Four + One: This Country Singer's Watch Collection Charts A Career In Music

Hunter Hayes has been nominated for five Grammys over his ten-year career – a pretty good average. He's reached number one on Top Country Albums and number seven on Billboard 200, with hit singles like "One Good Reason" and "Wanted." Just last week, he released a new song called "If You Change Your Mind." In other words, he's a country artist who has a lot to celebrate, and one of the ways he does that is through his watches. A decade ago, when Hayes, now 29, first moved to Nashville from Louisiana to pursue a career as a country singer, he had a collection of Fossils. He still admires the early pieces that got him into watches, but today, he's got a grown-up collection that marks the highlights of his career. Hayes typically buys a timepiece only when he reaches a milestone or goal, and every one of them has to have a story. Like these. THE FOUR Bell & Ross Pilot's Watch Hayes distinctly remembers buying the first watch after his self-titled debut album was nominated for three Grammys in 2013. This was the first time he was comfortable spending a significant amount of money on a watch. He'd be wearing it at the Grammys, after all. He was waffling between two Bell & Ross models; one was about $400 more than the other. He chatted with his manager about the purchase, and his manager told him "in five years, $400 won't matter, but that watch will. And if you compromise, that will matter too, because you'll always be compromising." So he sprang for the model he really wanted even though it cost more. The purchase immediately paid off, as Hayes explains, when it became part of a larger story. "John Mayer ran into my dressing room at the Grammys once to give me a pep talk, and I was hoping that he would notice my watch. He didn't, so I brought it up, and he said 'Oh yeah, no, I definitely saw it out of the corner of my eye!'" Mayer followed with, "I was going to ask you about it, but tell me about it!" And the two ended up chatting about it for about five minutes backstage at the Grammys as part of the pep talk. Rolex Daytona Ref. 116515 Chocolate Dial Hayes' interest in Rolex started when Tudor, a brand under the Rolex umbrella, donated a number of watches for him to wear on a record-setting tour in 2014 where he played 10 cities in a single day. The watches were auctioned off for charity after the tour, but his interest in the brand was just beginning. "I was looking for a special-occasion watch and landed on this rose-gold Daytona. I was dreaming big. I told a buddy about how much I loved it and, without any warning, he gifted it to me. I got to know him through playing a few events with him." Hayes jokes that for two years he had a security guard, "but I don't think it was for me; I think it was for the Daytona!" Hublot Big Bang Jeans Is there anything more country than a good pair of broken-in jeans? It isn't just a trope – Hayes says he is "obsessed with everything denim." "Around 2013, all I wore was blue jeans and denim jackets," he says. "It was kind of my uniform." So he bought a watch to match. Vintage Breitling Cosmonaute "I've always been into aviation, and I've always liked Navitimers," Hayes says. "But I like this watch because it isn't a Navitimer. It's got a 24-hour dial, unique to the Cosmonaute." He bought it in Sydney after he lost his luggage and needed to hit up Uniqlo for stage clothes. He wasn't planning on doing any watch shopping along the way, but this one stood out. "When someone comments on this watch or the Bell & Ross, I know I'm talking to someone else who loves aviation," he says. And that holds him over until he can finish his pilot's license. THE ONE 1958 Martin Size Five Guitar "Guitars are the tool of my trade," Hayes says. "I have to have them, so they might as well have a story." His favorite is a Martin Size Five from 1958 that he picked up in Japan. "I like finding the ones that have been broken and repaired; they're a better value, and they tend to play better.” He specifically likes this Martin for not only the way it looks, but also the way it sounds, of course: "Over time, the seal on the wood breaks down, and it just becomes more colorful and more exciting and more fun to play." He takes the Martin with him when he goes away on songwriting trips, citing the unique tuning as a strength. "These guitars were built to be 'trainer' guitars back in the day," he says. "It just does things that other guitars can't do."Hunter Hayes tells us why denim dials and vintage Martin guitars are his jam.