Tyler, the Creator Wears the Most Lowkey Watch Imaginable

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In 2011, Tyler, the Creator broke into the mainstream with his song “Yonkers,” which starts: “I’m a fucking walking paradox.” The line has served a little like a mission statement for his whole career, and his watch is irrefutable proof that remains true almost a decade later. A famous, incredibly stylish, and wealthy rapper wearing a watch that isn’t flashy, iced-out, from a household luxury brand, or cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—a paradox if I’ve ever seen one. If you want to wear the watch favored by one of our most fashionable rappers, you will only need $11 and some change to buy Tyler’s Casio MQ24-9B, the Honda CR-V of timepieces. Tyler’s Casio cracks open a funny truth about watches: while Tyler could certainly buy a more elegant and lovingly made watch, none would tell him more accurate time than this cheaper-than-a-Sweetgreen-salad Casio. Tyler’s watch contains a tiny quartz crystal inside—rather than the hundreds of gears, springs, and rotors in a mechanical watch—that keeps exponentially more accurate time over the long-term than any mechanical watch can. Still, plenty of gorgeous mechanical watches to discuss this week in the form of classic Rolex models and even one made by Ralph Lauren.

Tyler, the Creator’s Casio MQ24-9B Classic Analog Watch

Tyler’s watch isn’t sexy or particularly cool and it won’t make a good heirloom to pass down to the next generation, but it’s practicality is unmatched. Even Bernie Sanders’s watch is 25 times more expensive than Tyler’s. The only logical conclusion to draw from this? Tyler, the Creator should be president.

As a fashion choice, the Casio is an interesting choice and an excellent throwback. The watch immediately dredges up memories of the Quartz Crisis that decimated the Swiss watch industry in the early ‘80s. The new technology captivated a generation that thought the new, more affordable technology was totally radical. It clearly has the same effect on Tyler.

Sterling K. Brown’s Rolex Submariner Date

Brown is known for his traditional approach to getting dressed: he favors a well-tailored suit or a Good Boy™ polo over the latest oddity sent down the Balenciaga runway. These preferences spill over to the actor’s watch choices. Before an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Brown wore an extremely classic Rolex Submariner. It truly does not get more iconic than this diver’s watch in stainless steel with a black dial.

Rob Lowe’s Rolex GMT-Master II

Most of the green-tinged Rolex watches come with fun whimsical names: the Hulk! The Kermit! No such luck with Rob Lowe’s (still-very-handsome) example released in 2005 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the GMT-Master’s 50th anniversary. In 1955, Rolex made a watch for Pan Am pilots that, with the help of a second hour hand, could tell the time in two different time zones at once. Was the never-aging Rob Lowe alive then, did he pilot a Pan Am flight, did he invent airplanes??? Nothing is certain at this point. Either way, 50 years after debuting the first GMT, Rolex released this pretty edition with a green-dial that I propose we finally give a cool nickname. Maybe it’s the “John Deere” or, like, “The Luck of the Irish.”

Meek Mill’s Cartier Santos Skeleton

Over the course of horology history, Cartier has created some of the most original and innovative timepieces. The Tank was inspired by an overhead view of an actual tank, the Dali-like Crash was modeled after a watch that allegedly melted in the burning rubble of a car wreck, and the original Santos holds the title of first-ever wristwatch after a Brazilian pilot asked his buddy Louis Cartier to hook him up. (That’s a serious plug!) If there’s been one knock on Cartier over the years, it’s that many of its watches use quartz—there’s that word again—movements instead of mechanical ones. Meek Mill’s skeletonized dial, which lays bare the movement inside, puts any doubts to rest. Plus, well, it looks really cool.

Martin Scorsese’s Ralph Lauren Sporting “Automotive”

Over the months, we’ve covered a gamut of pieces here on Watches of the Week but every iteration still manages to surprise me :’). We’re accustomed to the Rolex, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, and Omega watches, but never before have I spotted a piece by the iconic American designer Ralph Lauren, who is better known for his inventions in the apparel world. Scorsese’s doesn’t come with the watch cred inherent with those other brands, but RL actually makes some pretty serious timepieces: ones that resemble horse stirrups and others that feature the world’s best dressed bear. According to Ralph Lauren, the design of this watch is inspired by the dashboard on the designer’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe Martin. It must be so cool to be rich.

Adam Devine’s Omega Speedmaster

While attending a Los Angeles Clippers game, Adam Devine wore a watch that doesn’t need to be load managed. Actually, the Omega Speedmaster’s whole deal is that it’s one of the toughest keep-on-ticking-no-matter-what timepieces in the whole watch industry. The piece’s claim to fame is that it’s the only watch in history to pass NASA’s battery of tests and be cleared to accompany astronauts on missions to the moon. It was there on Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong’s wrists when the pair touched down on the moon in 1969. I’d like to see Kawhi Leonard do that.

Originally Appeared on GQ