The coolest timepiece owned by Ed Sheeran is a Patek Philippe 5320G world timer with his home town of Framlingham, England, printed on the dial, the singer-songwriter and avid watch collector tells Hodinkee.
But Patek Philippe watches are well beyond the budgets of anybody below megastar (tick) or a fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars (another tick for Mr Sheeran), so the famously down-to-earth crooner took the decision to design a more affordable special edition G-Shock that is available for pre-order with Hodinkee.
It may be affordable, but we will see for how long it is attainable when it goes on sale next week.
“Complicated Pateks are great, but let’s be honest: they’re pretty much unobtainable for most people,” Hodinkee describes in an article promoting the bright yellow watch.
“What we love about Ed is that he’s still just a guy from Framlingham. This is why Hodinkee wanted to make a watch with him. In the same spirit as the trio of John Mayer x Hodinkee G-Shock 6900 limited editions, this is the G-Shock ref. 6900 Subtract by Ed Sheeran. It pulls inspiration from Ed’s sixth studio album, “Subtract,” to make a watch that’s loud, colurful, and very Ed Sheeran,” the promo continues.
Mr Sheeran likes to maintain his everyman persona, but his historic homestead, a former farmhouse that he bought back in 2012, has been expanded with the purchase of four neighbouring properties so he could add his own pub, a swimming pool and a treehouse.
Never a man to miss a cross-promotion, he has already been seen wearing the yellow G-Shock on his global Subtract tour.
The Subtract album that gives its name to the tour features a digitally-manipulated photograph of Ed Sheeran’s face on a yellow field and covered with yellow dirt, which provided inspiration for the G-Shock, which is also flecked with black.
According to GQ’s USA edition, the Hodinkee, Ed Sheeran and Casio project was pulled together by that other singing super-collector (and Hodinkee investor), John Mayer, who is curating a new series of watch launches for the retailer.
A “Hodinkee in Residence” series will see two additional high profile collaborators create their own G-Shock special editions.
The G-Shock Ref. 6900 – Subtract By Ed Sheeran For Hodinkee is available for pre-order now and will be released on October 18 for $185 at the Hodinkee Shop.
