Michael Jordan Wears One of AP’s Most Impressive Watches—and It’s Not a Royal Oak

The greatest hooper of all time is coming for GOAT watch-collector status, too.Courtesy of Audemars Piguet; Getty ImagesMichael Jordan knows how to put together a highlight reel—whether on the basketball court or with his unrivaled collection of great watches. What’s most impressive about MJ’s collection is that he’s always willing to go off the beaten path, eschewing hype models for pieces that reflect his taste. His latest flex is an especially good example: a gem from Audemars Piguet that isn’t the brand’s massively popular and iconic Royal Oak but a pièce unique Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Universelle RD#4.During a keynote session in Lisbon, Portugal, MJ was spotted wearing a one-of-one version of the RD#4 with an 18-karat white-gold and black ceramic case. It looks deceptively chill for what it is: a very serious panda chronograph made as part of the brand’s research-and-design program that produces its most cutting-edge pieces.The Code 11.59 Universelle RD#4 is one of the most technically outrageous watches Audemars Piguet has ever made. It packs 23 complications and 40 functions into a 42mm case. Reading the list of complications feels like scanning an index of everything a timepiece is capable of: a split-seconds chronograph, flyback function, minute repeater, grande and petite sonnerie, perpetual calendar, moon phase, flying tourbillon, and more.The Universelle takes inspiration from a very complicated pocket watch Audemars Piguet produced in 1899. That piece is so crucial to the brand’s history that it’s currently on display at AP’s Musée Atelier in Le Brassus. When the modern Code 11:59 Universelle debuted in 2023, it won the Aiguille d’Or at the GPHG (the horological equivalent of a movie taking home Best Picture at the Oscars). Jordan’s version is even more fantastic. The greatest basketball player of all time doesn’t wear just any version of the RD#4. His is a unique piece with an 18-karat white-gold case, a black ceramic octagonal midcase, and a black, textured, rubber-coated strap. Jordan’s piece unique isn’t totally surprising, though, since AP has allowed clients to customize certain details since the watch’s debut. These watches were never meant to be totally identical.The RD#4 is part of one of the most impressive celebrity collections ever assembled. Jordan owns everything from a classy A. Lange & Söhne Datograph Flyback to mind-blowing pieces from Greubel Forsey, Urwerk, and Vanguart. While the Code 11:59, which debuted in 2019, hasn’t caught on among the broader collecting community, that didn’t deter MJ from picking up one of the coolest and most impressive watches AP has ever made.Walid Benla is a watch journalist, creator, and overall horology nerd. Based in Spain, he writes about everything from century-old complications to tiny, unknown brands, usually with his nose near a caseback. He is particularly obsessed with complications, design, history, and the wonderfully strange people who dedicate their lives to ... Read More