Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly giving up £500,000 per week in wages as the price of his immediate exit from Manchester United.
His final few months at Old Trafford have been dogged by controversy, and his continuing presence became untenable after trashing the club, its manager and its owners in an interview with Piers Morgan last week.
The Portuguese footballing legend cannot stop making headlines on and off the pitch, which is what makes him one of the hottest celebrities on the planet, and somebody who Jacob & Co., jeweller and watchmaker to the stars, could not resist working with. A partnership between Ronaldo and Jacob & Co. X CR7 replica watch was announced yesterday on the player’s Instagram account, where he told his 501 million followers (one in every 16 people on the planet) in a paid post: “I’m excited to announce my partnership with @jacobandco, one of the leading watch brands in the world. Today, we reveal our first watch collection that I co-designed with my dear friend @jacobarabo.”
Terms of the partnership have not been disclosed.
Publicity swirling around Ronaldo reached fever pitch this week after the explosive Piers Morgan interview and Manchester United subsequently terminating his contract.
TheJacob & Co. X CR7 replica watch post had generated 14,148,069 likes on Ronaldo’s Instagram by this morning.
The partnership between Ronaldo and Jacob & Co. has produced four watches in the Jacob & Co x CR7 Epic X collection: Flight of CR7, with or without bagette diamonds on the bezel, and Heart of CR7, also with the option of diamond decoration.
CR7 is effectively the brand of Cristiano Ronaldo, using his initials and usual playing shirt number.
Flight of CR7, in a 44mm rose gold case, uses the Epic X design and architecture, with its skeletonised dial exposing the movement, its balance wheel at 6 o’clock and hands mounted on a central bridge between two vertical columns.
The Jacob & Co. X CR7 replica watch model has the two decorated vertical columns.
On the left, the footballer is captured in gold during one of his trademark salmon-like leaps to head a goal — in this case it is the winner he scored for Real Madrid against Manchester United in the Champions League in February 2013.
The column to the right has his signature and CR7 logo. The JCAM45 movement’s barrel and mainspring, normally exposed at 12 o’clock in an Epic X, is hidden behind a golden football.
Flip the watch over, and it has a translucent crystal case back decorated with Ronaldo in his trademark pose with his back to the fans after he scores.
Use of red and black for the watch looks like a slightly unfortunate choice, given the colors’ association with Manchester United, but perhaps the combination of a Real Madrid goal against the Red Devils in a timepiece using the Old Trafford club colors is appropriate for the mercurial striker.
If the colors offend, customers can always go for the green and black colorway of the Heart of CR7 model.
This time, Ronaldo appears on the dial celebrating a goal with a fist-pump.
Both the Flight of CR7 and the Heart of CR7 are available with 26 baguette-cut white diamonds totaling around 4.26 carats, framing the dials.
Heart of CR7 is housed in 44mm polished steel case that is water resistant to 50 meters.
Jacob & Co. is already promoting the watches on its website, and taking inquiries, but has not published prices, said how many are being made, or when they will be delivered.