Rapper and content creator DDG, who boasts over 7 million Instagram followers, has given an unusually candid tour of his personal watch collection in a new WatchGuys episode filmed inside a $35 million Getty Mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles.
The conversation with WatchGuys founder Robertino Altieri covers everything from buying his first luxury watch to a cautionary tale about being scammed out of a rare two-tone Audemars Piguet, and offers a window into how a new generation of collectors thinks about watches.
DDG’s entry point was a “bust-down” yellow gold Rolex Day-Date Presidential in 36mm – “all I could afford at the time” – which he followed with a two-tone AP. That AP, however, was a bit of a hiccup in his edit.
Trading what he describes as a genuine two-tone Royal Oak for a watch where someone had simply applied rose gold plating, DDG admits he was “going just off naked eye” and didn’t know enough about the secondary market to spot the switch.
Today his collection has evolved considerably. Two Richard Mille watches – a rose gold RM 30 acquired around 2020-21 and a smaller RM 29 he casually wears as a daily beater – sit at the centre of a collection he values at over $1 million.
For DDG, the Richard Mille isn’t about aesthetics: “I don’t get [watches] because I’m like, this is going to look fire with my outfit. I get them because it’s a conversation piece. There’s been times where I walk in a room with my Richard Mille and it makes people think that ‘maybe I can do business with him’ or we have a conversation because they know I’m successful.”
His observations on the secondary market are sharp. He notes that flipping watches for profit is increasingly difficult, pointing to rising gold prices, US tariffs on Swiss watches and the narrowing window between retail and resale on anything other than truly limited references.
He also weighed in on the Swatch x AP Royal Pop saga, expressing frustration that AP would associate with a $300 pocket watch after he had invested so heavily to own something rare, though he admits he would have bought every colourway to resell had he spotted the opportunity sooner.
And as far as watches on his wishlist go: Jacob & Co’s casino roulette piece, previously spotted on Neymar’s wrist.
Watch the full video below.