Footballer Michy Batshuayi spotted wearing a Rolex

Michy Batshuayi has form when it comes to eye-catching horology, but the MJJ Exclusive custom Rolex Datejust 41 he was photographed wearing takes personal expression on the wrist to a new level. The Belgian international, then on the books at Crystal Palace, posted the image pointing directly at the watch — a gesture that doubles as an invitation to study every saturated detail of one of the more audacious Rolex commissions to surface on social media in recent years.

The base reference appears to be a Datejust 41 — Rolex's workhorse dress-sport model built around the calibre 3235 movement, a 70-hour power reserve, and a 41 mm Oyster case. MJJ Exclusive, the Manchester-based customisation atelier known for extreme gem-setting and DLC coating work, has stripped the original finish entirely. The case, lugs, and Oyster bracelet have been coated in a matte black DLC (diamond-like carbon) armour finish, eliminating every trace of the factory steel. In its place sits a bezel set with a full circuit of baguette-cut sapphires graduating through the complete rainbow spectrum — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — a technique demanding precise calibration of stone sizes to maintain even spacing around the 41 mm circumference.

The dial is the centrepiece. A deep amethyst-purple ground hosts hand-applied silhouetted bats in varying sizes, creating a gothic, almost comic-book atmosphere. Hour markers are individually set baguette gemstones in coordinated colours echoing the bezel, and the date window at 3 o'clock retains its cyclops-free Datejust functionality. The crown and case-back details appear to carry the standard Rolex architecture beneath the aftermarket treatment.

From a collector standpoint, heavily customised Rolexes occupy a contested space. Purists regard DLC coating and third-party gem-setting as value-destructive — Rolex's manufacturer warranty is voided the moment an aftermarket workshop touches the case. However, true one-off commissions like this one operate outside the second-hand market in any conventional sense; their value is biographical, tied entirely to the commissioner's identity and the craftsman's reputation.

For Batshuayi, whose social media persona leans hard into streetwear and pop culture — the Supreme tee and Prada bucket hat in the same frame are telling — a bat-themed purple dial reads less as eccentricity and more as coherent personal branding. No retail price exists for a piece like this; MJJ Exclusive commissions of this complexity typically invoice in the £30,000–£60,000 range depending on stone quality and labour, on top of the donor watch cost.