Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Karim Benzema spotted wearing Rolex

Karim Benzema, freshly crowned Ballon d'Or 2022 winner following a transcendent season with Real Madrid, was spotted wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116500LN in Oystersteel with a black ceramic bezel and matching black 'panda' dial. The image, shared by German retailer Uhren 2000, captures the French striker at a celebratory moment that seemed to demand an equally serious piece of horology on the wrist.

The Rolex Daytona 116500LN, introduced at Baselworld 2016, represented the most significant engineering overhaul the Daytona line had seen in two decades. Rolex retired the Zenith El Primero donor movement and replaced it with the proprietary Caliber 4130 — a column-wheel, vertical-clutch chronograph movement with a 72-hour power reserve, built entirely in-house. The black Cerachrom bezel, machined from virtually scratch-resistant ceramic and filled with platinum-deposited tachymeter numerals, gave the reference a purposeful, contemporary edge over its predecessor, the ref. 116520.

Among collectors, the 116500LN occupies rarefied territory. Demand at launch was so dramatically ahead of supply that authorized dealer waitlists stretched for years, pushing grey-market premiums to multiples of retail almost immediately. The black-dial variant — sometimes loosely called the 'black panda' for its contrasting sub-registers — is considered the slightly more assertive of the two dial options and consistently commands a marginal premium over the white-dial configuration on the secondary market.

Benzema's affinity for serious watchmaking is well documented. The striker has been seen over the years with pieces ranging from Richard Mille to Patek Philippe, but the steel Daytona represents a different kind of statement: understated relative to his usual taste, yet universally recognized as one of the hardest watches to acquire at any price point. Wearing it the week of the Ballon d'Or felt less like a flex and more like a punctuation mark.

At retail, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116500LN in Oystersteel carries a list price of $14,550. On the grey market, demand has kept values consistently elevated, with the black-dial version trading well above retail — typically in the $28,000–$35,000 range depending on condition, papers, and timing. For a footballer celebrating the apex of his career, the choice reads as both informed and appropriately timeless.