Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo spotted wearing Garmin

Cristiano Ronaldo is rarely photographed without a six-figure timepiece on his wrist, which makes this sighting all the more telling. During a training session with Juventus FC, the Portuguese forward was spotted wearing a Garmin Forerunner 735XT — a no-nonsense multisport GPS watch retailing for under $500 and built entirely around athletic performance rather than horological prestige.

Launched in 2016, the Garmin Forerunner 735XT was designed as a do-everything endurance tool. It runs on Garmin's MediaTek-based GPS chipset with optical wrist heart rate via Elevate sensor technology, supports swim, bike, and run disciplines natively, and logs metrics including cadence, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, VO2 max estimation, and lactate threshold. The 735XT weighs just 38.4 grams, features a 1.23-inch sunlight-readable display, and delivers up to 11 hours in GPS mode or 14 days in smartwatch mode. Its MIP (Memory-in-Pixel) display technology remains highly legible in direct sunlight — a practical advantage on a sun-drenched Italian training pitch.

From a collector standpoint, the Forerunner 735XT holds no investment value — Garmin's product cycles move fast, and the model has since been superseded by the Forerunner 745 and 945 lines. Its significance here is not monetary but contextual: it reveals a professional athlete trusting a mid-range fitness device over any luxury option during serious preparation work. The 735XT was widely adopted by elite triathletes and runners at the time precisely because its data accuracy and form factor were considered best-in-class.

Ronaldo's approach to physical fitness is extensively documented. The forward has been cited by sports scientists and nutritionists as one of the most condition-conscious players in professional football, reportedly sleeping in multiple short cycles and maintaining exceptionally low body fat. That he would reach for a Garmin rather than a luxury smartwatch during structured training is entirely consistent with that ethos — this is a working tool, not a fashion statement.

The Forerunner 735XT originally retailed at approximately $449 USD. The model is now discontinued, and grey-market units trade well below retail on secondary platforms. For those following Ronaldo's luxury watch collection — which spans Rolex, Hublot, Jacob & Co., and Franck Muller — the Garmin is an outlier, and perhaps the most honest watch he has ever worn.