It’s 2:30 in the morning. You’re probably asleep (or doom scrolling) which is a fairly normal thing to be doing at 2:30 in the morning. But not when you’re Mark Wahlberg, because Mark Wahlberg is built different. A stringent follower of a viral daily routine that involves waking up in the middle of the night, praying, cryo chambers, golf, lifting, praying, and being in bed by 7:30PM, Wahlberg has amassed fame, fortune, biceps the size of large organic hams and, somewhere along the way, one of the great celebrity watch collections.
If you’ve spent any time browsing through Wahlberg’s Instagram, you’ll notice that plenty of those inspirational witching hour workout videos are accompanied by something just as aspirational on his wrist. Has he become the biggest, strongest, and earliest riser in Hollywood just to show off his watch rotation? Who are we to say…
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
The latest in a long list of ultra-rare watch flexes, Wahlberg has recently been spotted walking the red carpet in Patek Philippe’s brand new World Time 5330G-001 (no doubt he’s been deadlifting in it too). It’s the ultimate wealthy guy’s daily driver, except this time the signature stainless steel case, or the rose gold of the recently discontinued 5980R, has been swapped out for 18k white gold, and the strap… well the strap is a clever new blue-grey denim-embossed calfskin strap, which looks surprisingly jean-like.
Unveiled at this year’s edition of the big Swiss watch expo, Watches & Wonders, the denim World Time (and its fellow jean-ified Nautilus) aused a bit of a stir amongst the diehard Patek collector contingent. But when you’re someone who appeared in one of the most iconic denim ads of all time, it makes sense that there’s something nostalgic about having a bit of Canadian tuxedo to remind you of the good old days.
Marky Mark is the kind of guy who isn’t afraid to wear a watch that might typically be kept in an air-controlled chamber, surrounded by armed guards and maybe some lasers, out in the world. On top of the recently-acquired Patek that’s been pushed in the gym, he’s been seen wearing a rainbow Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in the sea—the sort of laissez-faire flex that would have most collectors hyperventilating into their Loro Piana cashmere—along with another much-coveted Patek, the Tiffany dial Nautilus which, if you can even get your hands on one, goes for $6.5 million at auction. There’s a Rolex 18K white-gold Day-Date 40 with baguette-cut diamonds all over the face, and a few Real Collector pieces, like Patek’s Sky Moon Tourbillon, which looks like an old master sculpture in a 44mm case, and will set you back an easy £1.5 million if you’re in the market.
Part of the fun of following someone like Wahlberg is that he takes the sort of watches that are handled with white gloves and hushed whispers, and actually uses them. Wake up, say a little pray, slip on the denim World Time and get to work. The Mark Wahlberg approach to being a rich guy with the ultimate watch collection and an early bedtime.
This story originally appeared on British GQ with the title ‘Mark Wahlberg flexes Patek Philippe’s buzziest new World Timer’
