Entrepreneur Pier Luigi Loro Piana spotted wearing a Rolex

Pier Luigi Loro Piana, the former President and CEO of the iconic Italian luxury house Loro Piana — sold to LVMH in 2013 — was spotted wearing a vintage Rolex Oyster Perpetual Bubbleback in stainless steel. The sighting is entirely consistent with the man's aesthetic: understated, deeply considered, and rooted in a tradition of exceptional craft.

Produced primarily through the late 1930s and into the 1950s, the Rolex Bubbleback takes its name — or rather its Italian sobriquet 'Ovetto' (little egg) — from the pronounced convex caseback required to house one of the earliest self-winding movements Rolex ever produced. The calibre family, progressing through references such as the 2940, 3131, and 3372, used a bidirectional rotor mechanism that was genuinely revolutionary for its era. The cream/champagne dial shown features bold gilt Arabic numerals at the even hours, a fine minute track, blued steel seconds hand, and the classic double-line 'Rolex / Oyster Perpetual' with 'Chronomètre' text beneath — hallmarks of mid-production examples from the late 1940s.

What elevates the Bubbleback in collector circles is precisely the extraordinary variety of dials produced across its run: two-tone, sector dials, subsidiary seconds, dealer-signed examples, and a rainbow of colors make no two collections identical. The cushion-shaped case, smooth bezel, and the warm brown lizard or reptile-skin strap visible here complete a look that reads as vintage-correct and sensitively preserved rather than restored.

For Pier Luigi Loro Piana, a man who built a business empire on the philosophy that true luxury is invisible — found in the hand of the finest vicuña, not the loudness of a logo — a well-preserved Bubbleback is the horological equivalent of his finest cashmere. It communicates connoisseurship without announcement.

On the current vintage market, honest, unpolished Bubbleback examples with original cream dials command significant premiums. Depending on dial configuration, case reference, and provenance, prices at auction range from approximately $8,000 for more common variants to north of $25,000 for rarer dial executions or signed pieces. The Bubbleback's reputation among serious vintage collectors has strengthened considerably over the past decade, driven by growing appreciation for early automatic watchmaking history.