Watch Paparazzi

Royal Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim spotted wearing Rolex

Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, the Crown Prince of Johor and one of Southeast Asia's most followed royals, was recently photographed wearing one of Rolex's rarest and most labor-intensive references — the Submariner 116659SABR in 18K white gold. The sighting, which surfaced on his official social channels, drew immediate attention from watch collectors who recognized the reference instantly.

The Rolex Submariner 116659SABR is built on the same 40mm Oyster case architecture as the standard white gold Submariner 116619LB, but Rolex's gem-setting workshops in Geneva transform it into something categorically different. The bezel insert is set with 27 dark blue baguette sapphires in place of the standard ceramic, while 11 baguette-cut diamonds occupy the hour marker positions and a triangle-cut diamond anchors the 12 o'clock. Most striking of all, 92 brilliant-cut diamonds are pavé-set across the case flanks and crown guards — a process that requires hundreds of hours of hand work by Rolex's in-house gem specialists. Powering the watch is the Calibre 3135, Rolex's workhorse self-winding movement offering 48 hours of power reserve, chronometer-certified accuracy, and a paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring.

Among collectors, the 116659SABR occupies a singular position. It retains the full functional specification of the Submariner — 300m water resistance, unidirectional rotating bezel, screw-down crown — while existing as an object of haute joaillerie. Rolex produces these gem-set references in extremely limited numbers, and they surface at auction and in grey-market channels far less frequently than standard references. When they do appear, demand from Middle Eastern, Asian, and royal clientele ensures pricing well above retail.

Tunku Ismail, known internationally as TMJ, is a prolific collector of significant timepieces and has been photographed in everything from understated sports watches to high-complication dress pieces. His choice of the 116659SABR aligns with his public persona — confident, internationally oriented, and comfortable wearing serious horological hardware without ceremony.

At a list price of approximately $92,800 USD, the Rolex Submariner 116659SABR was already inaccessible to most buyers through official AD channels, where allocation is essentially non-existent. On the current grey market, examples trade at roughly $220,000 USD — a premium that reflects both the intrinsic value of the gem-setting and the reference's near-impossibility to source through normal retail.