J Dilla Honored With Watch That Tracks Both Regular and D…

Shinola honored the late J Dilla with his own watch.

The Detroit company unveiled two versions of its Dilla-inspired timepieces, created in partnership with Dilla’s estate.

On Monday, Fake Shore Drive‘s Andrew Barber gave fans a closer look at one of the two limited edition watches, the Shinola x J Dilla Chronograph, pointing out that the watch tells both regular time and “Dilla time.”

“If you look a little closer, it shows Dilla time. If you follow Dilla, then you know that he created his own timing in how he made beats—he had his own swing. So this actually tells Dilla time and regular time. And the inside is actually based on his beat tapes, the cassette tapes that they used to look like.”

The first of the limited edition watches is the Shinola x J Dilla Chronograph, retailing at $1,095, and the second is the Shinola x J Dilla Skeleton, priced at $2,250, per The Detroit News. Shinola made 500 of the Chronograph and 150 of the Skeleton.

Both come in a dark teal colorway and feature details that nod to Dilla’s legacy. The pieces include a note from Dan Charnas, author of the 2022 Dilla biography, Dilla Time. The Dilla set also boasts a leather bag, used to carry records, which retails for $895.

The watches are part of Shinola’s Great American Series, which honors American pioneers and innovators. The company has also paid homage to Jim Thorpe, Smokey Robinson, the Wright Brothers, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, and Georgia O’Keeffe, among others. This time, they wanted to celebrate a hometown hero.

The watches and the bag will both be available to purchase at Shinola.com on May 15. Peep the teaser trailer, narrated by Big Sean, linked above.

Back in February, the later producer, born James Dewitt, was honored with his very own street sign in Detroit.