Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Lucas Leiva spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Following Liverpool's commanding 3-0 victory over Manchester City, Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva was photographed wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus Annual Calendar, reference 5726A/001 — a watch that quietly outclasses the more conspicuous choices often favored in professional football circles.

The 5726A/001 sits at one of the most technically compelling intersections in Patek Philippe's catalogue. Its 40.5mm stainless steel case follows the horizontally embossed octagonal bezel and integrated bracelet architecture that Gerald Genta originally designed for Patek in 1976, but the dial tells a more sophisticated story. The warm slate-blue surface carries apertures for day, date, and month, anchored by a precision moon phase display accurate to one day in 122 years. The engine beneath is Calibre 324 S QA LU — a self-winding movement with 45-hour power reserve, annual calendar mechanism, and lunar complication, all contained in a 40.5mm case that wears slimmer than its specification suggests.

Launched in 2006, the reference 5726A represents Patek Philippe's deliberate effort to bring serious complication into the Nautilus sports context without compromising wearability. The annual calendar complication — patented by Patek in 1996 — distinguishes the 5726 from its siblings: it automatically accounts for 30- and 31-day months, requiring only a single correction each March 1st. Collectors regard it as the definitive complication Nautilus, sitting above the 5711 in mechanical hierarchy while remaining more understated than the perpetual calendar references.

Leiva, who spent a decade at Liverpool before moving to Lazio, has long cultivated a reputation as one of football's more thoughtful professionals. The 5726A/001 is a fitting reflection of that image — a technically serious watch worn without ostentation, in steel rather than precious metal.

On the market, the 5726A/001 carries a retail price of approximately $48,000 USD in the United States. Grey-market demand has pushed actual transaction prices considerably higher, with steel examples regularly trading between $70,000 and $90,000 depending on condition and papers — a premium driven by Patek's curtailed steel production and sustained collector demand for complication Nautilus references.