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Basketball player Michael Jordan spotted wearing Franck Muller

On September 17, 2004, during the four-ball competition at the Ryder Cup held at Oakland Hills Country Club in Detroit, Michigan, Michael Jordan was photographed courtside — or rather, fairway-side — wearing a Franck Muller Long Island Perpetual Calendar in 18k yellow gold. The sighting is photographed by Getty's Al Messerschmidt and captures Jordan in characteristic contemplative pose, the watch visible on his left wrist, its rectangular silhouette and warm gold tone unmistakable.

The Long Island is one of Franck Muller's most architecturally distinctive references. The curved tonneau-rectangular case draws its proportions from Art Deco influences, and the perpetual calendar variant elevates the collection from elegant dress watch to serious horological instrument. The dial on this yellow gold example displays a classic multi-register layout for day, date, month, and leap-year indication — the full perpetual suite — framed by applied indices and slender hands characteristic of Muller's refined aesthetic. The case is fitted on a dark leather strap with a yellow gold deployment buckle, consistent with period examples.

Franck Muller introduced the Long Island family in the late 1990s as a more elongated, feminine-leaning counterpoint to the Cintrée Curvex, but the perpetual calendar complications quickly drew serious male collectors. The movement powering this reference is a Geneva-finished automatic with a perpetual calendar module — a complication that requires no manual date correction through 2100, accounting for the irregular lengths of every month and leap years automatically.

For Jordan, whose watch collection is well documented and spans Patek Philippe, Rolex, and multiple haute horlogerie brands, the Franck Muller Long Island Perpetual Calendar represents the grand complication tier of his wardrobe. Jordan's public appearances at golf events — where he is as serious a participant as a spectator — have consistently revealed watches that communicate connoisseurship rather than brand-label status.

On the secondary market, 18k yellow gold Long Island Perpetual Calendar references from this era trade in a range reflecting their relative rarity versus more mainstream complications. Collector interest in Franck Muller perpetual calendars has strengthened modestly as the brand undergoes broader reassessment among serious watch enthusiasts.