My love of watches came from my dad. I remember being too short to see the drawer where he kept his watches. He always had luxury Rolex replica watches and I fell in love with that look. When I moved to LA, I really started to get into vintage watches, but I couldn’t quite afford the watch I really wanted: a Day-Date.
It was right around the time that I joined Maroon 5, about 12 years ago that I even started thinking about vintage watches. My dad always bought his watches new, but once I started hearing my bandmate Adam Levine talk about them, I realized, “Oh yeah, I can get the exact one I want,” because I always thought in my mind that I was going to get a brand-new gold Rolex. But this watch, my best US Rolex Day-Date fake watches from the ’80s, spoke to me more than that.
I first bought perfect replica Rolex Datejust watches from 1958, and I wore that one with pride. I was still after the President but wasn’t ready to buy one. A lot of times in an independent music career, you have to reinvest. I could never feel comfortable enough to say, “Alright, I’m gonna spend this money on this, just this watch.” It was after I won my first Grammy, for Best Traditional R&B Performance, when it went boom: “I’m getting my watch. Yeah, I’m getting my watch.” That’s when I finally went and took home my baby.
This was the one I always wanted – this ’80s era – and I knew I wanted it to be gold. I had it in my mind exactly what it was gonna look like for many, many years. It gives off serious ’80s vibes, like an Adidas jogging suit, and now that I have it, I feel like I don’t even need another watch. I’m not a collector. This one means a lot to me, and it just reminds me that I made myself wait. The fact that it commenced with the Grammy win just shows me how all those years of work paid off.
I bought my high quality Rolex Day-Date copy watches from a vintage dealer that my friend Mailbox, the engineer from Maroon 5, connected me with. He is a huge watch collector, and I know I wasn’t getting mine until I went to him with all of my questions. Both Mailbox and Adam Levine are big watch guys but on opposite ends of the spectrum. Mailbox will wait years and years to make a decision on a rare watch. Adam is able to make different decisions. He’s like, “I love that. I’m getting that.”
Having this luxury replica Rolex watches lets me know, “Okay, you’ve made it to a certain point, like where your dad was when he had his watch.” I’ve always looked at it that way. And it’s my every day. I’ve gone everywhere with it, and the thing is, I don’t do photoshoot watches, I don’t borrow different jewelry for events. I wear my watch, and it’s been there for all of these consecutive Grammy wins.
When I look down at my watch, I see all the years. I’m grateful because all my success has come independently – with no major label, and no major backing. It’s just been support, love, and just trying to make the best thing possible. So when I look at my Swiss made super clone Rolex watches, I look at it and I think “Man, you made it to that stage doing it your way.”
Now, much the same way I looked at my dad and his Rolex replica watches for men, I am starting to see it with my kids. My younger son is already a jewelry fanatic and I know for sure, of all my kids, he’s going to have a vintage watch when he’s older, and he’s going to say, “Pops had that watch on – I remember.”