Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo spotted wearing Rolex

Cristiano Ronaldo was photographed wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 116520 in stainless steel with a black dial, the sighting coinciding with his 2015 Ballon d'Or victory — his third at the time — cementing a period when he was arguably the best footballer on the planet. The choice of watch is telling: understated by the standards of his collection, but unimpeachable in terms of pedigree.

The Rolex Daytona ref. 116520 ran in production from 2000 to roughly 2016, when it was superseded by the ceramic-bezel ref. 116500LN. Its defining technical achievement was the introduction of Rolex's calibre 4130, an in-house column-wheel chronograph movement developed after the company parted ways with the Zenith El Primero-based calibre 4030. The 4130 offers a 72-hour power reserve, vertical clutch engagement for cleaner starts, and Rolex's Parachrom hairspring — a significant engineering leap over its predecessor. The 40mm oyster case houses the movement behind a sapphire caseback, with a tachymetric bezel in steel framing the black lacquered dial with contrasting white subdials at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock.

Among collectors, the steel 116520 with a black dial occupies a particularly desirable position. The black-dial variant consistently trades at a premium over the white dial on the secondary market, appreciated for its legibility and its visual nod to the exotic-dial "Paul Newman" Daytonas of the 1960s and 70s. This reference spent most of its production life on Rolex's waitlist, making it one of the brand's most famously unobtainable pieces at retail — a dynamic that defined a generation of Daytona ownership.

Ronaldo's horological profile is well documented. He owns pieces ranging from Jacob & Co. tourbillons to Franck Muller complications, making his appearance in a steel Daytona almost a deliberate exercise in restraint. For a man whose watch collection runs well into the millions, the 116520 reads less as a flex and more as a foundational piece — the kind worn because it is simply the correct watch for the occasion.

The ref. 116520 was listed at approximately £7,950 in the UK during its production run. On the grey market at the time of this sighting, steel black-dial examples were already trading meaningfully above retail. Today, pre-owned 116520 black dial specimens in good condition regularly command between $18,000 and $25,000 depending on condition, papers, and service history — reflecting sustained collector demand for a reference that Rolex no longer produces.