Footballer Hakan Çalhanoglu spotted wearing a Rolex

Hakan Çalhanoglu, one of Serie A's most influential midfielders and the captain of the Turkish national side, was recently spotted wearing the Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126755SARU — a piece that sits at the absolute apex of the GMT-Master II family, pairing extreme gemstone ornamentation with one of watchmaking's most storied complications.

The GMT-Master II ref. 126755SARU measures 40mm in Rolex's proprietary 18k Everose gold, an alloy formulated in-house to resist fading over time. The bidirectional rotatable bezel — traditionally ceramic on modern GMT-Masters — is here replaced by a pavé arrangement of alternating sapphires and rubies, a nod to the iconic red-and-blue 'Pepsi' colour scheme rendered in precious stones. The four lugs are further set with baguette and round-cut diamonds. Beneath the black dial sits Rolex's calibre 3285, a self-winding movement beating at 28,800 vph with a 70-hour power reserve, a fast-setting independent GMT hand, and Rolex's Chronergy escapement for improved efficiency. The Jubilee bracelet in matching Everose gold completes the package.

Within the GMT-Master II collector world, the 126755SARU occupies a singular position. It is the gemstone variant that most directly references the tool-watch heritage of the line — born in 1955 for Pan Am pilots — while transforming that heritage into something closer to high jewellery. Production numbers are intentionally limited, and the reference rarely appears on the secondary market without a significant premium attached. It is emphatically not a subtle watch, and that is precisely its point.

Çalhanoglu, who joined Inter Milan in 2021 and has been instrumental in the club's recent Serie A and Champions League campaigns, has developed a public profile well beyond the pitch. His selection of the 126755SARU signals an appetite for pieces that command attention — a watch that functions as both a status statement and a genuine horological object of rarity.

At retail the Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 126755SARU is listed in the region of $150,000, but grey-market demand has pushed transaction prices to approximately $195,000, reflecting both the scarcity of gemset Rolex references and sustained appetite for high-jewellery sports watches among collectors and high-profile athletes alike.