Centibillionaire Mark Zuckerberg is evolving. He has transitioned from drab grey T-shirts to printed sartorial styles. In true billionaire fashion, he even bought a $300 million superyacht, Launchpad, and a $30 million shadow vessel, Wingman. It seems like the world’s fourth richest man is not interested in slowing down just yet and has upped his style quotient with a fancy timepiece, the Patek Philippe Grand Complication 5236P in platinum.
It is rare to spot the Facebook founder sporting a luxury timepiece, especially one that costs $141,000, but perhaps the luxury watch bug bit him at Vantara, the Indian wildlife sanctuary that hosted Asian billionaire Anant Ambani’s pre-wedding bash in March this year.
The tech tycoon has made his first big splash, and a great one at that, with the breathtaking, brand-new perpetual calendar featuring an original in-line display and a striking blue dial. The classy luxury watch looks refined with a black-gradient sporting gold applied hour markers. The 41 mm case encloses a self-winding movement 31-260 PS QL with an additional in-line display module and interchangeable solid and sapphire crystal case backs.
What ignited Mark Zuckerberg’s interest in fancy watches?
It was a tête-à-tête in the Western Indian state of Jamnagar early this year that gave the world a glimpse of Zuckerberg admiring a watch. It belonged to none other than Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant Ambani. An avid watch collector, he himself owns some of the rarest and most complicated Patek Philippe watches worth millions. Priscilla Chan and Zuckerberg were captivated by the stylish Anant Ambani, particularly his watch (not even his most expensive one). The power couple was evidently enthralled by the timepiece, as seen in a video showing Zuckerberg and his better half examining the hefty piece of art, the $4.6 million Richard Mille RM 56-02 Sapphire.
The American billionaire commented, “You know, I never really wanted a watch, but after seeing that, I was like, ‘Watches are cool.’” Ambani’s watch is an exceptional creation with plenty of sapphire in its construction to entice onlookers. Its technical prowess is applaud-worthy, with an innovative cable and pulley system that suspends the movement from the sapphire case. If any timepiece could be insane enough to influence the philanthropist worth $185 billion, it was the Richard Mille RM 56-02 Sapphire.
What watch did Mark Zuckerberg wear before?
The fittest CEO of Silicon Valley once preferred the functionality of the now-discontinued $500 Garmin Forerunner 945. The GPS running/triathlon smartwatch catered to the fitness enthusiast in him and monitored his performance with features like VO2 Max and training status, with adjustments for heat, training load focus, recovery time, and aerobic and anaerobic training effects. The humble watch suited Zuckerberg’s lifestyle choices but certainly not his centibillionaire status. The father of two is an MMA addict who took on two of the best MMA fighters in the world on a floating barge. At other times, it was rare to even spot him wearing a watch. Even at the Vantara event, the Meta boss looked dapper without any watch on his wrist.
It would be exciting to see how the 40-year-old expands his watch collection next, perhaps with a multi-million Patek Grandmaster or a Richard Mille. The doting husband, who just installed a life-size Daniel Arsham-created sculpture of his lady love at his home, could surprise Chan with a beautiful Vacheron Constantin or Audemars Piguet timepiece.
