Albert Einstein was one of the most famous and most influential physicist who has ever lived. He is so well know, that his name became synonymous with ‘smart’.
You don’t need to be a big science nut to have heard of the name Einstein. Just like people who don’t care about basketball know Michael Jordan and people who don’t care about art know the Mona Lisa, Albert Einstein status has managed to transcend the field of science and physics.
We haven’t come here to talk about the theory of relativity, we are here to talk about watches.
Our friend Einstein was also know to appreciate beautiful watches. Today, we are looking into the German-Swiss-American scientist’s watch collection.
Longines
Einstein was known to be a big Longines fan and collector.
It is known that the physicist purchased at least two Longines watches for himself, at least one wrist watch and one pocket watch. There isn’t much known about the wristwatch. The pocket watch is displayed in the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland.
Einstein was also gifted a yellow gold Longines with tonneau case from 1929. He received this watch in 1931 from a Rabbi, and was often seen wearing this tonneau shaped timepiece. The engraving on the back is plain and simple: it reads ‘Prof Albert Einstein, Los Angeles, Feb 16, 1931’. This was the watch he was most seen wearing.
This watch was auctioned in 2008 for a staggering $596,000. This holds the record for most expensive Longines ever sold.
Patek Philippe Pocket Watch
Next to his collection of diverse Longines watches, Einstein was also the proud owner of a Patek Philippe pocket watch. However, there is a strange story attached to this piece.
Patek Philippe got wind that one of the biggest names in science was the proud owner of one of their timepieces, and decided in the 1980’s that they wanted to include this in their promo. In the 1980’s, an ad came out saying ‘Einstein’s timepiece was a Patek Philippe’ showing a Patek Ellipse laying on top of a paper with formulas. However, Einstein never owned a Patek Philippe wristwatch, only a pocket watch.
How do you feel about this ad? Do you think it’s clever advertising, or do you find it misleading?
Einstein was also gifted a yellow gold Longines with tonneau case from 1929.
