Jonathan Warburton Watch Collection - Every Watch He's Been Spotted Wearing

Jonathan Warburton currently has 1 watches in his collection.  Check them in our database.

Introduction to Jonathan Warburton

Jonathan Warburton is the chairman of Warburtons, the family-owned baking business headquartered in Bolton, Lancashire, that has grown into Britain's largest bakery brand and one of the country's biggest grocery brands by retail sales value. A fourth-generation member of the Warburton family, Jonathan has been the public face of the company for decades, steering it through a competitive market dominated by supermarket own-label products while maintaining its position as a household name. He has become one of the more recognisable figures in British food manufacturing, appearing regularly in the brand's own advertising campaigns — a relatively unusual move for a business chairman — and is known for a grounded, self-aware public persona that has served the company's marketing well.

The Jonathan Warburton watch collection, as far as Watch Paparazzi has been able to document, centres on a single but well-chosen piece: a Rolex Submariner Date reference 16610LV. Rolex introduced this variant in 2003 to mark the Submariner's 50th anniversary, distinguishing it from the standard 16610 with a green bezel insert on the familiar black dial. Collectors quickly nicknamed it the 'Kermit,' a reference to the green-topped bezel and the Muppets character. Warburton was photographed wearing the watch during a Warburtons television advertisement in which he appeared alongside the actual Kermit the Frog — making for one of the more straightforwardly enjoyable celebrity watch sightings this site has on record. The 16610LV was produced until 2010, when Rolex replaced it with the 116610LV, so examples of the original reference have become increasingly sought after among Submariner collectors.

What the sighting reveals, beyond the obvious humour of the pairing, is a fairly classic taste in watches. The Submariner Date is a practical, durable sports watch with broad appeal, and the 16610LV adds a degree of collector credibility without veering into the kind of overt luxury that would sit awkwardly with Warburton's down-to-earth public image. It is the sort of watch a serious enthusiast might wear every day without drawing attention to themselves — until, of course, they sit across a table from a famous frog.

Jonathan Warburton Spotted Wearing Rolex Submariner Date 'Kermit' Reference 16610LV