The Ultimate Football Watch

Maybe it is this one, the Purnell Ballon d’Or Flying Tourbillon? Honouring the best players, male and female, of the season it represents the pinnacle of the game…and it’s a tourbillon…inside a gold football…inside the watch!

The Ballon D’or has been presented since 1956, first won by Stanley Matthews, and since 2007 not only sports journalists, but also captain and coaches of national teams are allowed to vote. Since 2018 the award has been expanded to include the women’s game. The record for the most awards is held by Lionel Messi with 7 wins, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 5.

The watch, manufactured by Purnell was designed by Eric Coudray who knows a thing or two about tourbillons. He designed the Master Gyrotourbillon 1 for Jaeger-LeCoultre, released in 2004, and the MB&F Legacy Machine Thunderdome which debuted in 2019. The Purnell watch has just a single axis flying-tourbillon, but the 18k gold football encasement is ample compensation.

Presented in polished titanium and sapphire crystal, the twin-barrelled, hand-wound watches are engraved with both the name of the winner and Eric Coudray. This year that honour going to Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas. Both watches are created as 1 of 1 editions, but if you want one of the 3 Ballon d’Or watches available to the public, it will set you back a cool 1 million Swiss Francs.