He may be the most expensive football player in the world now, but Brazilian superstar had a rather unusual brand on his wrist when he was introduced as the newest member of the French club Paris Saint-Germain last week.
He was dressed in a conventional black suit but Neymar had an oversized timepiece on his watch. It turns out that this timepiece is a Neymar Jr. Limited Edition watch from GaGá Milano, a Milan-based company founded by Ruben Tomella who named it for an archaic Fifties expression meaning ‘elegant but quirky’. Founded in 2004, the company is now present in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. It is particularly strong in Japan (it has four stores in Tokyo, one in Osaka), one in Hawaii, Milan, and Beverly Hills.
Only 500 pieces of the watch that Neymar wore at the press conference have been produced and they retail for about $2,100.
A Business Insider report mentions that prior to the 2014 World Cup, Neymar spent ¥20 million ($180,000) on a GaGá Milano boutique 16 watches and some accessories. Sensing an opportunity, the company roped in the footballer as a brand ambassador and even launched a Neyman Jr line earlier this year.
GaGá Milano are meant to look like a pocket watch has been converted in to something that can be worn on the wrist. So these oversized watches have the winding crown placed at 12. The GaGà Milano collections include watches cased in carbon fiber and dials that are embellished with diamonds and other jewels.
The watch on Neymar’s wrist has a case width of 48 mm with a carbon fiber ring around the bezel. It is powered by a self-winding Swiss mechanical movement with a power reserve of 36 hours. The numeral 11 on the dial is set in diamonds – a reference to his jersey number at Barcelona. But that might have to change now – Neymar’s will wear the number 10 jersey at his new club.
