History has had its fair share of eccentric wealthy businessmen. Still, Elon Musk is perhaps one of the few elites who have captivated the masses outside the business sphere. A man that’s the closest thing we’ll ever get to a real-life Iron Man must have an interstellar watch collection.

Surprisingly, Elon Musk doesn’t appear to be much of a horologist as he is often seen without wrist candy. However, true to his whole theme, it’s usually the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre SpaceX Chronograph when he does wear a watch. Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra is one of the few others he’s had on.

Although the tech-billionaire and, let’s admit it, influencer keeps a tight ship on his brimming schedule, apparently without an aide of a watch, he has been spotted with other watches besides his SpaceX Tag Heuer and Omega Seamaster. 

What watches are in Elon Musk’s collection?

Elon Musk has been wearing a couple of luxury watches over the years. It seems that he usually prefers timepieces that serve a purpose rather than flaunt his immense wealth. One of the most noteworthy watches in his collection is one that he had a hand in helping to birth.

Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 SpaceX Chronograph

This is a special edition Tag Heuer embellished with Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket on the front and rear of the watch’s 43 mm case. The spacecraft displayed on the watch are the SpaceX “Falcon 9” rocket and their “Dragon” spacecraft.

These aren’t just any rockets because the Falcon 9 is the first orbital class rocket engineered to be capable of free-flight. To date, it’s had 166 total launches with 126 total landings and a whopping 105 re-flights. The two-stage rocket is nearly fully reusable and has undoubtedly helped in furthering the ambitions of SpaceX and the man at the company’s helm.

The second spacecraft image on the watch is the Dragon. This pressurized spacecraft uses a rocket to get into orbit and then detaches. Dragon has similarly impressive results while capable of hauling passengers and cargo to the Earth’s orbit and back. It was the first privately owned spacecraft to take astronauts to the space station while being able to return to Earth with a significant amount of cargo.

I got into the SpaceX rockets because this watch would probably not have been made if it were not for Elon Musk and his SpaceX company. The watch wasn’t only a 50-year celebration of its previous model’s accomplishment of being the first watch to be worn in space in 1962 by John Glenn. Still, it also celebrated SpaceX’s successes, and it was worn by astronauts being transported to the International Space Station in 2012.

Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 SpaceX Chronograph’s case is made from steel with a fixed bezel, silver-colored dials, automatic movement, a vintage-esque brown leather strap, and water resistance to a depth of 100 meters. The numbers on the Chrono are easy to read as they sit precisely on the flawless white face, with the overall look being that of the usually classy and newly futuristic James Bond.

Throughout the watch’s meticulous design and engineering, Tag Heuer honored the original Heuer 2915A worn by Glenn in orbiting the Earth three times. Still, with all the modern chronometer innovations, the original design looks more like a big and heavy-looking watch that would function more as a stopwatch today, just enough to let the astronaut be aware of the amount of time that’s elapsed throughout the mission.

You can see why this watch seems favored by the tech-maverick, as it effortlessly combines functionality with simplistic elegance, just like all of Musk’s other ventures. Tag Heuer only made 2,012 of the SpaceX Chronograph watches, and that number doesn’t seem to be by coincidence.

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Co-Axial Master Chronometer

The Seamaster Aqua Terra is also another watch that’s easy to believe that Elon Musk has in his secretive watch collection. He’s been photographed working this timepiece, making perfect sense as this watch nods and bows in respect to Omega’s deep-sea diving and maritime legacy. 

It is a watch that tries to bring its original function to the present even though current diving equipment has made its original functionality obsolete. The model that Musk was seen wearing is believed to be the 41mm model with a symmetrical case that’s crafted beautifully from stainless steel.

This timeless masterpiece’s sunray brushed army-green dial is made even more prominent by the horizontal pattern that resembles a close-up teak wood motif. The pattern is intentional, as Omega describes it as inspired by the polished wooden decks of luxury sailboats.

Instead of the 6 o’clock hour marker, there’s a date window. The hands and indexes are rhodium-plated and filled with white Super-LumiNova, which heavily nod at being able to illuminate all the information you would’ve needed in the dark depths as the 150 m (500ft) water resistance would allow.

The lugs transition seamlessly from the polished bezel into a combination of a brushed and polished bracelet. The Omega Master Chronometer caliber 8900 powers this timepiece with a wave-edged design nodding at the intricacies that went into the back of this watch.

Richard Mille RM

Tony Star­–I mean, Elon Musk has been seen rocking a Richard Mille, but we can’t seem to agree if it was the RM 005 or RM 029. The Caliber RM 005 features an automatic winding movement for all the metrics and variable-geometry rotor.

RM 005 was introduced in 2004 as Richard Mille’s first foray into automatic timepieces with a semi-instantaneous date-changing. The company has said that creating the titanium baseplate posed the most difficult because of the research and investment in methods and equipment required to make the production possible.

Similar to RM005’s venture into the unknown, the RM 029 is a slice and look into what’s possible with human ingenuity. Does that sentiment remind you of a certain someone? The RM 029 is a lifestyle timepiece imbued with personality through its neat linework and unpretentious functionality.

