Watch Paparazzi

Boxer Mike Tyson spotted wearing Hublot

Few watches carry a chain of custody as loaded as the Hublot King Power WBC Chronograph ref. 703.OM.0218.HR.WBC12. At auction, each of the twelve examples hammered down at approximately £80,000, with all proceeds directed to charity — and the winning bidder received their piece delivered in person by one of twelve boxing icons associated with the project. Mike Tyson was one of those twelve presenters, making any sighting of him wearing the ref. 703.OM.0218.HR.WBC12 a genuine closed loop of provenance.

The King Power platform, introduced by Hublot in the mid-2000s, was the Swiss brand's statement on maximum-presence sports watchmaking. At 48mm in diameter and built around a multi-layer composite case — here incorporating carbon fiber and titanium elements — the King Power was never a watch for understatement. The WBC edition adds green ceramic and rubber details that reference the World Boxing Council's championship belt colorway, with the organization's logo integrated into the dial architecture. The movement inside is Hublot's in-house HUB4100, a flyback chronograph caliber beating at 28,800 vph with a 72-hour power reserve, column-wheel controlled and visible through a satin-finished rotor aperture.

From a collector standpoint, ref. 703.OM.0218.HR.WBC12 occupies a category where scarcity and narrative intersect. A production run of twelve pieces is, by any measure, micro-series territory. When you layer on the charity auction structure and the personal presentation ritual, each watch becomes a documented artifact rather than simply a limited edition. Provenance of this density rarely survives intact on secondary markets, which suppresses liquidity but amplifies value for the right buyer.

For Tyson specifically, the relationship with Hublot and the WBC is longstanding. As one of the sport's most mythologized figures, his association with the project was not nominal — the presentation ceremony placed him in direct physical contact with the watch now on some collector's wrist, and on his own. That reciprocal ownership adds biographical weight that few limited editions can claim.

Because all twelve examples were sold at charity auction rather than through retail, there is no official list price. Secondary market transactions, when they occur, are private and highly negotiated — estimates in the $90,000–$120,000 range are plausible given inflation and the watch's documented charity hammer price, but verified grey-market comps remain scarce.