Barack Obama Spotted Wearing The Most Unloved & Misunderstood Rolex Ever

Barack Obama Spotted Wearing The Most Unloved & Misunderstood Rolex Ever

Last Wednesday saw Joe Biden sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, a sigh of relief for many Americans and observers around the world after four years of Trumpian chaos.

Three of the five living former presidents attended the ceremony: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as the 47th Vice President of the United States. Obama, one of the youngest men to have ever held the office, has lent into the ‘elder statesman’ role quite effortlessly, and for many remains a paragon of style and ‘cool’.

Indeed, Obama cut a dapper figure during Biden’s inauguration, right down to his watch. Eagle-eyed watch fans were quick to spot Obama’s intriguing choice in wrist candy: a Rolex Cellini Time (ref. 50509), one of Rolex’s more obscure offerings and one of the most misunderstood collections in their repertoire.

We’ve previously discussed the complexities of presidential watches here on DMARGE, and how most presidents have quite a conservative taste in timepieces. Some presidents splash out a bit when they leave office – Bill Clinton, for example, has quite the collection – and Obama’s Cellini is yet another example of how a president, once becoming a civilian, has ‘cut loose’ when it comes to their watch-wearing habits.

But there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the Cellini, and it’s worth exploring how this understated watch speaks volumes about Obama’s character.

First introduced in the 60s as Rolex’s dress watch line and named after a famous Renaissance goldsmith and sculptor, the Cellini line has always been a bit of an anomaly. Not only is it a dress watch line from a brand that’s primarily known for its technical ‘tool’ watches, but unlike Rolex’s other product lines, the Cellini line is rather ill-defined. Models from the 60s and 70s like the King Midas and Danaos are rather avant-garde, whereas modern Cellinis are very conservative and restrained.

The Cellini line has always been overshadowed by Rolex’s more technical models such as the Air-King, GMT-Master and Submariner lines. Despite coming from the world’s most famous watch brand, they’re very much “if you know, you know” watches.

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Retailing for 21,500 AUD, Obama’s 39mm dress watch features no complications – it tells the time and that’s it – and would otherwise seem rather plain if you didn’t know it was made of 18ct white gold. It’s actually quite a famous watch and one of Obama’s favourites, the watch immortalised in art thanks to its appearance on his wrist in his official presidential portrait.

It’s an inspired choice and immediately sparks some questions. Why buy a dress watch from a tool watch brand? Why spend that sort of money on something so understated? What does the watch tell us about the man?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Barack Obama (@barackobama)

Investing in a Cellini shows that you’re focused on precision and quality rather than pomp and circumstance – emblematic of Obama’s character as a leader. It demonstrates a respect for tradition, yet a touch of individuality: US Presidents have long been associated with Rolex as a brand and consistently chosen to eschew flashy watches, so the Cellini follows in that tradition. But it’s also a unique, obscure choice that reflects Obama’s quietly revolutionary character. The Rolex Datejust that Biden wore for his inauguration sends a similar message.

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More than anything, it shows that Obama has taste – something he’s always been renowned for, from his impeccable taste in modern music to his crisp fashion sense.

Obama was in many ways a highly conventional president and statesman. But as the first African-American president, Obama will always be unique. His Cellini is the same: it’s a highly traditional dress watch from a highly unconventional brand. The more you think about it, the more you realise how well the Cellini suits Obama.

Hopefully Obama’s endorsement of the Cellini will see more watch fans expand their horizons and take a second look at Rolex’s most underappreciated collection.

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Looks Like Joe Biden Got a New Watch to Celebrate His Big New Job

Welcome to Watches of the Week, where we’ll track the rarest, wildest, and most covetable watches spotted on celebrities.

Big month for Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.: the guy got a new Rolex. And I guess there was that whole being-sworn-in-as-President thing. But the Rolex! The new piece first appeared on 46’s wrist while he was receiving the initial dose of the COVID vaccine, and it was there again this week during his inauguration. Some men have Dior Air Jordan 1s, others have new Rolex watches. At first blush, Biden’s choice is a bit perplexing. Consider that he was just elected President and there is an actual Rolex watch, the Day-Date, nicknamed the President—that one feels like a no-brainer. Instead, Biden’s new Rolex is the more entry-level Datejust model with a black dial. But this might be more advanced maneuvering by Biden. While it’s the Day-Date that now shares a nickname with Biden it wasn’t actually the first Rolex to make its way to the Oval. That honor actually belongs to the…Datejust.

Alex Wong

Joe Biden’s Rolex Datejust

In 1951, when Dwight Eisenhower was still just a five-star general and not yet the President of the United States, Rolex reached out with an offer. The company wanted to outfit the general with a Datejust and sent him a gold version engraved with his initials. The watch famously appeared on a cover of Life with the general and then accompanied him into the White House in 1953.

Biden likely considered all this when choosing his Datejust. The new president seems to have an uncanny understanding of how his position overlaps with the world of watches: he’s also been known to wear a Vulcain Cricket, the watch of choice for presidents like Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson.

