Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo spotted wearing Rolex

Cristiano Ronaldo has never been shy about his relationship with fine watchmaking, and his latest sighting confirms that taste runs toward serious complications as much as it does toward outright luxury. The Portuguese forward was spotted wearing the Rolex Sky-Dweller in Everose gold, reference 326935 — a watch that quietly earns its price through mechanical ambition rather than brand name alone.

The Sky-Dweller ref. 326935 is built around the in-house calibre 9001, a self-winding movement offering 72 hours of power reserve and featuring two of watchmaking's most useful complications: an annual calendar that automatically adjusts for months of 30 and 31 days, requiring a single correction only on March 1st, and a dual time zone display via an off-centre disc on the dial. What makes the system genuinely clever is the ring-command bezel — a patented mechanism that allows the wearer to select and set each function through the crown by rotating the bezel to engage different modes. It is an elegant engineering solution to a traditionally cumbersome problem.

The case and bracelet of the 326935 are executed in Everose gold, Rolex's proprietary 18-karat rose gold alloy developed in-house and mixed with a small percentage of platinum to prevent the colour from fading over decades of wear. The 42mm Oyster case gives the watch a confident wrist presence without crossing into oversized territory. The combination of warm metal tones and the Sky-Dweller's distinctive dial architecture — with its 12 rectangular apertures indicating the months — is immediately recognizable.

Among collectors, the Sky-Dweller occupies an interesting position. It is Rolex's most complex and most expensive production watch, yet it has historically been underappreciated relative to the Daytona or GMT-Master II. That dynamic has shifted in recent years as buyers increasingly recognise the calibre 9001's genuine horological merit. The Everose gold variants, in particular, have developed a loyal following for their combination of precious metal and practical complication.

For Ronaldo, a collector known to own pieces from Franck Muller, Hublot, and Richard Mille among others, the Sky-Dweller ref. 326935 represents the more restrained end of his horological range — restrained being relative at a UK list price of £35,850. On the grey market, demand for Everose Sky-Dweller references has remained firm, with secondary prices tracking close to retail or modestly above depending on condition and papers.