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In football, there are guys who spend their Premier League paycheques on a Richard Mille or three and there are those, like Michael Carrick, who you see tumbling into a rabbit hole of IYKYK horology in real time. And fair play to the ex-England midfielder, he deserves it, given the magic he worked as a both a player and then managing Manchester United last season.
What have we seen on the big man’s wrist in the past 12 months? A Richard Mille RM011 Black Phantom, one of only 50 pieces, equipped with an annual calendar and a flyback chronograph – winning the whole footballer RM game with one watch, basically. A Rolex “Shades of Blue Challenge Project” Daytona, created by watch customisers Artisans De Genève – not just rare, but extremely tasteful, with its midnight blue dial and electric blue subdials. And, more recently, a Girard-Perregaux Laureato from 1998 that expert vintage dealer the Watch Guru helped him acquire, with a skeletonised dial and pink gold bridges: properly elevated and properly niche. (And a punchy watch to wear in Wimbledon’s Royal Box. The head coach of the Red Devils wrist-mogging England’s blue-bloods? What a time to be alive.)
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Composite: GQ / Getty, Rolex
So yeah, Michael Carrick is operating on a very high level here. What else has he got hiding under his left sleeve? A Rolex Submariner. A Rolex Submariner from a vanishingly rare vintage run? No. A Rolex Submariner tricked out by an aftermarket designer? No. Literally just a Submariner, in steel, with a black dial – about as down-the-line as you can get.
What does this signify? United are having a bit of a wobble at the moment, so it’s possible that Carrick wants to refrain from more outrageous flexes. But you don’t need to read the runes (or the Premier League table) to get the appeal of this watch. Real collectors want light and shade – they want chips with their steak, stuffing with their turkey, etc. There’s not much fun in having a collection which is an unbroken line of absurdly rare and expensive models if they all end up having the same vibe.
A Submariner is an all-time classic – not even the fact it’s the grail for finance bros has diminished its allure. Big, robust and unapologetic, it’s the watch to wear while handling business. No point going on about it for another few paragraphs; you know the drill. Carrick knows the drill too, and he knows that a no-nonsense piece like this can sometimes hit just as sweet as the fanciest Richard Mille or Girard-Perregaux. (But of course, it’s very nice to have those as options too.)