Watch Paparazzi

Singer Post Malone spotted wearing Rolex

During a candid sit-down with GQ magazine, Post Malone — born Austin Richard Post — pulled out a Rolex Deepsea Sea-Dweller Reference 116660 and walked cameras through one of his most personally meaningful pieces. The watch, gifted by his agent to mark his 21st birthday, carries a caseback engraving that reads 'Happy 21st Austy-Dre,' using the rapper's childhood nickname. It is a rare moment of intimacy in a genre where watches are typically displayed as conquest rather than connection.

The Rolex Deepsea Sea-Dweller 116660 is a technically formidable instrument. Introduced in 2008, it houses the calibre 3135 automatic movement — a robust, COSC-certified workhorse with a 48-hour power reserve and Rolex's Parachrom hairspring. The case measures 44mm in diameter and 17.7mm thick, engineered around Rolex's proprietary Ringlock System: a nitrogen-alloyed steel inner frame, a domed sapphire crystal of extraordinary thickness, and a helium escape valve. The result is water resistance to 3,900 metres — depths no recreational diver will ever approach. The black Cerachrom bezel and matte black dial with Mercedes hands are immediately recognisable hallmarks of the reference.

The 116660 occupies a specific niche in the collector community. It is too large and thick for many wrists, which paradoxically boosted its desirability among enthusiasts who prize technical specification over wearability. The Ringlock System represented a genuine engineering leap for Rolex and the reference is studied seriously in diving watch literature. Its successor, the 126660, arrived in 2018 with a larger 43.8mm case and movement upgrade to calibre 3235, which has pushed 116660 values into interesting grey-market territory.

Post Malone, despite his gold grills and Cuban chains visible in the same footage, has demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for fine watchmaking across multiple interviews. The Deepsea was not purchased for its resale value or cultural cache — it was a birthday gift chosen by someone who knew him well enough to engrave a nickname on it.

On the secondary market, the Rolex Deepsea 116660 trades comfortably above its original retail price. Examples in full-set condition command a meaningful premium, and a piece with documented celebrity provenance and an engraved caseback enters genuinely collectible territory, even if the engraving technically reduces resale appeal in traditional collector circles.