Watch Paparazzi

Entrepreneur Alan Sugar spotted wearing Rolex

Lord Alan Sugar, the East London-born billionaire entrepreneur and star of the BBC's long-running The Apprentice, was recently spotted with a brand-new Rolex Submariner Date in 18ct yellow gold, reference 116618LB — a watch he acquired as a deliberate purchase rather than a gifted piece, which makes the sighting all the more telling about his personal taste.

The Rolex Submariner Date 116618LB sits at the top of the Submariner family hierarchy. Its 40mm Oyster case is crafted entirely from 18ct yellow gold, paired with a blue dial featuring applied hour markers in the same metal and a unidirectional rotatable bezel fitted with a blue Cerachrom ceramic insert. Water resistance is rated to 300 metres — fully functional as a dive instrument — while the calibre 3135 movement inside delivers 28,800 vph, a 48-hour power reserve, and Rolex's Parachrom hairspring for improved shock and magnetic resistance. The Oyster bracelet with Glidelock extension system completes a package that is every bit as engineered as it is ornate.

Within the collector community, the 116618LB occupies an interesting position. Submariner purists have always debated whether an all-gold iteration contradicts the tool-watch ethos the model was built on when it launched in 1953. That debate is largely academic: the reference has maintained consistent demand, particularly among buyers who want Rolex's most iconic silhouette rendered in maximum-statement form. The blue-on-gold combination proved more popular on the secondary market than its white gold sibling, the 116619LB.

Alan Sugar's profile makes the choice coherent. The Amstrad founder and Spurs former chairman built a reputation on direct, unsentimental business success, and he has never hidden his appreciation for the fruits of that success. A gold Submariner is not a watch for someone trying to fly under the radar — it is, by design, the opposite — and Sugar has never shown much interest in understatement.

The Rolex Submariner Date 116618LB carried a UK retail price of approximately £22,900 during its production run. It has since been discontinued and replaced by the updated 126618LB, which features the larger 41mm case and calibre 3235. That transition pushed grey-market values for the 116618LB upward, with clean examples regularly trading above their original retail price among collectors who prefer the classic 40mm proportions.