Watch Paparazzi

Football manager Andrea Pirlo spotted wearing Rolex

Andrea Pirlo, the architect of some of football's most elegant midfield performances and now a manager building a second career in the dugout, was recently spotted wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 116515LN in 18kt Everose gold with a chocolate brown dial — a combination that sits at the intersection of sporting heritage and genuine horological desirability.

The Rolex Daytona 116515LN is built around the in-house calibre 4130, a column-wheel chronograph movement that Rolex introduced in 2000 to replace the outsourced Zenith El Primero-based ebauche used in earlier references. The 4130 runs at 28,800 vph, offers approximately 72 hours of power reserve, and is widely regarded by watchmakers for its robustness and ease of regulation. The 40mm Everose gold case — Rolex's proprietary rose gold alloy blended with platinum to resist fading — frames a chocolate brown dial fitted with subsidiary registers and a tachymeter bezel in matching Everose. The 'LN' suffix denotes a black ceramic bezel insert, giving the reference a two-tone visual weight that keeps it grounded despite the precious metal case.

Among collectors, the 116515LN occupies a specific niche: it is unambiguously luxurious, yet the chocolate dial variant reads more understated than the white or black-dialed equivalents. That restraint, paradoxically, has made it harder to source. Rolex production of Daytona references has historically lagged well behind demand, and Everose variants with chromatic dials command consistent grey-market premiums.

Pirlo's taste in watches has long reflected his wider persona — classically European, never ostentatious. The warm chocolate-and-rose-gold palette suits a man whose career aesthetic ran to measured precision rather than flash. Now managing in various football contexts after his playing days with Juventus, AC Milan, and New York City FC, Pirlo remains a style reference point for the sport.

At UK RRP of approximately £17,000, the Rolex Daytona 116515LN is already a significant purchase. On the secondary market, demand keeps grey prices meaningfully higher, with authorised dealer waiting lists effectively non-existent for most buyers. For those who want the watch without the queue, the premium is the price of immediacy.