- Mark Zuckerberg wore a $900,000 watch in the video announcing the end of censorship on Meta. The Hand Made 1 by Greubel Forsey is “wearable art,” one fashion expert told Fortune. There are only two or three made each year since they take 6,000 to produce.
Mark Zuckerberg is keeping up with his new stylish image: In his video announcing the end of third-party fact-checkers for Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the 40-year-old billionaire was notably spotting an ultra-rare watch that costs nearly $1 million.
Zuckerberg was wearing a Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1, a highly exclusive timepiece not only for its price, but for the number of those watches in existence. Before taxes, the Hand Made 1 retails for $895,500, a Greubel Forsey spokesperson told Fortune, and only two or three of these watches are made each year.
By comparison, that’s more than 100 times the cost of some Rolex watches, which have long been purchased and worn by the ultra-rich. But the fact the luxury-watch company only makes a couple of these watches per year, and that they take 6,000 hours of work to make, justifies the price, according to Greubel Forsey.
“It’s a pleasure to see someone who has played such a pivotal role in shaping the modern digital landscape and lifestyle show true appreciation for the most traditional approach to fine watchmaking today,” Greubel Forsey’s CEO Michel Nydegger said in a statement shared with Fortune.
The cost of the watch is a drop in the bucket compared to Zuckerberg’s net worth, which is currently estimated at $218 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
“For years, luxury watches have been viewed not only as a status symbol for the wealthy, but also an investment,” Rustin Yasavolian, CEO of Masina Diamonds, told Fortune. “Brands like Rolex, Richard Mille, Phillip Patek, Audemars Piguet, etc., are billboards to show where you stand in the ranks of power.”
The Hand Made 1 is set to become even more exclusive this year. In 2025, Greubel Forsey is “most likely” making just one piece because of the “incredibly time-intensive process” required to make the watch, according to a company spokesperson.
Reginald Ferguson, founder of men’s fashion consultancy New York Fashion Geek, told Fortune Zuckerberg’s purchase of a Hand Made 1 gives him “the ultimate bragging right.” At the same time, wearing an exclusive and expensive watch during an announcement about gutting content moderation on his platforms was “a bit incongruent” and “tone deaf,” Ferguson said.
“The watch is not an obvious ostentatious symbol of wealth but it certainly doesn’t help,” Ferguson said.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
We shouldn’t necessarily be surprised to see Zuckerberg sporting the Hand Made 1.
“Zuckberg has become a poster boy for luxury watches,” Yasavolian, the Masina Diamonds CEO, said. “He has been seen sporting some unique timepieces from some of the most exclusive horology houses in the industry.”
About the watch
Many watch, jewelry, and luxury goods experts call the Hand Made 1 wearable art, and the reason why certain luxury goods can be considered masterpieces. The Swiss-made watch has 281 parts and features a tourbillon, a mechanism that helps the accuracy of the watch, Ferguson said.
“It’s a high level of craftsmanship to make one by hand,” Ferguson said.
Yasavolian calls the Hand Made 1 the “epitome of horology,” which is the scientific study of time and measuring it. Its rarity and complexity lead to its “astronomical” price tag, Yasavolian told Fortune.
“The less the production there is, the more rare the product becomes,” Yasavolian explained. “For example, if da Vinci painted 5,000 Mona Lisa’s, the paintings wouldn’t be considered priceless.”
To break it down, the Hand Made 1 would take 250 days of work to complete, if one was to work non-stop for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Yasavolian said.
“Let that sink in,” he said.