Posted by Amadeus and CCS at Timezone
AUDEMARS PIGUET
1. Nick Faldo - One of the best golfers in history - Royal Oak
2. Alberto Tomba - Italian ski champion (Slalom). He is also known as "Tomba la Bomba", because he is a heavy skier but very fast. - Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph
3. Garry Kasparov - chess player - Royal Oak. He always takes his Royal Oak off befor a match and lays it to one side. When he knows he is going to win, he puts his watch on and Kasparovs oponents then know they are lost.
4. Arnold Schwarzenegger - actor - Royal Oak Offshore, and Paneria Luminor??? (according to SJX not confirmed)
5. Hans Zbinden - Information analist at Siemens and World famous Timezoner, with legendary knowledge on watch movements, watch brands etc. - Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph
BAUME ET MERCIER
1. Jack Villeneuve (Racing driver; 1997 Formula 1 champion) is associated to them and wears a chronograph.
BLANCPAIN
The famous French diver and filmer Jacques Cousteau and his team wore Blancpains (Fifty Fathoms) in their film "Silent World" in 1956. The Fifty Fathoms is water resistant up to 200 meters and makes an excellent diving watch.
BREGUET
1. Arthur Rubinstein - world famous pianist (famous for his Chopin interpretations) - had a Breguet.
2. At the battle of Waterloo, the only thing that united Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington was that they relied on a Breguet. After winning the battle, Wellington bought the pocket watch that was originally ordered by King Lous XVI of France and his wife Marie-Antoinette had several Breguets.
3. Queen Marie-Antoinette more or less created the foundation for Breguet's factory. Her name appears many times on the first pages of the books that register(ed) Breguet's buyers.
4. Sir Winston Churchil had a "Monte Chronograph" (No. 1886).
Queen Elisabeth relies on her "Sympathique" (No. 666).
5. Ettore Bugatti, the famous car builder, had a Breguet.
But apart from these famous names Breguet also appears in books: In Alexandre Dumas's book "The Count of Montecristo" the Count has Breguet. And Phineas Phog in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" uses a Breguet for time keeping.
BREITLING
On May 24 1962, the American astronaut Scott Carpenter takes a new generation of Navitimers with him on board of the Aurora-7.
CARTIER
In 1904 Cartier met the Brazilian Aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont. According to Cartier this encounter marks the birthday of the modern men's wristwatch. Cartier was inspired by Santos-Dumont's complaints on the unhandiness of pocket watches during flight. And so he designed a wristwatch for his friend Santos-Dumont. In 1907, Santos-Dumont wore this watch during his record flight (movement was by Jaeger).
In 1932 the first watertight luxury watch was made for the Pasha of Marrakech, who compliant he never knew the time when he was swimming or hanging around at his swimming pool.
CORUM
King Hussein of Jordan wears a Corum Admiral's Cup, the watch that is named after the famous sealing event that takes place every two years at Cowes in England.
ETERNA
Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer, wore an Eterna on board his Kon Tiki, while crossing the Pacific.
Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian film actress and later famous photographer, was the ambassadrice of the Eterna Golden Heart, with the smallest automatique movement in the World.
HAMILTON
In 1922 the baseball team of Colonel Jacob Ruppert becomes World Champion. The Colonel is so happy that he orders a Hamilton to commemorate this.
The legendary players Babe Ruth and Lou Gebig received a very special Hamilton Piping Rock Yankee, with on the back the logo of their clubs.
In the sixties, Stanley Kubrick orders a futuristic watch and a pendule (sorry Richard don't know the word in English) for his film "Odyssee in Space" (not sure about the film is it "2000 Space Odyssee")
IWC
1. Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria obtained a pocket watch with digital time indication (introduced by IWC in 1885)and gave it to a politician in his country.
2. Sir Winston Churchill received an IWC on the occasion of his speech in the Zurich University auditorium on September 19, 1946.
3. Pope Pius IX had one.
4. Karl Jung must have had one.
5. JAEGER LE COULTRE
Queen Elisabeth II wore a JleC calibre 101 - the world's tiniest watch movement measuring 14x4.8x 3.4 mm and using 98 parts, weighing less than 1 gram -on her conronation day. Her watch was made of white gold, with diamonds on the case and band.
Although not a watch, I think the Atmos clock should be included. The Swiss Government presented the Presidential Atmos to the following people:
John F. Kennedy
Nelson Rockefeller
Sir Winston Churchill (he must have been a watch nut)
General Charles de Gaulle
Richard Nixon
King Hussein of Jordan
Former UK Prime Minister Harrold Wilson
Pope John Paul II
Charlie Chaplin
Ronald Reagan
Mikhail Gorbachov
A. LANGE & SOHNE
Lange became the Royal Watchmaker to the House of Saxony.
Kaiser Wilhelm.
In 1898 on a official visit to Istanboul (Constantinopel) Kaisar Wilhelm presented Sultan Abdul Hamit II with a Lange. It is now in Instanbul's famous Topkapi museum.