Richard Mille’s RM 029 improves on the work of its predecessor by making time and date easily readable regardless of the lighting and environment, primarily because of the more effective date mechanism. Both watches have similar aesthetics, but the RM 029 has many more features that make it a good match for Elon Musk.

Girard Perregaux Laureato

On the occasions that Musk was photographed wearing the Richard Mille and Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra timepieces, the photographs appeared to be part of either a GQ-like or promotional shoot. The images have been clearer on these occasions to better distinguish the possible watches in the Tesla CEO’s collection.

However, with that clarity came the possibility that the watches might not be from his collection, especially the Richard Mille watch. These last three possible collections have been from instances that seemed more ordinary. Because the man doesn’t seem to like to promote anything he’s not personally backing, it seems more likely that these have been watches from his vault.

Girard Perregaux Laureato is one of two watches that Musk’s legion of fans that double in watch appreciation can’t quite decide which it was that he was at least once seen wearing. The other watch is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which is why you see both entries in this article.

The Laureato has been around since 1975 and found a resurrecting hand in 2017 to add three other sizes to the 42 mm original offering. The watch is easily distinguishable with its sporty lines and classic and vintage aesthetics. It’s a fantastic watch that can be worn daily with its mechanical movement from 191 components.

The caliber GP01800 timepiece has a see-through back case showing the gold accents. The face has tiny pyramids that catch the light at exciting angles. The integrated bracelet makes this steel sport watch an unassuming chronometer which is definitely on-brand for the billionaire wanderer and explorer.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

You can probably see why people could confuse the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak with the Girard Perregaux Laureato. The two watches have very similar designs from afar, even down to the slightly elevated squares on the face. 

However, if we could get a closer look at Elon Musk’s wrist, you would immediately be able to differentiate the brushed-steel octagonal bezels because the Royal Oak has eight hexagonal screws. The finish of the Royal Oak is refined, hand-polished, and satin-brushed, emphasizing the watch’s lines.

Although the Grand Tapisserie guilloche face makes it challenging to see Royal Oak from the Girard Perregaux Laureato in pictures, Audemars Piguet has the marvelous engineering that makes it a standout timepiece. 

The AP Royal Oak became an instant success when it introduced the steel sports watch in 1972, just a year after Elon Musk was born. I’m not saying it was some divine coincidence. Still, this watch design elevated AP’s status in the watch world and forever changed the landscape, just like baby Elon would grow to do.

Rolex Datejust

This is one of the more elegant chronographs that Musk has been seen wearing. Rolex Datejust also has a history behind its name. It was first conceived in 1945 as the earliest self-winding waterproof chronometer timepiece for distinguished wrists to have a window positioned at 3 o’clock on its face. 

The Datejust has a unique look and style easily distinguishable from the masses. The Oyster case on the Datejust does well to continue the legacy of being the world’s first waterproof case on a wristwatch. 

Rolex doesn’t seem much Boring company’s founder, but its unpolarizing beauty is easy to imagine tempting the titan. There’s 18-carat gold that’s fluted on the bezel that flags down attention like @elonmusk. The Cyclops lens also magnifies that date, and the elegant five-piece link jubilee bracelet with the same history as the watch.

The Datejust has in-house self-winding mechanical movement caliber 2236 or caliber 3235. The engineering behind each design produces an exact and dependable timepiece for the world’s most unusual billionaire. The new and innovative 2236 and 3235 caliber movements are new not only catapult precision and reliability forward but also bring gains in power reserve, shock resistance, magnetic fields, and everyday convenience.

As we know, Rolex is a brand that prides itself in giving each timepiece high customization capabilities, with the Datejust’s bezel coming in a diamond-studded, domed, fluted or smoothed design. The exact design spotted on Elon’s wrist didn’t appear to have much flashy customization, which lines up with Musk’s personality.

It will probably be a rare occurrence to see Elon Musk donning the Datejust again as he now appears fully invested in minimalism and living as simple a lifestyle as possible, as made evident by his $50,000 tiny home.

Conclusion

As you can see, Elon Musk is a watch guy even though he is probably on the closeted side. Even if he doesn’t often joyride his watch collection, it is of noteworthy quality and taste wherever it is. The single undeniable timepiece that you’ve probably spotted him wearing is probably the Tag Heuer Carrera Calibre 1887 SpaceX Chronograph.

The second verifiable watch is the practical mindful Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Co-Axial Master Chronometer. However, after these two, it’s more of a dive into Elon Musk’s history with some unclear conclusions from scarce media sources. 

Richard Mille RM 005 or RM 029 is the first one between which the internet isn’t fully decided but does accept to have spotted Elon Musk rocking. Girard Perregaux Laureato and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is the next close pair that’s even more difficult to tell apart from Elon Musk images that have surfaced.

Finally, the Rolex Datejust is probably the one “extravagant” piece in Musk’s collection. It’s also probably the last we’ll ever see on his wrist again, given his now everyman character. So, you’ve heard that the world’s richest man has perhaps the world’s most eclectic collection. 

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