Taylor Swift's Cat Watch, Faberge Water Buffaloes, and a Hamilton Khaki 36mm for summer

Taylor Swift’s Cat Watch

Tay-Tay’s “Eras” tour is in high gear, rolling through the New York area this Memorial Day weekend. Which got me thinking, what are Taylor Swift’s watches? She has an enviable and predictable collection of Cartier, Omega, Rolex and other fine horological pieces. But if you ask any die hard Swiftie you hear about the cat watch she wore in her video for the 2019 single “You Have to Calm Down” — a watch featuring a portrait of her cat Benjamin Button on the face. More details are the “13” instead of the 1 hour marker (ask a fan if you want this easter egg explained).

She marketed this watch for $35 on her personal merch store. Supplies are long since sold out, but a recent review of Ebay and Poshmark show a few specimens available for more than a 10x multiple on their original price. Steep for a quartz watch with a baby blue plastic strap, but have you seen what scalpers are getting for “Eras” tickets?

Taylor Swift’s Benjamin Button Cat Watch.

Weekend time

1. “Fine” is an understatement.

With a selection resplendent with F.P. Journe, Patek Philippe and Parmigiani Fleurier, the title of this auction is purposefully mid.

Sotheby’s “Fine Watches” auction begins May 31. New York, and online.

2. Memorial Day weekend is about the Indy 500

And grilling… Do either or both of these traditions this weekend, and earn your stars and stripes.

Indianapolis 500. Sunday, May 28. 11am-4pm ET. NBC and streaming.

3. Try Taylor-gating with 20,000 12-year-old Swifties at Giant’s Stadium

MetLife Stadium has a storied commitment to tailgating, with a section on their website listing the dos and don’ts for hanging out in their parking lot. This weekend, an estimated 20,000 Taylor Swift fans per night are expected to come “Taylor-gate” outside the stadium, to trade bracelets, bask in each other’s lavender glow, and participate in the event that Ticketmaster (and unprecedented demand) kept them from getting into. I mention this because Friday night it will be 20,000 Swifties, and me, driving 3 of them in for it.

If a Benjamin Button watch is seen in the wild in the wild, a photo will be posted next week.

Stop the presses! 30 min before we were sending, we got official news that MetLife Stadium is telling fans without tickets to stay away. This is disappointing to say the least (though it’s appreciated that the Philadelphia Inquirer used this news as a way to insult the Giants — see the last line). This will doubtlessly take time to process. We think for Swifties this entire experience of getting tickets and trying to see her has been like Death By a Thousand Cuts and hope they Shake It Off soon. It will still be lovely weekend.

Summertime: Time to switch straps

A 1990s era Hamilton Khaki Automatic 36mm. This was my first watch purchase, before I knew the difference between automatic or mechanical. All I knew was that I was drawn to the practical, field watch aesthetics (and I was so new to timepieces I thought I needed to wind this because it did not have a battery). This beast has been through a lot in the 30 years since then. I crushed the original mineral crystal, and sweated through the stock brown leather band. Since I restored this piece it has lived on an olive green NATO. The watch is sentimental for me, but the strap is all summer.

Memorial day is here and I am going outside in this — partly for the memories, partly because it is the perfect watch to get sweaty in. Grab your summer piece this weekend, but first make sure you switched out any leather bands, or even non-breathing steel bracelets, to something built for the season. If you want inspiration, read on.

Most expensive animal watch in the world

So after a deep dive on the Benjamin Button cat watch, we decided to research animal watches at large. Faberge’s Water Buffalo limited edition hand painted dial watch stood out. First, Faberge is better known for bespoke eggs and objects of decor than watches. Second, a hand-painted water buffalo? Third, this watch is $45,000.

All right this was to get your attention. The watch is a very limited series of five pieces, with five emeralds mounted into the caseback. The art itself is created by a Fabergé master. And importantly, half of the proceeds from this watch go to fund charity projects in Zambia and Mozambique, to help preserve African wilderness.

This is a fine cause. Think about it before you hit Stubhub for inflated “Eras” tix.