This weeks Spot the Watch is on Michael Ballack. A former German international footballer who played for FC Bayern Munich and Chelsea. He is now a football pundit. The reason Mr Ballack was chosen was for his interesting choice of timepieces.
Footballers are known for being paid high salaries for their talents on the pitch. This allows them to purchase the finer things such as nice clothes, cars and of course watches. Audermars Piguet Royal Oaks and Offshores, Hublot Big Bangs, Richard Mille chronographs and Rolex Daytonas are considered ubiquitous pieces among footballers since many of them own similar pieces.
Michael Ballack is pictured below with an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore chronograph. The model on his wrist is the limited edition Rubens Barrichello III with a 44mm 18k Rose Gold case. This was one of the special editions made for Brazilian Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello.
Michael Ballack with the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rubens Barrichello III Limited edition
The next watch spotted on his wrist also seems to be a very popular choice among those who purchase chronographs. The IWC Pilot Double Chronograph or translated to German: the Doppelchrono. The split seconds for the IWC was designed by Richard Habring, who now makes his own watches with his wife Maria Kristina under their brand Habring². We are not sure if the split seconds would be used often by Mr Ballack, but it still makes for a very nice looking chronograph.
The IWC Doppelchrono on the wrist of retired football player Michael Ballack. Picture (C) 11freunde.de
What caught our attention with Herr Ballack was his interest in independent watch brand Urwerk, founded by Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei. Urwerk is known for their creations which display the time using rotating satellite arms and their distinctive case designs. Michael Ballack owns two Urwerk timepieces! Pretty cool to see him purchase multiple timepieces from an indie brand!
The first model spotted is the Urwerk 103.03 featuring circular satellite disc indicators. The hour disc makes its way around the bottom of the dial where the minutes are marked out. During this time the next disc is being readied to come along and display the next hour. On the top part of the case there is a striped pattern and the case sides are mirror polished. The shape of the case is eye-catching and the innovative way the time is indicated makes the watch uber cool.
The uber cool Urwerk 103.03 on the wrist of Michael Ballack
The final watch featured is the Urwerk UR-202 in White Gold. We did a lot scrutinizing of the highest resolution images we could find of Mr Ballack wearing the watch and came to the conclusion it was the UR-202 on his wrist. The UR-202 featured the debut of the automatic winding turbine system developed by Urwerk. This was coupled with their signature revolving satellite complication with wandering hours and telescopic minutes hands.
The second Urwerk owned by Herr Ballack is the UR-202 in White Gold. Picture (C) Imago Sports
We did some browsing on Urwerk’s Facebook page and found a group of images from 2009. Michael Ballack is pictured at a Urwerk dinner talking to co-founder of Urwerk Felix Baumgartner! It also mentions in another photo he was wearing his UR-202 at the dinner!
Here is a video from Urwerk of the UR-202 it provides you with an idea of why Urwerk pieces are extremely cool!
We have hope you have enjoyed this instalment of Spot the Watch!
