Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Erling Haaland spotted wearing Rolex

Erling Haaland has built a reputation both on the pitch and at the wrist, and a recent sighting of the Norwegian striker wearing a stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116500LN with a black ceramic bezel and black dial adds another serious piece to what is clearly a considered collection. The combination of black on black — collectors informally call this configuration the 'John Player Special' — gives the watch an understated aggression that suits Haaland's on-field persona.

Introduced at Baselworld 2016, the Daytona ref. 116500LN represented the most significant update to the Daytona lineage in over a decade. Its Cerachrom ceramic bezel replaced the older aluminium tachymetre insert, offering far superior resistance to scratching and UV fading. Beating at its heart is the in-house Calibre 4130, a column-wheel chronograph movement with a vertical clutch, offering a power reserve of approximately 72 hours. The case measures 40mm in Oyster steel, water-resistant to 100 metres, with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal protecting the dial.

From a collector's standpoint, the ref. 116500LN is the contemporary holy grail of stainless steel Rolex sports references. Its predecessor, the ref. 116520, enjoyed tremendous desirability, but the ceramic bezel upgrade cemented the 116500LN as the definitive modern Daytona. Waitlists at authorised dealers routinely stretch years, and the black-dial variant commands a notable premium over the white-dial version on the secondary market.

Haaland, still in his mid-twenties, has already demonstrated a collector's instinct with sightings spanning complications from multiple prestigious maisons. The Daytona ref. 116500LN, however, is a statement of horological fundamentals — a tool chronograph with an impeccable motorsport heritage dating back to the 1963 original, worn here without ostentation.

At retail, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116500LN lists at approximately $14,870 USD. On the grey market, strong and sustained demand pushes the current trading value to roughly $33,900 USD — a premium of well over 100 percent that underscores just how thoroughly this reference has outpaced Rolex's own pricing structure. For collectors watching both football and watches, Haaland's wrist continues to deliver.