A slightly different category of watch, but with just as much cultural significance, the Jay-Z 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Offshore was also selected by Tobak. Through a historical lens, Jay-Z’s Offshore was one of the most important watches of 21st-century watch design. Sure, at the time, the Jay-Z 10th anniversary edition Offshore was a popular release, along with countless other Offshore LEs that intersected with Hollywood and sports. But Jay-Z’s watch eventually came to stand as the ultimate convergence of a legacy brand in high-end watchmaking and one of the greatest rappers of all time. Perhaps we place more weight on the watch today, in part because of Jay-Z’s mammoth success and in part due to where the narrative between hip-hop and watch collecting has landed. Tobak agrees hindsight is 20-20.
“When Jay-Z did his offshore, it wasn’t breaking news the way it would be now,” she said. “I think it was just much smaller. It’s indicative of the artists who were starting to be really cognizant of the business side of things. The watch was made to commemorate 10 years in the music business for Jay-Z, not 10 years of Rockefeller. That was hugely significant.”