23XI Racing got its first kill of the season in Talladega last Sunday. Tyler Reddick scored a victory on the superspeedway as team co-owner Michael Jordan watched on and had a reason for his camp to celebrate. Overjoyed at being able to witness the win in person, Jordan skipped around the pit road giving out interviews and patting shoulders. Shining noticeably on his wrist as he did so was a rare timepiece.
Credits: IMAGO
According to GQ, the watch that the basketball superstar adorned was a Purnell Escape II Absolute Sapphire Blue Moon. The cost of this gadget which is manufactured by the Genevan brand “Purnell” is estimated at $2 million. But what is it that makes it particularly alluring for a man of Jordan’s stature to be wearing it to a NASCAR race?
The Spherion is a Purnell take on the triple-axis tourbillon. In layman’s terms, a tourbillon is an addition to mechanical watches that counteracts gravity to improve time-telling accuracy. And Jordan’s Absolute Sapphire Blue Moon is a limited edition piece with two Spherions in it. Within the watch’s 48 mm sapphire case are these Spherions, each featuring 152 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Additionally, the main time display’s indices consist of baguette-cut blue sapphires. The visual grandeur that these extravagant features convert into is the reason behind the ludicrously high price tag on the watch. However, there is little doubt that Jordan would mind being an avid collector that he is of high-end timepieces.
Michael Jordan’s happiness at getting to witness 23XI Racing win first-hand
Since jumping aboard the NASCAR train along with Denny Hamlin as a team owner in 2021, Jordan has indeed tasted success. But he has never been at a race track and watched his team win. This earned him from Hamlin the lighthearted jibe of bringing bad luck on race days. Thanks to Reddick and his stellar drive in Talladega that void was filled.
“I’m all in,” he quipped to Fox Sports, reiterating his commitment to the sport. “NASCAR replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball. This is even worse because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I have total control, but I have no control, so I live vicariously through these guys and all of the team and everybody,” he said.
It was a huge moment for stock car racing as one of the greatest athletes of the last century reaffirmed his feelings about being a team owner in NASCAR. As Jordan walked around a happy man, Reddick’s boy, Beau, and the Escape II Absolute Sapphire provided him joyous company.
