IWC - Look Who’s Talking

IWC packs in the star power in its new video ‘Talking Big’ with Tom Brady, the greatest-ever quarterback in NFL history, and Sir Lewis Hamilton, seven-time Formula One champion, in conversation with The Late Late Show host James Corden.

An interesting watch, Corden brings his irreverent approach to this chat with the sporting GOATs, both IWC brand ambassadors. The two superstars candidly, discuss their careers, the importance of perfect timing, their similar outlooks on life, what they still hope to achieve and their complete lack of superstitions. They also go head-to-head in an entertaining game of True or False to see how well they know each other.

Tom Brady’s first IWC watch was the GST Automatic Alarm. His collection today includes several models, among them Top Gun Miramar, Spitfire, Portugieser and Ingenieur.

Lewis Hamilton sports an IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar. This one-off piece by IWC reflects the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, which Hamilton supports. When Hamilton declared his love for red-gold colours, IWC had him co-create the ‘Lewis Hamilton Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar’: red and gold dial, black case and Bordeaux red fabric strap.

Excepts:

JC: I know both of you have a shared love of watches. Lewis, what is it about watches that you love so much?

LH: I’ve always been into the mechanics of it. As a kid, I was always taking things apart and rebuilding them. When you look at one of these watches and there’s 500 pieces all put together by one person, the craftsmanship I think for me is fascinating. Plus, the pieces obviously are tiny. I remember getting my first watch, it was from Argos in England, and the watch is like six pounds. I remember saving up for that watch. I went to school and I felt really proud. I used to wear it outside my blazer, and I thought that it elevated me.

JC: What about you, Tom, when did you first discover your love of watches and what they represent?

TB: Certainly for men, there’s not a lot of jewellery that we typically wear, and a watch does, as Lewis said perfectly, elevate your look. In college, I knew I was going to become a professional and I had this image as my screensaver on my really old computer of a watch. It was the IWC GST Automatic Alarm from like the late ’90s. So, I had the screensaver and I thought, “If I ever make a few bucks, this would be the watch that I would want.” And I ended up buying my first watch at aTourneau store on 57th Street in New York. And I just went in there at a random time and bought a watch that I still have, this beautiful IWC that I still have.

JC: So much of both of your sports are about the significance of perfect timing. Tom, talk to me about the significance of perfect timing in a football game.

TB: I think when the timing is on your side and the rhythm is right, you’ve got to stay there, and you’ve got to find ways to maintain that. And that’s hard to do because there’s a lot of external forces coming at you because usually, you have an opponent who’s trying to do the same thing. When you’re out of rhythm and your timing’s off, a lot of people still just charge at the same tempo, and I always think that’s a good opportunity to actually slow things down. And, hey, where are we at? How do we re-evaluate this? You get into the game and the first half of the game doesn’t go the way you want. Well, you’ve got to change the rhythm, change it. And then, once you get it, then you keep it.

LH: When I’m watching the game, Tom, how you’re finding someone, and then the split-second decision you take, it’s very, very similar. I guess I can relate in the split-second decisions I have to take in the races, and it is about getting into that rhythm.

JC: Let’s talk about superstitions, okay? I’ve never met an athlete or a sports star who doesn’t have some. Talk to me about your superstitions. Do you have any rituals that you do before a game or before a race that you feel bring you luck? Tom, do you have anything?

TB: This is the first day you have met someone that doesn’t have superstitions. There’s none.

LH: Same here. I’m not superstitious at all.

Watch them go head to head here: