Michael Jordan hardly needs an introduction. The greatest basketball player of all time, a global cultural icon, sneaker mogul and star of the original (and best) Space Jam film… The 59-year-old’s influence on basketball and its most prestigious league, the NBA, is still strongly felt today.
He’s also got a pretty GOATed watch collection, too. MJ’s always been known for his love of the finer things, but he seems particularly fascinated by horology. He has a particular passion for commissioning customised watches, too – just check out this ‘winterized’ Rolex Daytona he was spotted wearing last year.
His latest timepiece flex is yet another custom piece. While schmoozing at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Cleveland, Jordan was spotted rocking a rather special Urwerk UR-220 piece that we reckon would be worth at least AU$300,000.
Urwerk is one of the most interesting watchmakers to call Switerzland home. The independent firm is known for its forward-thinking, unconventional designs – many of which feature unique ‘planetary’ time-telling systems and utilise exotic materials such as carbon fibre, ceramics and unique metal alloys.
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Jordan’s UR-220 is a typical Urwerk (which is to say insanely high-tech). A time-only piece constructed primarily from carbon fibre, it features a retrograde minute hand that encloses the three hour-depicting ‘satellites’ as it transverses the 0-to-60-minute scale, then flies back to ‘dock’ with the next hour satellite. It even has an ‘oil change indicator’ on the back to record the time elapsed between services.
What makes MJ’s particularly special is that it features red accents (a standard UR-220 has yellow or green accents) as well as the Roman numerals XXIII (i.e. 23, his iconic jersey number) engraved below the piece’s crown. MJ previously commissioned 23 UR-220s with the same design but with blue instead of red accents. This must be his personal, one-off UR-220.
It’s an awesome watch that’s made even cooler by being so unique. But imagine being able to casually order over 23 customised six-figure watches… Now that’s GOAT status.
Check out our guide to the best watches worn by NBA players below.
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