about his love for watches. "I wear my watches," he said. "They’re to be enjoyed, not to be looked at."
He also explained what he loves most about watches and how their impact on connections with people. "Just that feeling in that moment where it puts everybody on an equal playing field," he said.
To name a few of the rare pieces that Jay-Z has in his collection, there's the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 6264 "John Player Special," Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 6270, Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-018 "Tiffany" dial, and the Patek Philippe 5004R.
During his trio of shows at Yankee Stadium last weekend, Jay-Z used his wrist to show off his watch collection. Perhaps the biggest watch moment was when he wore the Rolex Daytona ref. 6270, which is known as "The King," and features 28 baguette-cut diamonds surrounding the bezel, and more on the dial.
