Virgil Abloh Watch Collection - Every Watch He's Been Spotted Wearing
Virgil Abloh currently has 7 watches in his collection. Check them in our database.
Introduction to Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh was one of the most influential creative figures of the 21st century. Born in Rockford, Illinois, he trained as an architect and civil engineer before pivoting into fashion and cultural design, eventually becoming the artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear in 2018 — the first Black artistic director in the house's history. Simultaneously, he ran Off-White, the Milan-based luxury streetwear label he founded in 2013, which reshaped how high fashion and street culture intersected. Abloh collaborated with Nike, IKEA, Mercedes-Benz, and dozens of other brands, building a cross-disciplinary practice that extended well beyond clothing. He passed away in November 2021 after a private battle with cardiac angiosarcoma.
The Virgil Abloh watch collection reflects the same layered thinking he applied to design — rooted in history but pulled toward the experimental. His most documented sighting came at Paris Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2020, where he appeared on the Louis Vuitton stage wearing a vintage Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 3700 in 18K yellow gold with a black dial, dating to approximately 1980. The 3700 is the original Nautilus, designed by Gerald Genta and launched in 1976, and a four-decade-old example in yellow gold sits at the upper end of what the vintage Nautilus market offers. Alongside Patek Philippe, Abloh was also spotted wearing pieces from Jacob & Co, the New York-based jeweler and watchmaker known for bold, high-complication designs that occupy a very different register from the restrained architecture of a Genta-designed Patek.
That combination — a 1980 Patek Philippe Nautilus and Jacob & Co — tells you something concrete about how Abloh approached objects. He was not chasing a single aesthetic or a collector's canon. The vintage Nautilus carries decades of wear and market significance; Jacob & Co operates in maximalist territory. Holding both on the wrist at different moments suggests a collector interested in contrast and reference rather than uniformity. With seven watches currently tracked in our database, the full picture of his collection is still emerging.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference 3700 in 18K Yellow Gold
Inserted 03/05/2023
The reference 3700 is where it all began — Gerald Genta's original 1976 Nautilus blueprint, and in yellow gold it is among the rarest iterations of the founding generation. Virgil Abloh, artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear and founder of Off-White, wore this circa-1980 example with a patinated black dial courtside at his own Spring/Summer 2020 show during Paris Fashion Week Menswear — a quietly authoritative choice that speaks volumes about his collector instincts.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference 3700 in 18k Yellow Gold
Inserted 02/05/2023
The Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference 3700 in 18k yellow gold holds a singular place in horological history as the first gold iteration of Gerald Genta's iconic integrated-bracelet design, produced from 1976 to roughly 1990. Surviving examples in yellow gold are among the most coveted vintage Pateks on the market, regularly commanding prices north of $300,000. The late Virgil Abloh — designer, cultural architect, and Louis Vuitton Men's Artistic Director — wore this piece as a quiet testament to his refined and historically literate taste in horology.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing His Patek Philippe Nautilus All-Black DLC Piece Unique by Madparis
Inserted 28/04/2023
Diamond-like carbon coating applied over more than two months of washing, polishing, brushing, and sandblasting — the result is arguably the most labor-intensive custom Nautilus ever created. This piece unique, born from a collaboration between Virgil Abloh and Paris-based customization atelier Madparis, transforms Patek Philippe's iconic ref. 5726A moonphase into a monolithic stealth instrument. Abloh, whose entire design philosophy centered on the intersection of luxury and subculture, wore this watch as a wearable manifesto — a trophy that was simultaneously irreverent and deeply knowledgeable.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing His One-of-a-Kind MAD Paris x Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 Piece Unique
Inserted 28/04/2023
The rarest Nautilus in existence isn't a factory variant — it's this single commission built for Virgil Abloh by Parisian atelier MAD Paris. Starting from a standard stainless steel 5711/1A, MAD stripped the iconic horizontal-embossed blue dial and replaced it with a uniform grey 'clean' surface, repositioned the 'Patek Philippe Genève' text in Abloh's signature Off-White quotation-mark graphic language. On the wrist of fashion's most disruptive creative director, the piece operates simultaneously as horological artifact and conceptual artwork.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing Patek Philippe Jumbo Nautilus Reference 3700/11J in 18k Yellow Gold
Inserted 28/04/2023
Fewer than 50 examples of the Patek Philippe Nautilus 3700/11J were ever produced, making it one of the most coveted vintage Pateks in existence. The reference 3700/11J translates the iconic Gerald Genta porthole case into 18k yellow gold with a warm champagne dial — a combination that commands serious attention among serious collectors. Virgil Abloh, the late designer and cultural architect behind Off-White and Louis Vuitton menswear, was a committed Nautilus enthusiast, and this particular piece stood as arguably the crown jewel of his horological wardrobe.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing Jacob & Co Caviar Tourbillon in 18K Rose Gold Set with 424 Baguette-Cut Rubies
Inserted 30/11/2022
Limited to just three examples worldwide, the Jacob & Co Caviar Tourbillon in 18K rose gold represents one of the most gem-intensive tourbillon constructions ever offered by the New York-born Genevan manufacture — 424 baguette-cut rubies blanket every surface of the dial and bezel in a radial cascade that leaves almost no metal visible. The green alligator strap provides a calculated chromatic counterpoint to the crimson stone-set case. Virgil Abloh, then simultaneously steering Off-White and Louis Vuitton menswear, was photographed at the Jacob & Co booth wearing this approximate million-pound statement piece.
Virgil Abloh Spotted Wearing a Custom Piece Unique Jacob & Co Five Time Zone in Black PVD with 119 Black Diamonds
Inserted 30/11/2022
The Jacob & Co Five Time Zone is one of the brand's founding references, originally launched in the early 2000s as the watch that put Jacob Arabo on the map with hip-hop royalty and fashion elite. This particular example goes several steps further: a full black PVD treatment over stainless steel, with 119 black diamonds factory-set across the bezel and dial markers, rendering it an all-dark stealth statement. Spotted courtside at an NBA game, the late Virgil Abloh — Off-White founder and Louis Vuitton Men's Artistic Director — wore it with characteristic understated confidence.
