Odell Backham Jr. is an NFL legend and a man of fine and expensive taste. He made sure to prove that last week, by wearing a RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph during the game, turning heads and causing debates within the NFL as to whether expensive watches should be banned on players on the field.
The RM 11-03 is priced at about $200,000 and, after the game, OBJ made sure to let the press know that, come what may, he will continue wearing watches. He wasn’t breaking any rules, either: the NFL explicitly bans jewelry and hard objects on the field, and the RM was neither.
The other day, OBJ showed up at another game with another, even more expensive watch. However, despite his promise to keep wearing watches during games, he only wore it during warm-ups and for the post-game press conference, which you will see in the video available below. Also here, he made sure to flash the watch for everyone to see and smiled when one reporter noted that it cost $2 million.
But did it really?
Initial reports claimed that the watch was the exclusive 2014 Richard Mille 56-02 Tourbillon Sapphire, of which only 10 were ever made and which is priced at $2.02 million. Professional Watches debunked them, saying that it was an older version, the RM 56-01, which, at $1.95 million, is cheaper than the 56-02.
And then comes the shock: this was no Richard Mille watch. While it does replicate the gorgeous all-sapphire case, it was actually made of cheap plastic. It was a replica and, while at it, a poorly made one. Professional Watches confirms that based on photographic evidence available online – OBJ would not comment.
However, he did try to pass the replica for the real deal, if you watch the press conference. Go to the 7:30 minute mark for this: “I don’t really have any comment about it. I think Daniel Wellington might be a better watch than these, a little classier, not as flashy as this one. I’m just blessed.”
Either OBJ had no idea he was wearing a fake or he really thought he could pass it for the real thing.
That said, the RM Tourbillon Sapphire is a true beauty made entirely of artificial sapphire crystal and a visible mechanism, which is suspended within the case with a patented cable and pulley system. The 56-02 is made of 3 solid pieces that are manually ground down from larger blocks; it takes over 1,500 hours to make only one such timepiece.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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