Footballer Mateo Kovacic spotted wearing a Rolex

Mateo Kovacic, the Croatian midfielder who built his reputation at Inter Milan and Real Madrid before winning the Champions League and moving to Manchester City, keeps his wrist game as understated and precise as his passing — and the Rolex Submariner 'Hulk' reference 116610LV fits that profile exactly.

The 116610LV entered production in 2010 as the green-accented sibling to the standard black-bezelled 116610LN. Rolex fitted it with a 40mm Oystersteel case, a unidirectional rotating bezel in green Cerachrom ceramic, and a matching sunburst green dial with applied hour markers and Mercedes hands. Inside sits the calibre 3135, Rolex's workhorse self-winding movement with a 48-hour power reserve, a Parachrom hairspring, and chronometric certification to -2/+2 seconds per day. Water resistance reaches 300 metres. On the wrist it sits on an Oyster bracelet with the Glidelock extension system, giving it the professional diver credentials that made the Submariner line a benchmark since 1953.

The 'Hulk' nickname — earned from that aggressive all-green colour scheme — made this reference polarising during its decade-long production run. Many traditionalists preferred the cleaner two-tone aesthetic of the 'Kermit' (116610LV's predecessor with a black dial) or the all-black 116610LN. Rolex discontinued the 116610LV in 2020 when it introduced the 41mm Submariner generation, and that retirement triggered an immediate surge in collector demand. What was a readily available steel sports watch became a sought-after discontinued reference overnight.

Kovacic has never been a player who courts attention, yet his trophy cabinet — Champions League winner, Premier League winner with City — speaks for itself. Choosing the 'Hulk' over, say, a Richard Mille or an AP Royal Oak Offshore reads as a considered statement: a watch with genuine horological credentials and heritage rather than a billboard for wealth.

On the secondary market the 116610LV commands a significant premium over its original retail price. The reference originally listed at around £6,600 in the UK and approximately $8,100 USD at Rolex's US retail. Today grey-market prices reflect its discontinued and collectible status considerably above that figure, cementing the 'Hulk' as one of the smarter buys in the steel sports watch segment of the last decade.