Last March, musician and watch collector John Mayer made his long-awaited second appearance on Hodinkee’s Talking Watches. He showed off a ton of rare vintage Rolex Daytonas, Submariners and Patek Phillipes. But, one watch he touted that caught the eye of the average collector was the Daytona reference 116508, a modern, yellow gold Daytona with a Christmas-green dial. In reviewing Mayer’s watches, I noted at the time that this particular Daytona could be found at the relatively modest MSRP of $34,650.
Well, after Mayer’s episode, prices of these watches shot up to nearly $50,000, where they continue to sit on the secondary market to this day. This is just one example of the influence Mayer has on the watch industry, prompting GQ to deem him “The World’s Most Influential Watch Collector.”
While Mayer is known to show off super-rare (and expensive) vintage Daytona references or modern conceptual Audemars Piguet watches, he’s in a league of his own in also singing praises for more accessible watches for the every collector. From GQ:
Mayer stewards a mode of collecting that resonates because of its accessibility. While there are other prolific and famous modern collectors—Ed Sheeran, Kevin Hart, and Ellen DeGeneres all have seats at the table—they tend to focus on the loveliest and most expensive examples from brands like Patek Philippe and Rolex (and, in Sheeran’s case, Richard Mille). Accordingly, in terms of influence over today’s watch market, Nerswick says, “John is in a league of his own.” At most, those other collectors can influence a tiny percentage of the watch community—their examples are just too rare and expensive to follow. It’s easier for newbie watch nerds to follow in Mayer’s path, falling head over heels for their own steel Rolexes, dreaming of some story of their past exploits.
The formerly accessible Daytona reference 116508 that he helped blow up in 2019 is but one example of this. Because of his position in the industry, Mayer also has the benefit of being a recognized trend-setter: now, anything he touches turns to gold. Since he’s proven himself to have great taste, any watch he wears, therefore, must be tasteful.
Heavy is the head.
Read the full GQ article on John Mayer’s influence here.