Josip Iličić Watch Collection - Every Watch He's Been Spotted Wearing
Josip Iličić currently has 1 watches in his collection. Check them in our database.
Introduction to Josip Iličić
Josip Iličić is a Slovenian professional footballer widely regarded as one of the most technically gifted attacking midfielders of his generation. Born in 1988 in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, he built his reputation across Serie A, spending formative years at Palermo and Fiorentina before joining Atalanta in 2017. It was at the Bergamo club that he reached the peak of his powers, playing a central role in their historic UEFA Champions League quarter-final run in the 2019–20 season. His four-goal performance against Valencia in the last 16 remains one of the standout individual displays in that competition's recent history. He has represented Slovenia at senior international level and, despite well-documented personal difficulties that temporarily interrupted his career, returned to professional football with stints at AC Milan and back in Slovenia.
The Josip Iličić watch collection, as captured in public sightings, reflects the taste of someone who gravitates toward watches with genuine horological substance rather than purely visual flash. The single confirmed piece in our database is a Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph in rose gold, Reference 5980R-001, worn on an alligator leather strap. Photographed in an Atalanta club context, the choice is notable: the 5980R is not an entry-level flex but a technically serious watch. Introduced in 2006 to mark the Nautilus line's 30th anniversary, it was the first Nautilus to incorporate a chronograph complication, housing Patek Philippe's in-house calibre CH 28-520 C.
The ref. 5980R-001 in rose gold sits at the more understated end of the rose gold spectrum, particularly on a leather strap rather than a bracelet, suggesting an awareness of how to wear the watch rather than simply own it. For a footballer whose playing style was always about precision and intelligence over brute force, the pairing of a mechanically complex Patek Philippe in a relatively restrained configuration feels consistent with his broader character.
Josip Iličić Spotted Wearing Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph Reference 5980R-001
Inserted 04/12/2022
The Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5980R-001 is one of the few integrated-bracelet chronographs in history to house a manufacture flyback movement — the CH 28-520 C — beating at 28,800 vph with a 55-hour power reserve. Cast in 18k rose gold with a rich dark brown dial, it pairs the iconic porthole case Gerald Genta designed in 1976 with genuine sporting horological ambition. Atalanta forward Josip Iličić wears his on an alligator strap, a factory configuration that lends the piece a dressy edge without sacrificing its athletic DNA.
