Football is about to take over Sundays again. And even though Tom Brady’s playing days are behind him, he remains firmly inside the NFL conversation. For watch people, there is another reason to keep an eye on Brady: his wrist.

Over the years, Brady has built a collection that stretches from modern sports watches and longtime brand relationships to vintage Rolex, complicated Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, and independent watchmaking. Some pieces have followed him through football milestones. Others eventually crossed the auction block for hundreds of thousands (or more than a million) dollars. The prices grab attention, but the range tells the better story. Brady’s watch taste seems to have grown alongside his career, moving from the watches of a successful young quarterback toward the highly specific choices of someone who genuinely understands the hobby.

Seven Watches That Help Tell the Story

IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN “SFTI”

There may be no better place to start than with a watch tied directly to a championship celebration. Brady wore the IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN Edition “SFTI,” Ref. IW3891-04, during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl victory parade in 2021. The 44.5mm chronograph uses a ceramic case with a Ceratanium caseback and is powered by IWC’s automatic caliber 69380. The model was limited to 1,500 pieces.

It is also a good snapshot of Brady’s relationship with IWC. He has served as a brand ambassador and has worn several of its Pilot’s Watches, Portugiesers, and Big Pilots over the years. Compared with some of the pieces coming later on this list, the SFTI feels almost restrained, and that is part of its appeal. It is a serious tool-style watch connected to one of the biggest moments of Brady’s career.

Rolex Daytona Ref. 6241 “John Player Special”

Then things get considerably more collector-heavy. Brady owned a circa-1969 Rolex Daytona Ref. 6241 with a Paul Newman dial, commonly nicknamed the “John Player Special” because of its black-and-gold color combination. Vintage Daytonas already occupy rarefied territory in the Rolex world. Paul Newman-dial examples push the interest considerably higher, and gold versions in this configuration are especially scarce.

Brady wore the watch during the New England Patriots’ 2023 home opener, when the team honored him and announced plans for his Patriots Hall of Fame induction. The Daytona later sold through Sotheby’s in December 2024 for $1.14 million, making it the highest-selling watch in Brady’s GOAT Collection sale. Celebrity provenance helped, but the underlying watch was already serious enough to command attention on its own.

Patek Philippe Ref. 3970 First Series

A Patek Philippe perpetual calendar chronograph tells you quite a bit about a collection. Brady’s tells you more. His yellow-gold Patek Philippe Ref. 3970 First Series, made in 1986, carries movement number 875’001 and is believed to be the second example of the reference ever produced.

The 3970 combines a chronograph with a perpetual calendar, meaning the movement mechanically keeps track of calendar changes including leap years when properly set and continuously running. All of that complexity lives inside a relatively modest 36mm case. Sotheby’s sold Brady’s example for $312,000 in 2024. More important for understanding the collection, it shows how far Brady’s interests moved into traditional high horology. This is the kind of Patek that rewards knowing what you are looking at.

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “The Roast”

Some watches enter a collection because of the reference. This one exists because of the owner. Audemars Piguet created a unique Royal Oak Flying Tourbillon for Brady to wear during Netflix’s The Roast of Tom Brady in 2024. The white-gold Royal Oak features a diamond-set bezel and a salmon-colored dial where the hour markers become extremely personal: Brady’s name appears in diamonds, while a Roman numeral VII represents his seven Super Bowl victories.

Underneath all of that personalization sits a flying tourbillon, one of mechanical watchmaking’s most visually dramatic complications. The result is over-the-top, but it is also genuinely personal. When the watch appeared in Brady’s Sotheby’s sale later that year, it realized $720,000. Few watches could belong so specifically to one person.

Richard Mille RM35-03 “Baby Nadal”

There is something fitting about one legendary athlete owning a watch associated with another. Brady’s collection included the Richard Mille RM35-03 “Baby Nadal,” part of the family developed around tennis great Rafael Nadal. The watch uses Richard Mille’s blue-and-white Quartz TPT case construction and a skeletonized automatic movement featuring the brand’s unusual butterfly rotor system.

It looks worlds away from the Patek 3970, and that contrast says a lot about Brady’s collection. Traditional complications and vintage references clearly interest him, yet there is plenty of room for modern materials, aggressive engineering, and watches designed to be noticed. His RM35-03 sold for $384,000 in the 2024 Sotheby’s auction. For a collector attached to professional sports for most of his life, Richard Mille makes a certain kind of sense.

F.P. Journe Vagabondage II

The strongest evidence that Brady’s collecting goes deeper than recognizable luxury names may be his F.P. Journe Vagabondage II. F.P. Journe has become one of the defining names in modern independent watchmaking, and the Vagabondage II is unusual even by the brand’s standards.

Brady’s platinum example dates to 2017 and was one of only 69 platinum pieces. Instead of conventional hands, the watch uses an unusual digital display for the hours and minutes, powered mechanically by the manually wound caliber 1509. Even the case breaks from Journe convention, using a flat, curved shape instead of the round cases associated with many of the watchmaker’s best-known pieces. In June 2026, Brady’s Vagabondage II sold at Sotheby’s for $960,000, setting a record for the model. By this point, Brady was buying watches whose appeal depends much more on watchmaking knowledge than instant brand recognition.

Jacob & Co. Caviar Tourbillon Yellow Sapphires

Brady’s recent public watch choices show another side of his taste entirely. While calling Super Bowl LIX in 2025, he appeared wearing a Jacob & Co. Caviar Tourbillon Yellow Sapphires, a gem-covered flying tourbillon reported at around $740,000. The yellow sapphires cover almost the entire visible surface, creating the kind of watch that is nearly impossible to miss under stadium lights and television cameras.

One distinction matters here: the public sighting confirms Brady wore the Jacob & Co.; available reporting does not clearly establish that the specific piece belongs to his personal collection. Still, the choice is worth including because it captures Brady’s current watch style perfectly. The quarterback became a broadcaster, and the watches became part of the show.

Brady’s Collection Got More Interesting With Time

In December 2024, Sotheby’s dedicated The GOAT Collection: Watches & Treasures from Tom Brady to pieces from Brady’s personal holdings. The 41-lot sale combined watches with football memorabilia and generated more than $9 million overall, with the watches accounting for roughly $4.6 million. The numbers are enormous, but they tell only part of the story.

Look across the collection and there is no single Brady formula. There are IWC pilot watches connected to championship celebrations, rare vintage Rolex, high-complication Patek Philippe, experimental Richard Mille, personalized Audemars Piguet, and independent watchmaking from F.P. Journe. That variety is what makes the collection worth paying attention to.

As another NFL season begins and Brady returns to the football conversation, his watch collection offers its own version of career progression. The pieces became rarer and more technically interesting over time. His choices became more personal, too. And now that he is sitting in the booth instead of under center, checking Brady’s wrist may become part of watching football.

Which watch from Tom Brady’s collection would you take if you had the choice? The vintage Daytona, the F.P. Journe, the Patek, or something completely different? Let us know in the comments!