Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Jermaine Defoe spotted wearing Rolex

Jermaine Defoe, the prolific English striker whose career spanned Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Portsmouth and the Canadian Premier League among others, has been photographed wearing one of Rolex's most mechanically complex wristwatches — the Sky-Dweller in two-tone Rolesor with a black dial, consistent with reference 326933.

Introduced at Baselworld 2012, the Rolex Sky-Dweller represented the brand's most ambitious in-house complication in decades. The watch houses the calibre 9001, a 72-hour power reserve movement featuring two core horological complications: an annual calendar with off-centre month display using twelve apertures around the chapter ring, and a dual time zone function indicated via an off-centre 24-hour disc. The fluted bezel, here executed in 18ct yellow gold, doubles as the Ring Command bezel — rotating it allows the wearer to switch between the three setting modes without a pusher. It is arguably the most intuitive complication interface Rolex has ever engineered.

The reference 326933 combines an Oystersteel case measuring 42mm with an 18ct yellow gold fluted bezel and Oyster bracelet alternating steel and gold links — the classic Rolesor combination. The black lacquer dial with gold applied indices reinforces the warm contrast. Producing a 42mm case was itself noteworthy for Rolex at the time, marking one of the brand's largest sporting references.

Among collectors, the Sky-Dweller occupies an interesting position: it is technically the most complex watch in the Rolex catalogue yet is often overshadowed in conversation by the Daytona or Paul Newman variants. That creates genuine value for buyers who prioritise movement sophistication over pure desirability optics. The two-tone configuration on the 326933 remains the most popular variant in the secondary market.

Defoe, now retired from professional football, earned 57 England caps and scored 20 international goals — a record bettered by only a handful of English players. His choice of a Sky-Dweller in Rolesor reflects both the understated confidence of someone who has nothing left to prove and an eye for a watch that rewards those who understand what sits beneath the dial. Retail pricing sits around $15,950 USD, while the grey market has pushed values considerably higher.