Courtesy of Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran’s John Mayer x Hodinkee G-SHOCK Ref 6900

Among modern musicians, there are probably no bigger watch collectors than John Mayer and Ed Sheeran. Mayer is such an enthusiast that he teamed up with Hodinkee to design his own keyboard-inspired G-SHOCK in December. The $180 piece isn’t typical Sheeran fare—he’s most often seen wearing Patek Philippe and Richard Mille watches worth tens, if not hundreds, of thousands—but this appears to be a case of one collector paying respects to another.

Getty Images

Barack Obama’s Rolex Cellini

Unlike past presidents or VPs, like Bill Clinton (more on him later) and Biden (more on him earlier), President Obama didn’t get sucked into the vortex of watch collecting after leaving the office. Over the past four years, Obama’s mostly worn a Fitbit Ionic—if anything, a horological downgrade from the Jorg Grey on his wrist during his presidency. But there is one fine watch Obama keeps in his arsenal to pull out when the moment calls for it: a Rolex Cellini in 18-carat white gold. The Cellini is Rolex’s version of a dress watch—all fine materials, a simple pared-down dial, and strapping leather band. Obama got his Cellini shortly after his second term ended and it’s the timepiece that appears in his official portrait.

Courtesy of Architectural Digest

Kevin Love’s Rolex “Big Red” Daytona

Kevin Love gets a lot of credit for his sharp tailoring and excellent knits (see: his Polo Bears, the L.L. Bean x Todd Snyder cardigan above), but he has a mean watch collection, too. While giving Architectural Digest a tour of his New York pad, Love was spotted wearing a Rolex Daytona reference 6263, known as the “Big Red.” The watch gets its nickname from the red, fatter-than-normal font the word “Daytona” appears in over the bottom-center subdial. Along with the “Paul Newman,” the “Big Red” is one of the two most desirable variations of the Daytona. And guess what: Newman also wore the Big Red. The actor’s former watch recently sold for $5.48 million at auction.

Getty Images

Bill Clinton’s A. Lange & Söhne Grosse Langematik Gangreserve

After wearing one of the most infamous Timex watches during his campaign and early presidency—a watch that incurred the scorn of political observers the nation over—Bill Clinton wasn’t the most likely candidate to become a big-time watch collector once out of office. However, over the past couple of decades, the sax-playing pres has amassed a pretty impressive collection: he owns a couple Panerai pieces, a Jaeger-LeCoultre diver watch, and a pair of watches from German brand A. Lange & Söhne. The watch he wore to the inauguration is a 1-of-100 platinum model from Lange. The super-fine watch made in collaboration with the retailer Wempe was a fittingly elegant choice for the inauguration.

New York Times Slammed Over Report About Joe Biden’s ‘Elitist’ Rolex Watch, Netizens Bring Up Trump’s Gold Toilet

The New York Times has come under fire after publishing an article about Joe Biden wearing a $7,000 Rolex watch during his inauguration ceremony.

On Friday, the publication went live with a piece headlined “Is That a Rolex on Biden’s Wrist?.” In the report, writer Alex Williams asserted that Biden was “breaking from prevailing presidential tradition” by wearing the iconic luxury watch brand.

‘A Far Cry From the Everyman Timepieces’

“At his inauguration, Mr. Biden laid his hand on the family Bible wearing a stainless steel Rolex Datejust watch with a blue dial, a model that retails for more than $7,000 and is a far cry from the Everyman timepieces that every president not named Trump has worn conspicuously in recent decades,” Williams wrote.

“To many, a president wearing a luxury watch might not seem unusual. Shouldn’t the leader of the free world wear a power watch befitting his position?” the r

Former Presidents and The Watches Worn by Them

Rolex watches have been worn by countless presidents, including Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan. But, Williams claimed that the “political power watches” have “gone out of style in the internet age,” explaining that more recent presidents “seemed to consider the luxury watch as a signifier of out-of-touch elitism.”

As examples, he cited Bill Clinton and George W. Bush’s Timex watches, while Barack Obama wore a mid-priced watch by Shinola that cost less than $500. However, Donald Trump does own a flashy all-yellow-gold Day-Date, and even Obama has been spotted with a Rolex Cellini, which he wore for his official presidential portrait.

Twitter Reactions

Not long after the report was published, Twitter users blasted the Times' report on the platform with many drawing comparisons with Trump’s prized possessions, including his 18-karat gold toilet.

“Headlines complaining about Biden’s peloton and Rolex after 4 years of a dude with a literal gold toilet are beyond parody,” tweeted GQ Magazine writer Laura Bassett.

Meanwhile, others expressed their anger over the report’s attempt to rake up a scandal out of Biden’s wrist instead of focusing on Trump’s bid to overthrow the government.

“What’s the worst presidential scandal, the time when Biden wore a Rolex, the time when Obama ordered Dijon mustard, or the time when Trump encouraged [an] insurrectionist mob to violently seize the Capitol in a vain attempt to overturn an election that he lost?” Vox correspondent Ian Millhiser wrote.

Here are some other reactions on Twitter: