Dagens Samling : Talking Watches With Mitchell Schwartz

During his journey through the NFL, he picked up a few things along the way. He published a book, became something of a celebrity amateur chef, and built an impressive collection of watches. His watch story goes all the way back to his childhood in Los Angeles, where he remembers wearing the classic Mickey Mouse watch.

His current collection is vast – running the gamut from digital G-Shock to the holy trinity in Vacheron Constantin, with a variety of amazing pieces in between. Each watch has a story behind it, including an extra special watch given to him by a certain well-known teammate.

It’s been a while since our last edition of this series, and we couldn’t be more excited to have it back. This is your Talking Watches with Mitchell Schwartz.

Watches with sentimental value, no matter the brand, often mean the most. Schwartz’s most sentimental piece might be this Hamilton Jazzmaster – a college graduation gift (he went to Cal) from his father and uncle. This is also his gateway watch – the one that opened the door for him to this hobby we all love. These days, he uses it as his dress watch for the rare occasions he might need to pop on a suit or tuxedo.

For a guy who plays an extreme sport like professional football, a watch with the word ”extreme” in its name is certainly fitting. At 47mm – well 46.8 to be exact – this JLC Master Compressor Extreme Lab 2 fits the bill with its transparent dial design, jumping digital minutes display, chronograph, and GMT functionality. Schwartz uses the chronograph function when he cooks – to time things like how long it takes to reduce a sauce. His other favorite complication on this beast of a watch? The lowly date complication of all things.

Schwartz’s collection really represents the full spectrum of price points and styles. And hey, he’s an athlete, so it only makes sense he’d have a G-Shock or two. This yellow and black model is just one splash of red away from being the perfect watch for a Kansas City Chief. Schwartz uses this as his workout watch. If you’d ever seen him at the KC practice facility, he likely had this on wrist.

His second G-Shock is one that should look pretty familiar. This, of course, is the G-Shock Ref. 6900 by John Mayer HODINKEE Limited Edition from late last year. A watch that takes inspiration from a Casiotone SK-5 sampling keyboard in its design and color choice. Turns out Schwartz likes this watch as much as we do.

We’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: No collection is complete without a Speedmaster. But this is no ordinary Speedy. For one, it is a limited edition: The Apollo 11 20th Anniversary model. It was released in 1989, which happens to be the year Schwartz was born. So yes, this is a birth-year watch, and one that holds a lot of importance to him for that reason. He’s got this one fitted to a very cool black bund strap. Interestingly, this is the only vintage watch in his collection.

So here we have another JLC complicated chronograph, this time featuring world time functionality – also ”extreme.” But Schwartz isn’t messing around here seeing as this is the platinum variant of this model. Again, this is a roughly 47mm large watch, and it certainly isn’t slim (far from it) – but, like the Extreme Lab 2, it fits his roughly 8cm-wide wrists. He likes to use this as something of a vacation or beach watch.

Not originally a fan of dive watch designs, Schwartz caught the bug with this Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Where some may gripe about the larger-sized case, for a man of this size, it’s a check in the plus column. At 45mm, this watch is perfect for his wrists – and it doesn’t hurt that the bezel action on this watch is oh so good.

Things start to get very eclectic with this Royal Oak Offshore – boutique exclusive model. The large case sizing, the sport shape of that iconic case, along with the red accents on the dial and the red strap (again a callback to the Chiefs colors) really make this something of a perfect watch for Schwartz. It’s also one of his wife’s faves.

For years, Rolex didn’t make watches larger than 40mm. Slowly that has changed, and one of the watches that helped effect that change is this Rolex Explorer II with the white dial. Of all the watches Rolex makes, this is arguably the most fitting for Schwartz. At 42mm in diameter, it is larger than a typical watch from the brand and the white ”polar” dial with the maxi lume plots makes it appear even bigger (though it still wears small on his wrist). He uses this when he travels, keeping the GMT hand set to his home time zone and changing the hour hand to whichever city he’s in.

We mentioned the sentimental nature of his Hamilton Jazzmaster, but this watch takes things to another level. You see, Schwartz’s job, as an offensive tackle, was to protect the highest-paid player in the NFL – quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It seems Mahomes was pleased with his work, and to show his appreciation, he bought the entire offensive line Rolex Submariners. This isn’t just any Sub either. This is the new – from 2020 – 41mm Submariner with the updated movement, and new case proportions. To make it even more special, Schwartz’s last name is engraved on the caseback. Like the Hamilton, this one’s a lifer.

Another of Schwartz’s dive watches is the Panerai Submersible. This is arguably the most modern and capable watch the brand currently makes, and it’s another watch, due to its size and profile, that really fits Schwartz’s style – especially fitted to that electric orange rubber strap.

We’re getting into the custom stuff now. Schwartz is the proud owner of a custom Ochs Und Junior Perpetual Calendar that he worked with the brand to create. It features all the design cues we’ve come to appreciate from Ochs Und Junior, but with a new surprise on the back. The case is engraved with an NFL football, complete with league logo, the Cleveland Browns insignia, and the Kansas City Chiefs insignia.

Continuing with the independent brand theme is a yellow-dial F.P. Journe Centigraphe – a vibrant chronograph we certainly don’t see too often. Schwartz picked this watch up in 2018 after winning All-Pro honors (or at least, as he says, that’s the excuse he used to buy this watch). You might notice a trend here with the color scheme. According to Schwartz, the 1/100th of a second timing function is especially useful for timing a 40-yard dash.

Schwartz fell in love with this solid-gold stunner after wandering in to a Vacheron boutique during a day out in Beverly Hills with his wife. He didn’t pick it up that day, but the watch remained top of mind.

For a collection as varied as this one is, it should come as no surprise to see a Lange. One of the big draws for Schwartz is that large jumping digital display. He sometimes looks down at his wrist hoping it times out perfectly for the time to change. Add to that the 45mm sizing, and you have what Schwartz calls his ”favorite watch at the moment.”