Inside Rihanna's $1.3M Watch Collection

This is the single most talked about piece Rihanna has ever worn, and she did not wear it on her wrist. Ahead of Pharrell Williams's debut Louis Vuitton show in Paris in June 2023, she asked Jacob & Co to rebuild the 47mm white gold Brilliant Flying Tourbillon so it could be worn as a choker, reportedly the first time the brand had ever put a timepiece on someone's neck. The case is invisible set with roughly 30 carats of baguette cut white diamonds, with another 338 brilliant cut stones set directly onto the flying tourbillon movement underneath. Jacob & Co valued the piece at approximately $670,000. It remains the loudest argument anyone has made that high horology and high jewelry are the same category.

Rihanna wore this during the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, the same performance where she revealed her second pregnancy in a scarlet Loewe jumpsuit. The 44mm case carries 251 pave set round cut diamonds with another 30 stones on the crown, and the red mineral crystal dial is skeletonized so the movement reads as texture rather than machinery. Pairing it with a red alligator strap and a fully red outfit turned the watch into a costume component instead of an accessory. At approximately $50,000 it is one of the more attainable pieces in her collection, and it got more screen time than almost any watch in history.

The 5980/1R is the solid rose gold flyback chronograph version of the Nautilus, and it is one of the few Patek references that reads as loud and refined at the same time. The 40.5mm case carries a black gradient dial with the horizontal embossed pattern the Nautilus is known for, and the twin register chronograph layout keeps the face clean despite the complication. Patek discontinued the reference, which pushed secondary market values well past retail into the $230,000 range. Rihanna wore hers with a head to toe Gucci monogram look, which is a very specific kind of flex: pairing the watch collectors argue about with an outfit that has nothing to do with watches.

Rihanna wore this in the photos announcing the birth of her daughter, which instantly made it one of the most seen Royal Oaks on the planet. The 34mm case and integrated bracelet are 18k pink gold throughout, and the dial is a pink Grande Tapisserie, so the entire watch works as a single monochrome tone rather than a contrast piece. This size sits in a sweet spot AP has been building out aggressively, and gold on gold examples with the colored dial trade well above retail, with market pricing around $115,000. Wearing a six figure Royal Oak in a newborn photo is the most Rihanna thing in this entire collection.

The Mini Royal Oak is the smallest case AP makes, and the frosted gold treatment is the reason this one costs what it does. The finish comes from a hammering technique developed with Florentine jewelry designer Carolina Bucci, which strikes the surface of the gold so it scatters light like a stone rather than a polished metal. Paired with a matching gold tapisserie dial, the result reads as a gold cuff that happens to tell time. Rihanna wore it out in Los Angeles with a red fur and an oversized jersey, and market values for the frosted yellow gold configuration sit near $100,000.

This is the watch that made watch media pay attention to Rihanna as a collector. The King Midas was designed by Gerald Genta, the same hand behind the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, with an asymmetric pentagonal case meant to echo the roof and columns of a Greek temple. It was the heaviest solid gold watch Rolex had made, it was manual wind at a time when Rolex sold automatics, and it later folded into the Cellini line. Rihanna's example was made in the 1970s and then rebuilt by Bangkok jewelry designer Patcharavipa with hand engraving across the case and bracelet. She wore it in the pregnancy announcement photos with A$AP Rocky in early 2022, and those images sent demand for original Midas references straight up. Market pricing on customized examples lands around $40,000.

The 118205 is the everose gold Day-Date 36 with a smooth domed bezel instead of the fluted one, which makes it read softer and more like jewelry than the standard President. Rihanna's has the pink Roman numeral dial, so case, bracelet, and dial all sit in the same warm tone. She was photographed in it courtside during her red hair era around 2011, back when rose gold Rolex was still an unusual choice rather than a default. Clean examples trade around $26,000 and the reference has been quietly climbing as the smooth bezel look has come back into demand.

If the 118205 is the jewelry Day-Date, the 18238 is the classic one. Full 18k yellow gold, fluted bezel, champagne dial with applied baton markers, President bracelet, and the double quickset caliber 3155 inside. This is the reference that built the Day-Date's reputation as the watch of choice for people who do not need to explain themselves. Rihanna wore hers with head to toe denim, which is exactly the kind of styling that keeps a 1990s gold President from feeling stuffy. Values sit around $20,000, making it one of the best entry points into solid gold vintage Rolex.

This is the oldest piece in her rotation and probably the most relatable. The 179173 is the 26mm Lady-Datejust in steel and 18k yellow gold, with a fluted gold bezel, a Jubilee bracelet, and a champagne dial set with ten diamond hour markers. Rihanna was photographed wearing it in the early 2010s, long before the tourbillon choker era, which makes it the piece that shows where the collection started. At roughly $10,000 it is the one watch here that a normal buyer can realistically walk into, and two-tone diamond dial Datejusts have been one of the steadiest segments of the market for years.

The Santos traces back to 1904, when Louis Cartier built it for aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont so he could read the time without letting go of the controls, which makes it one of the first purpose built wristwatches. This is the large model in solid 18k yellow gold, with the squared case, exposed screws on the bezel, and the integrated gold bracelet that uses Cartier's tool free QuickSwitch and SmartLink systems. Rihanna wore it stacked with gold bangles on an ordinary afternoon in Los Angeles, mask on, groceries in hand. That is the whole appeal of the gold Santos: it is a $35,000 watch that behaves like a bracelet.

The Panthere was a 1980s icon that Cartier retired and then brought back in 2017 to a market that had been waiting for it. What makes it work is the bracelet: the links are so short and so supple that the watch drapes rather than sits, which is why it stacks with jewelry better than almost anything else at this price. This is the solid 18k yellow gold version with a silvered Roman numeral dial and a quartz movement, which keeps the case thin. Rihanna wore it in a Savage X Fenty campaign, styling it as jewelry rather than as a watch, which is exactly the argument the Panthere has been making since 1983. Market value sits near $18,000.