While some footballers opt for the shiniest watch possible to start a nascent collection, someone like a certain Mo Salah has a surprisingly curatorial approach to his watches. Dazzling on the pitch and low key off it, the Liverpool star’s watches favour performance over flash, although there’s still plenty to look at.
Below we breakdown Salah’s impressive watch collection, from award-winning APs to some of the most complicated complications in fine watchmaking.
Ulysse Nardin Freak Lab 18k white gold
Despite being forced to hobble off in the first half, Mo Salah was still able to celebrate his first FA Cup win with Liverpool. With his hand around that famous old trophy and a customary winner’s smile on his face, he opted for the Ulysse Nardin Freak Lab in 18k white gold (Reference- 2100-138, which is very important obviously) for that essential wrist shot.
Limited to just 99 pieces and famed for its highly technical design and performance, a “laboratory on the wrist” as the brand calls it, the Freak Lab is a tourbillon with a, as tourbillons go, elegant design. An alligator strap, 45mm white gold case and signature 7-day flying carrousel, which revolves on its axis on the dial. A cult range since it debuted in 2001, the Freak was the first watch to incorporate silicium (silicon) technology, which must have sealed the deal for Mo.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore customised in Liverpool colours
It turns out that being the best footballer in the Premier League comes with a few perks. Turning up to collect his award for the Football Writers Player of the Year award, a very special AP Royal Oak Offshore can be spotted on Salah’s wrist. We can verify that it is a custom job created for Salah, Jurgen Klopp and co to celebrate their Premier League winner back in 2020 – which is quite special really, isn’t it?
An even sportier version of AP’s iconic Royal Oak, the Offshore debuted in 1993, with an increased 42mm case and a meticulously-crafted MÉGA-TAPISSERIE” dial, which is basically a nice textured finish on the dial, a house signature.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli-Skeleton RDDBEX0747
Now, this is a meaty boy. A big fat 45mm titanium case that is water-resistant to 50 metres, the Spider Pirelli-Skeleton features a highly intricate exposed movement, crafted in Geneva with a star-shaped bridge and powered by a micro rotor. Basically, it’s one of the most detailed automatic movements in watchmaking. In collaboration with Pirelli (you might have guessed), the watch’s strap features rubber inlay sourced from championship-winning tyres used in real races. Which is… good?
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT
After their miraculous comeback against Barcelona (“corner taken quickly to ORIIGISBbvvsgsxa22gqaavsvzz!!!” is burned in my brain forever), and fairly routine dispatching off Tottenham, Salah wore one of his favourite pieces to celebrate his inaugural Champions League. A watch he’s been spotted with numerous times, the super-charged iteration of AP’s signature sports line, the Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon is made out of sand-blasted titanium and black ceramic, with a 10 day power reserve and that famous octagonal case that, so the story goes, the legendary Gerald Genta designed in a night, inspired by the helmets worn by deep sea divers.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Flying Tourbillon GMT.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Sapphire
Taking the idea of a skeleton watch fairly literally, Hublot’s sapphire Big Bang is made from an incredibly clever (and top-secret) transparent material called ‘synthetic sapphire’ that is both able to reveal all the working parts of the watch from every angle. Everything from the case middle to the bezel is cut from a single piece of sapphire, before being polished into its eventual shape. An arduous process that means this special chromo is limited to 500 pieces, which is in keeping with Salah’s taste for wild, and highly limited, sports watches.
Enter Liverpool FC striker Mo Salah, who has been spotted wearing some truly unusual choices which look futuristic and avant-garde, rather than expensive and tough. Last year, in a promotional shoot, Salah could be seen accessorising his Liverpool shirt with a Ulysse Nardin watch from the manufacturer’s Freak collection, whose strapline is “Laboratory on the wrist”. Here comes the science bit: the Freak is powered by an “anchor escapement” composed out of a series of nickel mass elements and micro blades that stabilise the movement’s motion through air friction. No, I’m not sure what that means either, but I love how the choice reveals a free-spirited sense of style from Salah.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Sapphire.
Urwerk-105 CT Streamliner
He also owns a Urwerk-105 CT Streamliner – which proves Salah really is into his watches from a design and engineering perspective, rather than to show off to his teammates. Inspired by the art deco skyscrapers of New York, the Streamliner doesn’t even have a dial per se. Instead, you slide open a catch on the octagonal case to revel in the inner workings of the “wandering hours” mechanism. “When it is closed, it looks austere, with only the time indication visible,” say the designers. “Open the protective cover and you delve into a metallic environment of cool efficiency.”
Urwerk-105 CT Streamliner
