Cristiano Ronaldo famously loves his watches, but diamond-studded pieces of haute horlogerie aren’t necessarily the most practical accessories for a high-performance athlete. However, CR7’s come up with a novel solution: double-fisting.
Double-fisting, or the practice of wearing a watch on each wrist, is something that most watch fans look down upon. It’s only slightly worse than being right-handed and wearing your watch on your right wrist: it just looks weird. It also comes off as a bit too showy; a bit too “look at me!”
However, there’s one exception to that rule, and that’s if you wear a fitness tracker as your second ‘watch’. The reality is that even the most complicated mechanical watch is far less functional than your average digital watch or fitness tracker. Even the most expensive mechanical timepieces in the world can’t monitor your heartbeat or sleep cycle for you, for instance.
For a top athlete like Ronaldo, having such biometrics is worth its weight in gold. So why compromise? The football GOAT decided he’ll have his cake and eat it too, with the Portuguese star spotted out and about in Madrid ahead of EUROs qualifiers wearing a WHOOP fitness tracker worth $500 with a Hublot Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Full Sapphire (ref. 455.JX.0120.JX) worth $500,000.
First released at Watches & Wonders 2021, the Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Full Sapphire (as the name implies) features a case and bracelet completely made out of transparent sapphire crystal – a truly extraordinary feat of horology and one only a few watchmakers have ever attempted.
Before this watch’s release, Hublot had previously dabbled with sapphire crystal cases before, but those pieces featured translucent rubber straps, which looked and felt cheap in comparison to their watches’ high-tech cases. Many unflattering (and somewhat unfair) comparisons to Casio G-Shocks or jelly sandals were made… So to have both a bracelet and case made from sapphire crystal is seriously impressive.
Under the hood beats the equally impressive in-house HUB6035 tourbillon movement, which while mostly made out of titanium, also features bridges made out of sapphire crystal. A dial-side micro-rotor mounted at 12 o’clock and a large tourbillon at 6 o’clock provide visual flair, and its 3-day power reserve is very practical. Well, as practical as a sapphire crystal watch can be.
WATCH our guide to some of the other outlandish pieces in Ronaldo’s watch collection below.
In comparison, the WHOOP fitness band Ronaldo’s wearing on his right wrist, which can be picked up for $500 (or as little as $44 a month, as it comes with a WHOOP membership) isn’t quite so flashy. It doesn’t even have a screen. But it is cool in its own right.
The “distraction-free” fitness tracker, which works in conjunction with a smartphone app, tracks your daily calorie burn, heart rate, resting heart rate, blood oxygen, and heart rate variability data, which it charts for you to make it easy to hit your fitness goals. It’s the perfect tool for a top athlete (or top tool) like Ronaldo.