Abdul El-Sayed Is Winning at Watches, Too

Michigan voters made history Tuesday night by electing Abdul El-Sayed to the US Senate, as part of a greater blue wave that swept the nation. The 44-year-old former epidemiologist is set to become America’s first Muslim senator—and, in a slightly more trivial milestone, might also be the first real-deal watch nerd to reach the Capitol.During his victory speech, the senator-elect sported a Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph (ref. SBGC249), a limited-edition piece from the Japanese watchmaker that pairs a GMT (which tracks the time across multiple time zones) and a chronograph (i.e. a stopwatch function). Politicians tend to go one of two ways with their timepieces: Either they’ll cosplay as a man of the people with an affordable Timex or Casio, or they’ll sport a luxury watch with historical pedigree—like the Rolex “President” Day-Date, worn by several commanders-in-chief—to make themselves appear ready for higher office. An obscure Grand Seiko fits neither of those categories.Instead, El-Sayed’s Grand Seiko is a burly sport model made by one of the world’s most elegant watchmakers. At 43.5mm, it’s hefty, a good fit for the senator-elect’s beefed-up forearms. It’s quite complicated, with several different functions, and a dial as busy as Little Caesars Arena during a Detroit Pistons game. It costs $12,400, but you’d have to be very deep into the hobby to recognize its value.Getty ImagesCourtesy of SeikoWhat I find so compelling about El-Sayed’s choice is that it doesn’t appear to be masquerading as some political symbol. It’s simply the excellent wristwear of an honest-to-goodness collector. “Folks who know me know I’m a sucker for automatic watches and sort of classic watches,” El-Sayed said in an interview with LGBT Detroit in May.Throughout his campaign, he’s worn a wide range of pieces. His recent go-to appears to be a Mühle-Glashütte S.A.R. Rescue-Timer, a great-looking and obscure German tool watch. He also owns the U-1 SE, a large dive watch from the German independent brand Sinn.Not all of El-Sayed’s timepieces are devoid of political meaning, however. The senator-elect has worn an Omega Speedmaster, the watch worn by American astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong when they first set foot on the moon. That’s about as patriotic as a watch can get without excerpting the Declaration of Independence on the dial. Naturally, he also owns a Shinola Runwell, from the brand based in El-Sayed’s native Detroit. El-Sayed is very aware of what a certain watch can signal about the wearer. In his 2020 book, Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic, he wrote about how seeing Rolex billboards along a highway prompted him to reflect on income inequality: “How many people who drive this road can actually afford one of those?”But when did I realize that El-Sayed was a true-blue watch guy? It wasn’t the dialed-in collection of interesting tool watches that did it, but his appearance at a rally on Sunday. He wasn’t wearing a timepiece at all, surprisingly. Which meant that there, on his wrist, was the mark of a true collector: a watch tan.Anadolu/Getty Images