Tom Brady traveled across the Atlantic to see a Birmingham City football match over the weekend. Words I never expected to hear, let alone write down.
If you aren’t an English child of the 1990s who grew up in a football-crazed environment, like myself, you may not fully grasp the cultural significance of “Birmingham City FC.” However, this partial ownership transaction foreshadows a potential new wave of Premier League action for the upcoming season, which has just begun. And while Brady’s purchase of the second division team isn’t the most exciting news for non-soccer (I’m sorry mum) fans, he wouldn’t be alone in this endeavor I am calling “notable Americans buying up football clubs of various sizes, value and division” (see Michael B Jordan buying Bournemouth already in the Premier League but a less storied team and Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying Wrexham which is fourth division so I mean who knows what their plans are there).
Unfortunately, I am not a sports writer, and I have lived away from home and in the United States for ten years, so my attention was drawn to Tom Brady’s wrist.
At the Birmingham City vs Leeds United match on Saturday, he was spotted wearing an off-menu Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 36 in Rolex Everose gold – better known in the watch world as the “Emoji” or “Jigsaw” watch, it’s the timepiece that has everyone wondering whether there’s anything in the water at Rolex HQ. I was a fan of the watch when it was initially shown at Watches & Wonders earlier this year, but I think I’d go with yellow or white gold (like John Mayer, obviously!). Brady got the Everose “Emoji” watch from @polachecksjewelers in Calabasas, California.
Instead of the day, which normally lives inside the arc-shaped aperture at 12 p.m., there is a disc with seven inspirational words: “Happy,” “Eternity,” “Gratitude,” “Peace,” “Faith,” “Love,” and “Hope.” The date window at three o’clock, which was previously used to display the date, now displays one of 31 emojis. A kissy face, a four-leaf clover, an eight ball, a heart, a peace sign, and the Rolex coronet are among them.
The watch is available in white gold and yellow gold with a turquoise dial base color, as well as Everose with an orange dial base color (similar to Brady’s). A colorful jigsaw theme appears on both dials. There are ten rainbow baguette-cut sapphire indices that correspond to the jigsaw. And, of course, they’re all attached to a President bracelet.