Footballer Sergio Ramos spotted wearing a Rolex

Paris Saint-Germain's Parc des Princes provided the backdrop for this clean Rolex sighting: Sergio Ramos, centre-back and decorated veteran of four UEFA Champions League titles with Real Madrid, raised a fist to the crowd with a Rolex Yacht-Master 42 ref. 226659 clearly visible on his left wrist. The watch was photographed before kick-off in a Ligue 1 fixture, the black dial catching the stadium floodlights in exactly the way Rolex's designers would have intended.

Introduced at Baselworld 2019, the Yacht-Master 42 in 18k white gold (ref. 226659) represented a significant step up from the 40mm rose gold predecessor that first showcased the Oysterflex bracelet concept in 2015. The 42mm Oyster case houses the calibre 2236, a manufacture movement featuring a SYLOXI silicon hairspring for improved magnetic resistance and thermal stability, with a 70-hour power reserve. The bidirectional rotatable bezel carries a matt black Cerachrom insert — Rolex's proprietary high-tech ceramic — with polished raised numerals and minute graduations that resist fading and scratching. The black dial uses applied hour markers with chromalight luminescence, complementing the monochromatic palette throughout.

Among collectors, the 226659 occupies a nuanced position. White gold sport Rolexes have historically commanded a premium over their steel counterparts while avoiding the sometimes-polarising aesthetics of yellow or rose gold. The Cerachrom bezel in ceramic rather than the earlier platinum-ring format elevates its technical credentials, and the Oysterflex strap — a vulcanised rubber blade with a titanium and nickel alloy longitudinal insert — delivers both wrist comfort during athletic activity and a contemporary visual profile that steel Oyster bracelets cannot match.

Ramos has long been a Rolex loyalist, and this particular reference is one he shares with fellow PSG teammate Lionel Messi, who has also been photographed in the 226659. For two of world football's defining centre-backs and forwards to independently gravitate toward the same reference underlines its crossover appeal — neither ostentatiously jewelled nor anonymously sporty.

On the secondary market, the Yacht-Master 42 white gold 226659 trades at a modest premium to retail, reflecting steady demand without the extreme scarcity that drives Daytona or steel GMT-Master II premiums. At a list price of $27,800, it remains accessible by white-gold sport-watch standards, and grey-market supply keeps premiums disciplined. A rational choice, executed flawlessly.