Basketball player Carmelo Anthony spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

NBA forward Carmelo Anthony surfaced on Haute Time's Instagram account — during what was apparently a social media takeover — wearing a timepiece that quietly outranks most of what appears on the wrists of his peers: the Patek Philippe Nautilus Chronograph in rose gold, reference 5980R-001. It is not a watch that announces itself loudly, which is precisely the point.

The Nautilus 5980R-001 sits at the apex of Gerald Genta's iconic 1976 sports-watch design, combining the familiar horizontally embossed dial and integrated octagonal bezel with a complication of genuine mechanical substance. The 40.5mm rose gold case houses caliber CH 28-520 C, a manufacture movement featuring a column wheel, a horizontal clutch, and — critically — a flyback function, allowing the chronograph to be reset and restarted in a single push of the lower pusher. The movement beats at 28,800 vph and offers approximately 45 hours of power reserve. The salmon-toned dial with applied rose gold indices is characteristic of the 5980R configuration, and the integrated rose gold bracelet with deployant clasp completes an entirely coherent case-to-bracelet aesthetic that few manufactures have managed as convincingly.

The reference 5980 was introduced in 2006 as the first Nautilus to incorporate a flyback chronograph, and it immediately became one of the most coveted references in the modern Patek catalogue. Collectors value it for combining the emotional pull of the Nautilus silhouette with a complication that requires genuine engineering discipline to execute in this case thickness. The rose gold iteration, 5980R-001, is the most sought-after variant, appreciated for the warmth it adds to the salmon dial without tipping into ostentation.

Anthony has been one of the more credible watch collectors in professional basketball, gravitating toward Patek Philippe and other serious marques rather than the diamond-set pieces that dominate NBA locker rooms. The Haute Time takeover framed the sighting in a media context that suited the watch — enthusiast-facing, detail-oriented, and specifically interested in the reference number rather than just the logo.

On the secondary market, the 5980R-001 has held its value with considerable resilience, trading well above retail as grey-market demand for integrated-bracelet Patek references in precious metals remains structurally strong. For a watch of this mechanical and material specification, it remains one of the more defensible purchases in the modern Nautilus family.