{"id":954849,"date":"2026-07-23T21:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954849\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:42:19","slug":"the-story-behind-josh-kerrs-gold-and-diamond-amazfit-watch-for-his-342-66-mile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954849\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story Behind Josh Kerr\u2019s Gold-and-Diamond Amazfit Watch for His 3:42.66 Mile"},"content":{"rendered":"

All eyes were on Josh Kerr this past Sunday as he lined up for his record-breaking mile. The Scottish runner was decked out in custom Brooks spikes<\/a> and signature Oakley shades<\/a>, as he broke the world record with a time of 3:42.66. However, my eyes were on his watch<\/a>: A custom Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro<\/a> with a gold and diamond bezel.<\/p>\n

It was eight weeks out from Kerr\u2019s attempt when Amazfit first approached David Perry, founder of David Perry Jewelry<\/a>. The brand had one question: how do we put gold and diamonds on this running watch? The answer is harder than you\u2019d think, but Perry\u2014a former professional runner himself\u2014was the man to do it. He\u2019s designed custom pieces for Olympian Joe Klecker and runner Robert Farken to name a few, and even made the trophy for this year\u2019s Bandit Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A long-distance runner at the University of Portland, he continued racing after graduating while working for brands like Thom Browne and Adidas. After a race, he\u2019d reward himself with a custom gold chain as a symbol of his achievement. Soon, he was getting requests for custom jewelry from athletes wanting to commemorate milestone races. This laid the groundwork for what would become David Perry Jewelry, and his eponymous brand launched in 2020. He believes in the \u201cbuy right once\u201d ethos he brought into designing Kerr\u2019s custom watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually something like this is done quick and cheap, but I didn\u2019t want to just glue a diamond on a G-Shock,\u201d he explains. \u201cSince Josh would actually be wearing it during the attempt, I wanted to make sure it wouldn\u2019t fall off or hinder him in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry decided to make the bezel out of solid 10-carat gold instead of dipping or plating it, which is the norm.<\/p>\n

\"Smartwatch<\/p>\n

Courtesy David Perry Jewelry<\/p>\n

\"Stylish<\/p>\n

Courtesy David Perry Jewelry<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the budget and the skill to do it and I didn\u2019t want to cheap out,\u201d he says. \u201cMost fine jewelry is 14- to 24-carat gold, but 10 carat is the most durable, while still having that yellow look. Solid 10-carat gold is durable enough for [Kerr] to continue using as his daily running watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s team then scanned a 3D image of the watch to build the bezel around, and ran into their first hiccup. They couldn\u2019t solder the bezel as you would a regular dress watch because it would compromise the electronic components Kerr relies on to keep time and pace. In order to fix the 10-carat gold bezel onto the watch face, they engineered a unique bar-locking system. Next, a jeweler hand-polished the bezel down so that it would fit comfortably flush against Kerr\u2019s wrist. Perry tells me it\u2019s \u201can eye game to get it set perfectly\u201d and requires precise skill.<\/p>\n

\"ADanny Perez<\/p>\n

David Perry\u2019s sketch of the watch.<\/p>\n

Luckily, the team was able to support The Project 222 marketing campaign behind Kerr a bit easier. The watchband\u2019s gold buckle was laser engraved with \u201c222,\u201d the number of seconds required to break the existing world record.<\/p>\n

While he doesn\u2019t compete anymore, Perry still gets about 20 miles a week in. He listens to either a 10-hour loop of David Goggins lectures or grime music depending on the day. His passion for running is palpable, inspiring and informing his eye for design. He insists he wouldn\u2019t be where he is if it wasn\u2019t for running.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning has given me so much, I want to give back to the sport as much as possible,\u201d Perry tells me. \u201cI\u2019d love to be a running philanthropist of sorts, and support both young and professional athletes. Something. I\u2019ll always be tethered to running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, his work is tethered to the history books.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Danny Perez is a Reviews Editor for Popular Mechanics with a focus on men’s style, gear, and home goods. Recently, he was coordinator of partnership content at another product journalism outlet. Prior to that, he was a buyer for an independent men’s shop in Houston, Texas, where he learned all about what makes great products great. He enjoys thrifting for 90s Broadway tees and vintage pajama sets. His spare time is occupied by watching movies and running to impress strangers on Strava.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes were on Josh Kerr this past Sunday as he lined up for his record-breaking mile. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":954850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[18],"tags":[3178,384128,1201,705,3181,311952,2875,256927,384127,365830,158,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-954849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-6a99de2b-6202-48a2-baf7-05e2ecf7967b","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-gadgets","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-3","tag-shorttitle-the-story-behind-kerrs-custom-watch","tag-sponsored-false","tag-technology","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116971475399811888","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}