Ed Sheeran's Unique IWC Big Pilot Watch at 'PLAY' Album Launch (2026)

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Today marks the release of Ed Sheeran's latest album, Play, and along with it, the release of the music video for the song "Camera", in which Ed can be spotted wearing a special white ceramic IWC. Just like Taylor Swift's engagement was a big "world's collide" moment for fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cartier Santos Demoiselle, the launch of Sheeran's new album offers a stage for a unique pink-dialed IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar inspired by the colors of his new album cover.

We've got a few photos (all by Sheeran's photographer Mark Surridge — thank you, Mark), that show Sheeran rocking the watch in a variety of very summery locations. He's color-coordinated for these promo photos, matching the wardrobe to the watch to the album cover. I was curious about the full specification of the watch, and something about the indices lookeda little unusual.

Well, thanks to a bit of CSI-style work (mostly me yelling at Photoshop to "enhance!"), we can see that the watch just features silvered numerals and hands, but with color-matched pink luminous materials in both, which gives it an extra pink and punchy look. Additionally, flanking the right side of the six o'clock subdial, we see what looks like the Play logo, in the same style as the cover of the new album.

Talking Watches: With Ed Sheeran, Hosted By John Mayer

This isn't the only unique album-themed watch Sheeran got recently. While Sheeran has a few unique Audemars Piguet watches, including the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in white ceramic, which we discussed with him in 2023, he also showcased a unique "Jumbo" 16202BC back in April of this year.

For those in the know, that's a big deal for AP collectors; while AP does a small handful of unique pieces, any non-complicated watch (especially the Jumbo) has generally been a hard line in the sand.

That's neither here nor there, but it's proof that Sheeran can get most anything he wants these days as a superstar watch collector (even a unique colorway), so his choice to go with IWC was no coincidence. It is intentional and shows an appreciation for the brand.

We all know that Ed Sheeran and John Mayer like talking watches. Mayer was also a big fan of IWC back in the day. But Sheeran has quickly built a meaningful relationship with the team in Schaffhausen as well. A few weeks before the launch of the IWC Ingenieur in black ceramic at Watches and Wonders this year, the brand generated a bit of extra excitement when he wore the watch on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show and courtside at the Knicks game.

Sheeran must really feel strongly about IWC to wear this watch for the launch of his first single from his first new album since 2023's Autumn Variations. Just like he stuck to symbols with the "+−=÷×" theme, "PLAY" is the first album in a five stereo symbol-themed series. It's a new moment in his career, and it makes sense he'd celebrate with a new watch from a brand he's got a growing relationship with. If you'd like to check out the music video, we've included it below, and the pink/white IWC is not exactly hard to spot (it's even in the thumbnail).

All photos credit Mark Surridge.

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