- British-Nigerian artist Slawn has unveiled "The Slawn x Rolex Multiverse," a run of 12 one-of-one custom Rolex watches, each co-designed with a different cultural figure.
- Gunna and Lil Yachty join footballers Ronaldinho and Mario Balotelli, plus Clint419, Verdy, Gabriel Moses, and others, with two collaborators still unrevealed.
- Every watch is a unique design releasing individually throughout August, with the full project site going live August 18.
- The drop follows Slawn's 2024 hand-painted Rolex DateJust run, which sold out in four minutes and now resells above £150,000.
Slawn is going big on Rolex again. The London-based, Lagos-born artist has unveiled “The Slawn x Rolex Multiverse,” a collection of 12 one-of-one custom Rolex watches, each built alongside a different collaborator spanning music, football, fashion, and nightlife.
The confirmed lineup includes rappers Gunna and Lil Yachty, footballers Ronaldinho and Mario Balotelli, Corteiz founder Clint419, Fuckthepopulation’s Zac FTP, Japanese designer Verdy, photographer Gabriel Moses, artist Cedric Christie, Miami hospitality figure David Grutman, and Nigerian skate collective Motherlan.
Two spots remain a mystery. Slawn broke the news on August 9 with his signature lo-fi, webcam-style teaser video. Because each piece is one-of-one, no two watches share a design, and they’ll roll out individually throughout August, with the full project site launching on August 18.
This builds on real momentum: Slawn’s 2024 hand-painted DateJust 41 run, capped at 10 pieces from his “Berlin” graffiti series, sold out in four minutes and now resells north of £150,000. Slawn also made history as the first Nigerian-born and youngest artist to design the BRIT Awards trophy.
Rolex rarely hands out traditional endorsement deals, leaning instead on long-term “Testimonee” relationships: Roger Federer has repped the brand since 2001, and the crown added Leonardo DiCaprio and named Priyanka Chopra Jonas its global brand ambassador.
Watch-world crossovers are having a moment across music: J Balvin linked with Casio on a limited-edition ring watch, while Raye fronted a new Audemars Piguet campaign.
For Gunna, this lands alongside his ongoing Wun World Tour behind 2025’s The Last Wun, with 2026 festival stops including Rolling Loud Australia and Reading Festival.
Lil Yachty, fresh off a Thundercat feature on Distracted and booked for Eaux Claires and Corona Capital this year, continues stacking genre-crossing credits outside his 32-brand endorsement portfolio, which already spans Adidas Originals and Alexander Wang.
Takeaways
Slawn keeps proving that hand-painted chaos and Swiss precision aren’t natural enemies; they’re a formula.
By handing 12 different creative worlds a blank Rolex canvas instead of releasing one uniform “collab” piece, he’s turning a watch drop into a cultural mixtape, and the resale math from his 2024 run suggests collectors are already buying in before a single image drops.
Does a one-of-one model make these watches more collectible than a standard limited-edition run or just harder to value? Could this open the door for Rolex to work more directly with music and streetwear figures going forward?
