Royal Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim spotted wearing a Rolex

Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince of Johor and one of Southeast Asia's most high-profile watch and car collectors, was recently photographed wearing a heavily personalised Rolex Cosmograph Daytona — a piece that sits at the intersection of haute horology and classic American muscle car culture. The customisation was executed by Wildman, a specialist atelier known for transforming production references into one-of-a-kind collector objects, and the thematic brief was unambiguous: translate HRH's legendary 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 'Eleanor' onto steel and dial.

The base reference is the Rolex Daytona 116500LN — introduced in 2016 and widely regarded as the most significant Daytona since the Paul Newman-era references of the late 1960s. Its defining feature is the black Cerachrom ceramic bezel, replacing decades of metal bezels and offering near-total scratch and UV resistance. The case measures 40mm in Oystersteel, housing Rolex's proprietary Calibre 4130 — a column-wheel, vertical clutch chronograph movement with a 72-hour power reserve and COSC-certified chronometric precision. The black dial variant, as worn here, presents three sub-registers in a panda-inverted configuration against a deep anthracite background.

The Wildman customisation elevates this already exceptional reference into singular territory. Details visible on the dial appear to incorporate Eleanor-specific livery cues — grey metallic tones echoing the Mustang's fastback bodywork, with caseback engraving reportedly depicting the car itself. This type of bespoke commission is increasingly sought by ultra-high-net-worth collectors who treat watches as wearable autobiography rather than mere status signalling.

Tunku Ismail is no casual collector. His public persona is defined by an unusually candid engagement with his passions — supercars, motorcycles, and watches among them — and he has previously been spotted wearing everything from Royal Oak Chronographs to Richard Mille pilots' pieces. That he chose to commission a deeply personal Daytona tribute to Eleanor speaks to genuine emotional connection with the marque and the machine.

On the market, the standard 116500LN in black dial trades significantly above list price — grey market premiums have historically pushed it to $30,000–$40,000 USD. A Wildman-customised example with documented royal provenance would command a multiple of that figure at auction, making this piece as much a financial asset as a personal heirloom.