Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Lionel Messi spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Lionel Messi, eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and World Cup champion with Argentina, was recently spotted wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5740G — one of the most technically ambitious sports watches in the Swiss manufacture's current catalogue. The sighting adds another serious horological chapter to Messi's well-documented appreciation for high-end timepieces.

The Ref. 5740G is built around Patek Philippe's Caliber 240 Q, an ultra-thin self-winding movement measuring just 3.28mm in height. It delivers a full perpetual calendar — displaying date, day, month, leap year, and moon phase — through a peripheral rotor system that keeps the dial uncluttered. The movement runs at 21,600 vph with a power reserve of approximately 48 hours. Housed in a 40mm 18k white gold case with the Nautilus's signature horizontally embossed dial and octagonal bezel with rounded corners, the 5740G wears as an evolution of Gerald Genta's iconic 1976 design language rather than a departure from it.

Introduced in 2018, the Ref. 5740G was a landmark release: the first Nautilus ever to house a perpetual calendar complication. Patek Philippe achieved this without compromising the integrated bracelet profile or the model's distinctly athletic silhouette — a genuine engineering feat. The gradient blue sunburst dial, shifting from deep midnight at the center to a lighter sky blue toward the edges, remains among the most visually distinguished dial executions in contemporary watchmaking.

For collectors, the 5740G occupies rare territory — a sports reference with grand complication credentials, produced in limited quantities and officially discontinued in 2021 alongside several other Nautilus references. That discontinuation, far from diminishing interest, cemented its desirability. Waiting lists at authorized dealers were effectively meaningless; the watch transitioned almost entirely into grey market circulation.

At an official retail price of $126,000 USD, the 5740G was already a significant acquisition. On the secondary market, demand has driven prices considerably higher, with clean examples regularly trading well above retail. For Messi, whose wrist has also seen Richard Mille and Jacob & Co., the 5740G signals a more restrained, connoisseur-oriented choice — the kind of watch that speaks loudly to those who already know.