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Footballer Karim Benzema spotted wearing Rolex

Karim Benzema, the Ballon d'Or-winning striker, was recently spotted wearing the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116515LN — a now-discontinued reference that sits squarely in the sweet spot between exotic complication and everyday wearability. The sighting puts a genuinely collectible piece under the spotlight at a moment when the grey market for discontinued Daytona references is particularly active.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116515LN measures 40mm in Rolex's proprietary 18ct Everose gold alloy, an in-house formulation designed to resist fading over time. Inside sits the calibre 4130, Rolex's self-winding chronograph movement featuring a column wheel, vertical clutch, and a 72-hour power reserve — a significant upgrade over the older cam-and-lever architecture. The movement beats at 28,800 vph and carries Rolex's Superlative Chronometer certification, guaranteeing accuracy to ±2 seconds per day. The Oysterflex bracelet, introduced to give the sporty Daytona variants a more contemporary feel, combines a flexible titanium-metal blade with a black elastomer coating and a micro-adjustable folding clasp.

The standout detail is the meteorite dial. Sliced from Gibeon iron-nickel meteorite recovered in Namibia, each dial displays a unique Widmanstätten crystalline pattern formed over billions of years — no two are identical. Rolex pairs the dial with rose gold applied hour markers, contrasting black subdials at three, six, and nine o'clock, and a matching tachymeter bezel. The combination of warm gold tones against the cool, otherworldly grey of the meteorite is one of the more restrained uses of the material in the industry.

Benzema's horological taste has long leaned toward statement pieces, and the 116515LN fits that profile without crossing into ostentation. The reference was part of the broader 116515 family introduced in 2013 and has since been retired in favour of the updated ref. 126515LN, which houses the newer calibre 4131. Discontinuation has sharpened collector interest considerably.

At an official retail price of $35,900 USD, the 116515LN was already positioned at the premium end of the Daytona range. On the secondary market, demand for discontinued rose gold Daytona references keeps grey-market values firm, typically trading at or modestly above retail depending on condition and box-and-papers status.