Spotted: Rolex, Omega, G-Shock – The watches of the Grand Tour “Sand Job”

It’s been a while since we last saw Clarkson, Hammond and May, be it on screen or here at MONOCHROME. A few days ago, Amazon Studios unveiled the penultimate episode of the car show for three middle-aged men. The big tour. Combine this and the fact Top equipment being canceled by the BBC (after Freddie Flintoff’s accident) makes me and most of the MONO team pretty sad – after all, we are watch and car nerds. But let’s not get bogged down, as Clarkson would say Sand jobthe latest episode of The big tour, which also had some watches – classic or new – to unveil.

Amazon Studio’s press release states: “Jeremy, James and Richard head to Africa for their penultimate adventure, and as they approach the endgame, they are making sure this trip is spectacular.” Sounds promising and sad at the same time, opens the door to a few hours of fun and at the same time announces the end of a great show for all car lovers and petrolheads. The reality is that later this year The big tour ends with a trip to Zimbabwe. My hopes are high for an epic show. It must be! But the reality is that car enthusiasts are going through tough times. BBC’s Top equipment and Amazons The big tourtwo shows once hosted by Clarkson, Hammond and May won’t make it to 2025.

In Sand job, the three boys made their way to the remote African country of Mauritania, following in the footsteps of the legendary Paris-Dakar Rally. But instead of classic Dakar race cars, Clarkson, Hammond and May chose to finish their journey in used and abused converted sports cars – as usual, a Jaguar F Type V6 for Jeremy, an Aston Martin DB9 Volante for Richard and a Maserati GranCabrio for James Disguise for the trio. As expected, things didn’t go as expected with these sports cars… Out of interest in the show, of course. Crossing the Senegal River on the way to Dakar without access to a bridge was somewhat dangerous with these non-custom machines.

But more than the show itself – which I’ll let you discover on your own – it’s the watches worn during the adventure that piqued our interest. One is a classic that has been seen multiple times; one appears to be an unprecedented sight; and the last, while far from collectible, was probably the most appropriate choice for the adventure.

Jeremy Clarkson, as was often the case along the way Top equipment And The big tourHe wore his trusty Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m. This black-dial version of the brand’s oversized diver’s watch is still worn on the same black rubber strap, and seeing it again after so many of these rugged adventures reinforces the idea that this watch is virtually indestructible. The watch in question is an early example of the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m with a 45.5mm steel case, a black dial and bezel, and a coaxial caliber 2500 inside (a modified version of the ETA 2892-A2) .

Next in line The big tour is Richard Hammond, known for being a real watch collector – remember his burnt Rolex Sea-Dweller, recovered from his accident with a Rimac Concept One… For Sand job, Hammond chose another Rolex, which appears to be a vintage Explorer II with a white dial. It is most likely reference 16570 as seen above. Produced for 22 years (1989-2011), this dual-time watch featured a 40mm case and black-rimmed markers and hands. And while it wasn’t a watch designed for desert exploration, this Rolex Explorer II seemed purposeful during this Sahara journey.

Finally, we have another well-known watch lover, James May – we have seen him with several Rolex, IWC, Rado, Omega or Casio watches… And James chose Casio again, with what seemed to be the most suitable option for a road trip in the desert a G-Shock (right, not normally what you would expect from MONOCHROME, but still a great outdoor watch). It’s hard to tell what exact reference May is wearing, but some sources have seen him in recent videos wearing a teal, semi-transparent Casio G-Shock DW-5600SB-3 – which could well be what we see here in this episode of The big tour. And at $110, it is by far the cheapest of all three watches shown here.