MOVADO
1. Pete Sampras, tennis player, associated with Movado since 1991
2. Michael Chang, tennis player
OMEGA
1. Michael Schumacher, Formula 1 driver
2. Martina Hingis, tennis player
3. Cindy Crawford, movie star, wears an Omega Constellation
4. Ernie Els, golf pro, Omega Constellation
5. Bernard Lange first had a Breitling, now wears Omega de Ville
6. Elle Macpherson, gorgeous looking model, Speedmaster
The famous astronauts wore the Speedmaster. A few names:
Neil Armstrong on July 21st 1969 at 02:56 GMT "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". The streets were quiet then, everybody watched their television.
Commander James Lovell of the Apollo 13.
And of course Tom Hanks in Ron Howard's film Apollo 13.
PATEK PHILIPPE
1. Walt Disney
2. Ella Fitzgerald, one of the greatest jazz singer the world has ever known
3. Charles Lindbergh
4. Arthur Rubinstein, pianist famous for his Chopin interpretations (Arthur Rubinstein also had a Breguet)
5. Duke of Windsor
6. Admiral Richard Byrd (polar explorer)
7. Marie Curie (physicist and two time Nobel laureate)
8. Albert Einstein (physicist and Nobel laureate)
9. Tolstoi (Russian novelist and philosopher -- "War and Peace")
10. Reine Victoria (Queen of England who ruled for the longest reign - 64 years)
11.Charlotte Bronte (English novelist who wrote "Jane Eyre" among other favorites), Rudyard Kipling (English poet and writer who penned one of my favorites -"The Jungle Book")
12. Piotr Tchaikovsky (Russian composer of "The 1812 Overture" among others; he had a quarter repeater - appropriate for a composer)
13. Richard Wagner (German composer of many grand operas; also owned a quarter repeater)
14. James Packard (no, not the Packard of Hewlett Packard that the young folks may remember but the Packard of Packard Automobiles, considered one of the best American cars; he had a specially designed grand complication built for him which is still considered to be one of the three most complex grand complications ever built
At the world's first Watch Fair in London (1851) not only Queen Victoria bought a Patek but also her husband prince Albert. CCS could you provide me with some info on the movements and/or decorations on these watches. Thanks!!!
ROLEX
Rolex wearers you are in good company. Some great artists/author wear them. So wear your Rolexes proudly!!! Here is a list of names I could find:
1. Yehudi Menuhin, world famous violinist
2. Severiano Ballestreros, golfer
3. Antal Dorati, music conductor (famous for the Mercury Living Pressence Recordings in the sixties, which are now reissued on compact disc)
4. Reinhould Messner, mountain climber, who climbed if I recall correctly the Mount Everest without oxygen bottles.
5. Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director
Frederic Forsyth, author. Most wellknown book "The Day of the Jackal" (BTW I never read the book, but saw the film..but what a film)
Jackie Stewart, racing driver (Three times Formula 1 champion)
Sir Winston Churchill received a Rolex from Hans Wilsdorf, who admired Churchill. The watch was a chronometer with Churchill's arms. (What watch collector, I have come across Sir Winston Churchill several times! Well, I think Sir Winston is sitting on a cloud and is logged in on TZ right now.)
General Eisenhower
Conrad Adenauer, West-German statesman after the war
General Charles de Gaulle, later became president of France in the sixties
But also some, should we say, "less popular" guys:
Fidel Castro
Richard Nixon
Khadaffy
In the Film "Marathon Man" Dustin Hoffman exchanges his Rolex for change to make a phone call, while he is being persued by bad guys.
This list is probably longer. And maybe James M. Dowling could add some other names (and correct me if my info has errors). Thanks in advance James!!
TAG HEUER
Ayrton Senna, Formula 1 Racing Driver (to his memory Baume & Mercier issued the Ayrton Senna Watch)
Borris Becker, tennis professional
ULYSSE NARDIN
Henri Kissinger has an Astrolabium Galileo Galilei
The Moroccan Royal Family also has four Astrolabium Galileo Galilei
VACHERON & CONSTANTIN
Tsar Alexander II (Russia) had a pocket watch
Emperor of China bought a pocket watch in 1865
Kaisar Franz Josef of Austria
Queen Victoria (probably also logged in on TZ)
In July 1955 there was a conference on World Peace in Geneva. After the conference Nikolai Bulganin (Statesman of the USSR), Sir Anthoney Eden (prime minister of the United Kingdom), Edgar Faure (leader of the government in France) and President Eisenhower received a Vacheron & Constantin. Each had the following inscription: " May this watch always show happy hours for you, yourself, your people and the Peace of the World"
King Fouad I of Egypt received from the Swis colony in Egypt. It was a split second chronograph with 30 minute register, minute repeater and perpetual calender, winding indication and tourbillon.
In 1953, Queen Elisabeth II received a Vacheron & Constantin with diamonds as a coronation gift from the Swiss government.
Prince Edward (UK)
Actress Merle Oberon
Princess Diana had a "Lady Kalla". She received it as a wedding gift. At the time it was the most expensive watch ever made by Vacheron.
With the name of this beloved peoples Princess, who had such a good hart and who died so tragically, I end this post.
Source: the book "Time in Gold" by Viola and Brunner
