Everything you’ve read about David Beckham’s decorum is true. At this press conference for Tudor, the global icon shakes the hand of every journalist before taking his seat. There are nearly a dozen of us in the room.
While this is his first time representing the brand in Kuala Lumpur, he’s been an ambassador of the Swiss watchmaker for the last seven years. He tells us that he was a fan of the brand even before the partnership.
As the story goes, prior to the collaboration, he’d been strolling along Burlington Arcade in London one quiet morning when he stopped outside a watch shop with Rolexes in the window. “I set my eyes on one and thought, ‘I love it. I’m going to ask how much it is’,” he recounts. “So, I walked in and said, ‘Can I see that Rolex?’ They were like, ‘It’s not a Rolex. It’s a Tudor Snowflake Submariner.’”
The timepiece boasted a blue dial and a vintage leather strap. He purchased it on the spot and still has it in his collection. “So, when I first started talking to Tudor, I knew straight away it was a family I wanted to be a part of.”
The thing about working with people who constantly raise the bar, he says, is that he is always spoilt for choice. “There are so many different Tudor models that I love. And I’m not saying this as an ambassador—I’m saying this as a watch lover.”
Although his go-to is the Tudor Black Bay with a burgundy bezel, it is the Tudor Pelagos that is his favourite. He loves it so much that he ordered a customised design for his co-owners of Inter Miami Football Club. “It has a black face with the Inter Miami logo on the face. This makes it very special,” he notes.
A trailblazer, Beckham has not only pushed the envelope in football, but also in fashion. “I don’t know where my sense of style came from—it’s not from my dad or my mum. It’s just something that I had even as a kid,” he says. “I remember being the page boy for a wedding and the bride asked me, ‘Would you like to wear a suit or would you like to wear knickerbockers with tights and a pair of ballet slippers?’ I chose the latter.”
Then there were the years of wild hairstyles during his playing days, though it was never to stand out. “People used to ask, ‘Why are you doing that to your hair? Is it for attention?’ I was like, ‘No, I was bored and decided to shave my head’. That’s really what happened,” he explains.
“Now, my sons are doing what I was doing 20 years ago. It’s quite cute.” He lets on that they often borrow his watches. “It’s mostly Romeo, and that’s because he’s got good taste,” he says with a chuckle.
Suffice to say, he has also had to summon fortitude in times of adversity. One instance was when he was sent off during the 1998 World Cup. “That was probably one of my biggest challenges because it didn’t just affect me—it also affected my family and that was the toughest part,” he says. Another was when he suffered an Achilles tendon rupture.
“The surgeons said, ‘You might not play again’. That was quite difficult to hear. But that’s what challenges do—challenge you.”
David Beckham on overcoming tribulations
Which is why he resonates with Tudor’s slogan Born to Dare. Founded in 1926, Tudor aims to make watches that can withstand the most extreme conditions. Last year, it opened the doors to the Tudor Manufacture in Le Locle, Switzerland. The new industrial facility integrates development and production of high-performance mechanical calibres to enhance quality assurance.
Every model passes the Tudor Performance Control test, so a fully-assembled watch meets (-2/+4) seconds precision per day if it is equipped with a Manufacture Calibre, and (-4/+6) with other calibres.
In order to obtain the METAS Master Chronometer certification, all watches have to go through a comprehensive test, which covers the main functional characteristics of a watch including precision, resistance to magnetic fields, waterproofness, and power reserve. The eventual goal is to have every Tudor watch certified by METAS.
With Beckham repeatedly demonstrating tenacity on the world stage, it is little wonder why he is the face of Tudor. His advice on navigating things when the tough gets going? “Just enjoy the moment.”
“If you enjoy playing football, do it. If you don’t enjoy playing football, then stop and do something else that you’re going to enjoy. Whatever it is, savour the moment because we’ve all seen the challenges that people, businesses, and families can come up against in the last five years,” he adds thoughtfully.
“You’ve just got to enjoy the moment. And when you decide to go for something, go for it all the way because that’s the only way to do it.”
