Watch Paparazzi

Basketball player Kyle Kuzma spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Kyle Kuzma arrived at a recent Lakers game wearing what is arguably the most intellectually serious watch in Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak family — the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in 18-carat pink gold, reference 26574OR.OO.1220OR.01. While athletes routinely gravitate toward the Royal Oak Chronograph or standard date models, a perpetual calendar represents a meaningful step into grand complication territory, and Kuzma's choice positions him among the more discerning collector-athletes in professional basketball.

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 26574OR houses AP's in-house Calibre 5134, a self-winding movement beating at 19,800 vph with a 40-hour power reserve. Its perpetual calendar mechanism — displaying day, date, month, leap year, and moon phase — is programmed to account for the irregular lengths of each month automatically, requiring no correction until February 28, 2100. The movement is a derivative of the legendary Jaeger-LeCoultre Cal. 889, whose architecture AP licensed and refined across decades of manufacture. The 41mm pink gold case carries the iconic Gerald Genta-designed octagonal bezel secured with eight hexagonal screws, while the blue Grande Tapisserie dial features pink gold applied hour markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating — exactly as confirmed in the sighting.

From a collector standpoint, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar occupies a rare position: it carries the Royal Oak's iconic integrated bracelet design without compromising mechanical depth. That combination of sportif aesthetics and grand complication pedigree is precisely what makes it a grail reference. Blue-dialed rose gold configurations are particularly sought after in the secondary market for their visual warmth against an otherwise technically austere display.

Kuzma has quietly built a reputation as one of the more fashion-conscious players in the NBA, frequently appearing in avant-garde streetwear. The choice of a perpetual calendar — rather than a flashier tourbillon or diamond-set piece — suggests his watch sensibility is maturing toward technical substance over spectacle.

On the grey market, the 26574OR commands significant premiums over its $109,285 list price, with dealers regularly quoting figures between $130,000 and $150,000 depending on condition and provenance. AP's allocation constraints and the relative scarcity of rose gold perpetual calendar references continue to support strong resale values for this reference.