Kanye West, also known as Ye, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West initially gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style.
Recently, he was all over the news because of the conflict between him and Adidas, who had sponsored him for years. Adidas has distanced itself from Kanye West after his largely condemned anti-Semitic remarks.
Okay, okay, we are not gonna continue talking gossip here. As watch lovers, let's just talk about his watch collection, which includes everything from traditional Rolex watches to unique horology timepieces.
Kanye West watch collection is as amazing as celebrities like DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Floyd Mayweather, etc.
Spoiler: Kanye West watch collection really reflects his love of wearing gold bracelets, gold necklaces, and other bling accessories both in public and on stage.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Cartier Crash
Kanye West Watch Collection - Cartier Crash
Let's start off with his timepiece that looks really weird, but fun. While he was being interviewed by David Letterman in 2019 for Netflix show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the controversial rappers was seen wearing the Cartier Crash in yellow gold.
The watch resembles a dripping clock in a Salvador Dali painting. Looking back at the history, the Crash was created by Jean-Jacques Cartier in partnership with Rupert Emmerson, and for many years, the persistent myth surrounding the watch's inspiration was that it was modeled after a Cartier watch that had been worn by the victim of a fatal car accident and had been melted into an intriguing shape by the impact and fire.
The Crash is actually now one of the world's truly notable watches.
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Kanye West Watch Collection - Richard Mille RM010 Skeleton Dial
Kanye West Watch Collection - Richard Mille RM010 Skeleton Dial
Considererd one of the most influential people by the Time Magazine, in the picture, Kanye is seen wearing an underrated Richard Mille RM010 Automatic in rose gold.
This skeletonized movement is truly stunning. The bottom plate and bridges are angled and polished by hand before they are sandblasted and PVD treated.
This watch has been introduced in 2006 with a retail price of $85,000.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Patek Philippe Nautilus Champagne Diamond Dial 3800/1J
Kanye West Watch Collection - Patek Philippe Nautilus Champagne Diamond Dial 3800/1J
The watch on his wrist is the vintage yellow gold Patek Philippe Nautilus 3800/001J with a champagne diamond dial.
Retail price: ~$45,000.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph 49150
Kanye West Watch Collection - Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph 49150
Back then, at the 2009 Grammy Awards, Kanye appeared wearing a gold Vacheron Constantin Overseas Chronograph 49150 in rose gold.
The watch comes with a silver dial, luminous hands and hour markers, a large double window date at 12 o'clock.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Daytona Black tahitian MOP Dial 116518
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Daytona Black tahitian MOP Dial 116518
His next timepiece is the 40 mm Rolex Daytona Cosmograph 116518-0073 in yellow gold featuring the black tahitian 'Mother of Pearl' dial with applied gold Roman numerals on a black alligator strap.
I personally think that this watch has a beautiful and colorful dial. It matches the yellow-gold case. The combo really fits the rapper!
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Submariner Blue Dial 116618
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Submariner Blue Dial 116618
A couple of days after he released his new album 'Donda,' he was seen wearing one of Rolex's signature models, the Submariner.
The timepiece seen on his wrist is the Rolex Submariner 116618 in yellow gold, featuring a 40 mm yellow gold case and blue bezel made in blue ceramic with a matching blue dial. This model is no longer in production.
Retail price: $34,250.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Yacht-Master II 116688
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Yacht-Master II 116688
Like Conor McGregor, Kanye West also has the beautiful Rolex Yacht-Master II.
The watch features a white baton dial, housing a regatta chronograph function surrounded by a 10-minute countdown with a blue ceramic bezel on a yellow gold Rolex Oyster bracelet.
With a new dial and hands distinctive from Rolex Professional models, the Yacht-Master II improves legibility and sharpens its aesthetic appeal.
The dial now has a triangular hour marker at 12 o'clock for easier reading of the watch and a rectangular hour marker at 6 o'clock. The hour hand can be easily distinguished from the minute hand thanks to a luminescent disc.
The countdown on the Yacht-Master II can be set for a time between one and ten minutes. The mechanism memorizes the programming so that it can reset itself and go back to the initial setting. Once it has begun, the countdown can be instantly adjusted to coincide with the official race countdown.
The Yacht-Master II is the epitome of elegance and distinction, oh, and expensiveness, with a stunning white dial and a regatta chronograph watch made specifically for yachting competition.
Market price: ~$44,000.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Daytona Chocolate Dial 116515
Kanye West Watch Collection - Rolex Daytona Chocolate Dial 116515
Next timepiece in Kanye West watch collection is, as we can see in the picture, the Rolex Daytona. It is the Daytona 116515LN in rose gold on a black leather strap. his gorgeous timepiece features the calibre 4130 with a 72 hour power reserve, and a chocolate dial with black colored Arabic numerals as hour markers.
Market price on the secondary market: ~$33,000.
Kanye West Watch Collection - Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 25829OR
Kanye West Watch Collection - Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 25829OR
Next is Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Openworked Perpetual Calendar 25829OR in rose gold. The transparent sapphire dial with white indicators and blackened gold hands, indicates the day, date, moon phases, month and leap years.
I must say this timepiece is one of the most stunning timepieces in Kanye West watch collection.
The French football player Karim Benzema owns a similar timepiece, but his model is not openworked. Still, both of the watches features a perpetual calendar.
Watches with a perpetual calendar display the day, date, month, and a leap year. It means, a perpetual calendar corrects date and year cycle (and subsequently day, month, and moonphase too) in perpetuity.
If another question is raised, 'what is a leap year?' A leap year is a calendar year with an additional day added to synchronise the calendar year with the astronomical year. This additional day is added to the end of the shortest month, February (now you know why February has 29 days once every four years). Scienctific speaking, Earth takes approximately 365.25 days to orbit the sun. So, it needs 366 days to orbit every four years.
Therefore, to make up for the missing day, we add one day to our calendar approximately every four years. Any year evenly divisible by 4 is a leap year, for example, 2000, 2004, 2008, etc.
Market price: ~330,000.
Kanye West Watch Collection - BAPE G-Shock DW6900
Kanye West Watch Collection - BAPE G-Shock DW6900
Last timepiece in Kanye West Watch Collection I want to feature is the beefy tough Japanese G-Shock which is well-known for its durability.
The G-Shock we can see in the picture is a collaboration between A Bathing Ape and G-Shock - BAPE G-Shock DW-6900.
His fellow musician Pharrell Williams also owns this white G-Shock.
Unfortunately, I could find any information regarding the price. I wonder how much did it cost back then.