Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Samuel Eto'o spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Samuel Eto'o, the Cameroonian striker whose career took him through Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Everton — collecting three UEFA Champions League titles along the way — was recently spotted wearing one of Audemars Piguet's most extreme and technically formidable references: the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph in forged carbon, reference 26265FO.

The 26265FO is built around a 44mm forged carbon case, a material that Audemars Piguet has mastered to a degree few manufacture-level houses have matched. Forged carbon is produced by compressing carbon fibre filaments under high heat and pressure, resulting in a structure where no two pieces share the same surface pattern — each case is genuinely unique. The case houses calibre 2937, a manually wound flying tourbillon chronograph movement with a 10-day power reserve, visible through a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback. The skeletonised dial is rendered in tones that echo the carbon aesthetic, with luminescent hands cutting across the open architecture. Water resistance is rated to 20 metres — this is a horological instrument, not a dive watch.

The Royal Oak Concept line was introduced in 2002 as Audemars Piguet's forward-looking laboratory, separate from the classic Royal Oak vocabulary established by Gérald Genta in 1972. The Concept series has always pushed materials and movement architecture into territory the standard Royal Oak would not accommodate. The 26265FO sits among the most collectible references within that lineage, combining grand complications with avant-garde case materials at a price point that filters ownership to a very short list.

Eto'o's watch collection has long signalled serious intent. A footballer of his stature and financial profile commands access to ultra-limited references, and the Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph in forged carbon is precisely the kind of piece that requires both relationships with Audemars Piguet and genuine connoisseurship to pursue. It is not a gateway watch — it is an end-game watch.

At a UK list price of £250,000, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept ref. 26265FO sits in rarefied territory even by AP standards. On the secondary market, examples change hands at or above retail given their scarcity and the sustained collector demand for Concept-line references in exotic case materials.