The Watches Of Prince Harry

All eyes will be on Windsor Castle tomorrow, where the highly anticipated Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is set to take place at St George’s Chapel. The question on everyone lips of course is what – or rather, who – will Ms. Markle be wearing? And what tiara and jewellery will she choose to wear with it? Given the plethora of options available to her, we’ve given up speculating and have decided to just wait and see like everybody else. We still want to have some fun though, so we’re turning our focus to guessing what watch might be on Prince Harry’s wrist for the big day instead.

We like to think that we have a pretty good chance at getting this one right, 50/50 at the very least. That’s because it’s well known that Prince Harry only tends to wear one of two watches. There could always be a wild card entry of course, perhaps a last-minute gift from his bride-to-be? Could we be so bold as to suggest something from Patek Philippe, Ms. Markle? Assuming that doesn’t happen – and to be fair it does seem unlikely – Prince Harry will be wearing one of the following two watches tomorrow for his wedding.

Rolex Explorer II ref. 216570

The Rolex Explorer II and its elder sibling, the Rolex Explorer, both trace their origins to the early Rolex Oyster watches from the 1930’s onwards. The expedition of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were equipped with these remarkable Oyster watches when they became the first men to summit Mt. Everest in 1953. To celebrate this astonishing feat and the qualities of precision and reliability associated with the Oyster watches that accompanied them, Rolex created the Explorer, a robust steel timepiece with all-steel bracelet and a new Twinlock winding crown with a double waterproofness system.

Ever since, the Explorer and Explorer II have been worn by those brave enough to push themselves out of their comfort zones in extreme and unforgiving conditions. Among them is Prince Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan as an Apache Gunship co-pilot and gunner and trekked 200 miles across Antarctica with the “Walking With The Wounded” charity expedition. Presented in a 42mm steel case, the Rolex Explorer II is easily identified by its distinctive orange 24-hour hand ending in an arrow, mirroring the original Explorer II of 1971.

Breitling Aerospace

The other watch in contention is Prince Harry’s trusty Breitling Aerospace Avantage. His is a special version, however, only available to Apache pilots who have flown combat missions. It displays the Army Air Corps Wings at 9 o’clock and an illustration of the Apache helicopter at 3 o’clock.  It seems unlikely that he will wear this watch though, not only because it’s not really suited for a formal occasion – such as getting married in front of millions of people – but also because he was already spotted wearing it at the wedding of his elder brother.

As such, our best guess is that we’ll Prince Harry wearing his trusty Rolex Explorer II ref. 216570 when he marries Ms. Markle tomorrow. Of course, he may surprise us all, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

We will be live streaming the Royal Wedding in our diamond lounge, come and join us for a glass of champagne!