It was one of those moments that I never thought I would see, let alone be in a position to have to remember where I was when it happened. Around one of my friend’s houses, I sat glued to the TV screen, hoping and praying to see something different to what happened four years earlier. I was surrounded by people who, for the most part, would more enjoy a repeat of that previous result.
Four years previously in 2008, Chelsea had contested their first ever Champions League final against Manchester United in Moscow and been beaten on penalties. And now, in 2012, Chelsea were back in the Champions League final, this time against Bayern Munich.
After a tense and close match, all hope of a famous Chelsea win looked to have been lost when in the 83rd minute, Thomas Müller met a long cross at the back post to head Bayern Munich into the lead with just 7 minutes left.
This match was likely to be the last in a Chelsea shirt for striker Didier Drogba, and the thought of losing this game, the biggest game in club football, must have been simply unacceptable to him. He took the game by the scruff of the neck, and with just two minutes left on the clock, rocketed in a header from a Juan Mata corner to bring the scores level.
Didier Drogba heads in the equalising goal against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League Final
There were a lot of moments during this Champions League campaign where the stars had seemed to align for Chelsea, and I started to wonder… could it happen?
At full-time the score was 1-1, yet after having played just 3 minutes of extra time, Drogba’s exuberance got the better of him and he conceded a penalty kick to Bayern. Up stepped former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben, but the penalty was – thankfully for Chelsea – saved by goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Extra time saw no more goals, and the match went to a penalty shoot-out, just as it had done 4 years previously. Was history repeating itself?
Chelsea missed the first penalty with Bayern scoring theirs, and a famous victory looked to be slipping from Chelsea’s grip. However, when Bastien Schweinsteiger later stepped up for Bayern, with the penalty shoot-out in sudden death, his penalty struck the post and came out.
The stars were aligning one final time; all that needed to happen was for Chelsea to score the next penalty, and the trophy was theirs.
There was but one man for the job – Didier Drogba. He stepped up, cool as you like (at least on the outside), and scored, to land Chelsea the first Champions League title in their history.
As a fan, this is something I had always dreamed of seeing, and it meant the world. For Drogba, this is something he and the other players had dreamed of their whole life, and you could see it on Drogba’s face in the seconds after he scored just how much it meant to him, too. It’s a reaction I’ll never forget, and I will openly confess to enjoying the UEFA highlights reel of this game multiple times whilst writing this piece!
But what, you might be asking, does any of this have to do with watches?
Didier Drogba’s Champions League gifts to players and staff
It’s quite well documented that a few months later, Drogba presented each of his teammates with a gift to celebrate the victory. As a big fan of American sport, Drogba had the idea that he wanted to gift his teammates something similar to what is traditionally done Stateside, and arranged for each player to receive a personalised, Superbowl style Championship ring, complete with their name and squad number.
#ThankYouDidier for the amazing #CFC Championship rings!!!! #buzzing I appreciate everything lad! pic.twitter.com/muoQ2fYa
— Ashley Cole (@TheRealAC3) December 6, 2012
However, what isn’t so widely documented, beyond perhaps a cursory mention in Drogba’s autobiography ‘Commitment’ (affiliate link), is that he also got a gift for the backroom staff, with Drogba recounting “I got watches for the backroom staff, again engraved with the date of the Champions League final. I had wanted to host this dinner to show how important the team was to me and for us to have something really special.”
This dinner was held discretely at a London hotel near to Stamford Bridge, in the December after the Champions League victory.
Until recently, I had no idea that the watches gifted by Didier Drogba existed, having stumbled across one through a chance encounter; as I learned the story behind the watches, I was fascinated.
In addition to this story, I am happy to be able to share with you the watch that I got to see was and some hands-on photos of it!
What was the Didier Drogba Champions League watch gifted to the Chelsea backroom staff?
The watch itself is a Hublot Big Bang chronograph ‘Aspen’ edition, released I believe in around 2010/2011, which has since been discontinued.
Didier Drogba Champions League watch gifted to Chelsea staff after the 2012 final
It has a 41mm white ceramic case and white dial with three registers and a date aperture at 4:30, as well as 114 individual diamonds set around the bezel in two rows. Inside is automatic chronograph calibre HUB2894, the same calibre used in other Big Bang chronograph references, which offers around 42 hours power reserve when fully wound.
However, unlike the production ‘Aspen’, the sapphire caseback on this Didier Drogba special edition is emblazoned with “2012 Winner Champion’s League” with the same blue and yellow star motif from the Champions League ball used that night.
Didier Drogba's Champions League watch caseback with blue and yellow star motif
One note of particular interest is that the watch has its own reference number, separating it out from the production ‘Aspen’ Big Bang chronographs.
Whilst the production versions were either allocated as 342.CL.230.RW.114 or 341.CL.230.RW.114 depending on the size, this particular Didier Drogba Champions League watch commission has a unique reference number of 341.CL.230.RW.114.DDG12.
Of course, it isn’t a great stretch to surmise that the “DDG12” appended to the end denotes “Didier Drogba 2012”.
In Summary
For me as a Chelsea fan, the provenance of this Didier Drogba Champions League watch is awesome. Learning about its existence quickly took me back to that night in 2012, a wonderful example of where a watch can take on a meaning and be a steadfast reminder of certain events or memories.
When Didier Drogba scored that penalty, you could see on his face just what it meant to him, and I think this is underscored by the generosity he showed in arranging personalised gifts for everyone involved at the club – both players and backroom staff.
Didier Drogba is the President of the Didier Drogba Foundation which he founded in 2007, with the aim of providing access for vulnerable people to healthcare, education, and empowering them through resource mobilization, partnership development and innovative projects, according to their website. He has also recently in 2021 become the World Health Organisation’s Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health.
And, of course, he is a Chelsea legend!
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