Watch Paparazzi

Basketball player LeBron James spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

LeBron James appeared on the front cover of Bloomberg Businessweek wearing what sharp-eyed readers would identify as one of the rarest pieces in Audemars Piguet's modern catalog — the Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph 25th Anniversary in stainless steel, reference 26421ST. The image is less a celebrity snapshot than a deliberate statement: one of sport's most commercially powerful figures, paired with one of haute horlogerie's most technically uncompromising timepieces.

The ref. 26421ST was released in 2018 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore, the oversized, sport-luxury icon that Gerald Genta's office designed as a deliberate provocation against the original Royal Oak's refinement. Where the standard Offshore makes its case through size and attitude, the 26421ST escalates the argument considerably. The 44mm steel case houses calibre 2933, a manufacture movement featuring a flying tourbillon at 6 o'clock and a column-wheel-controlled chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counters — all visible through a sapphire exhibition caseback. Power reserve sits at approximately 65 hours, and the movement is finished to AP's full manufacture standard, with beveled bridges and circular graining throughout.

The collector significance of the 26421ST is difficult to overstate. Audemars Piguet produced just 50 examples in stainless steel — a deliberately perverse choice given that steel is nominally the "entry" material for Royal Oak references, yet here it anchors a complication that rivals gold and platinum pieces from any house. That tension between material accessibility and mechanical exclusivity is precisely what makes this reference so compelling to serious collectors. Allocation was tightly controlled through AP's most loyal retail partners.

LeBron James has long demonstrated a genuine and knowledgeable watch collection rather than purely promotional associations. His appearances in AP, Patek Philippe, and Richard Mille pieces reflect a collector's range rather than a single brand endorsement. Wearing the 26421ST on a Businessweek cover — a publication oriented toward business power and cultural capital — is entirely coherent.

With a UK list price of £235,000 and a production run of 50 units, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph ref. 26421ST rarely surfaces on the secondary market. When it does, grey-market premiums are substantial and negotiated privately. This is not a piece that sits in dealer showcases.