Zinedine Zidane‘s first personal watch – a stainless-steel Cartier Pasha with sapphire cabochon-set pushers – will be auctioned at Christie’s Rare Watches sale in Geneva on November 9, 2026, with proceeds to benefit ELA International. The piece, bought with his first salary at FC Girondins de Bordeaux nearly 35 years ago, carries more than celebrity sheen. It is a lived-in object with provenance that outpaces any catalog blurb.
Watches for ELA will run as a charitable section within the sale, gathering around twenty donated pieces from maisons and independents, including Alpina, Bovet, Cédric Johner, Konstantin Chaykin, Louis Erard, Louis Moinet, Maurice Lacroix, Montblanc, Pequignet and Tissot. Craft meeting cause, without the usual noise.
Cartier’s Pasha has long been a study in bold geometry and practical ornament – a round case framed by a distinctive crown enclosure, here complemented by a steel bracelet and those blue cabochon accents. Not a watch that hides in a cuff, and in this instance, not one that hides its story either.
Zidane notes: “This Cartier Pasha was the first watch I bought for myself with my first salary when I was playing in Bordeaux… it has remained with me ever since.” Now it will try its luck at extra time for a better purpose. No stepovers required, just a bidder with a steady hand.
The watches will be shown at Christie’s in Geneva from September 2 to 4, alongside Geneva Watch Days, followed by a tour across Asia, the United States and Europe. They return to the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues ahead of the November auction.
One hopes the hammer lands where it should – rewarding long service on a wrist and longer service to a cause. In watchmaking, intention counts. Here, the intention is clear.
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