Watch Paparazzi

Boxer Andre Berto spotted wearing Rolex

Andre Berto was photographed in relaxed pre-fight company, wrist-forward, showing off a full 18ct yellow gold Rolex Sky-Dweller in the hours leading up to his September 12, 2015 showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas — the fight that became Mayweather's celebrated 49-0 curtain call. It was a big night for boxing, and Berto arrived wearing one of Rolex's most serious horological statements.

The watch in question is the Rolex Sky-Dweller reference 326938, presented entirely in 18ct yellow gold on an Oyster bracelet with a champagne dial. Launched at Baselworld 2012, the Sky-Dweller was Rolex's first new complication in over 20 years. It houses the in-house Calibre 9001, a self-winding movement with 72 hours of power reserve, a Saros annual calendar system — which automatically distinguishes 30-day from 31-day months — and an off-centre 24-hour ring for a second time zone. The fluted 42mm bezel doubles as a functional selector, allowing wearers to set the three complications via the crown using the Ring Command system, a genuinely innovative engineering solution.

Among collectors, the full yellow gold 326938 occupies a specific and unapologetic position: it is conspicuously luxurious in a way that steel or even Rolesor variants are not. The champagne dial, with its applied Arabic numerals and the subtly layered inner disc for the annual calendar, reads with clarity despite the considerable visual complexity underneath. This is a watch that rewards close inspection.

For Andre Berto, a two-time WBO welterweight champion of Haitian descent who fought professionally at the highest level for over a decade, the Sky-Dweller is a fitting choice. It projects success without ostentation for the sake of it — there is genuine mechanical substance behind the gold case. Berto's willingness to wear a reference that most watch buyers wouldn't immediately recognize speaks to a collector sensibility rather than pure status signaling.

On the secondary market, the 326938 in yellow gold has held its value firmly. Retail positioning places it well above entry-level Rolex, and grey-market demand — particularly for full-gold configurations — remains consistently strong among buyers who understand what the Cal. 9001 represents in Rolex's catalogue.