Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Memphis Depay spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Memphis Depay was spotted on the wrist-watch radar wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon, reference 26560IO, paired with a leather strap — a sighting that confirms the Lyon and Netherlands international's preference for haute horlogerie that sits well beyond the mainstream footballer playbook.

The Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon ref. 26560IO is built around Calibre 2954, a manually wound manufacture movement offering approximately 70 hours of power reserve. The complication stack is formidable: a flying tourbillon positioned at 6 o'clock regulates the timekeeping, while a GMT function allows simultaneous reading of a second time zone via a 24-hour indicator. The skeletonised architecture of the dial lays the entire gear train bare, framed by AP's signature octagonal bezel rendered here in black ceramic with titanium screws. The 44mm case in Grade 5 titanium keeps the watch wearable despite its mechanical density, and the forged carbon case back adds a further layer of contemporary material vocabulary.

Within AP's Royal Oak Concept lineage — a family that has always served as the brand's technical laboratory since its 2002 debut — the GMT Tourbillon occupies a particularly respected position among collectors. The reference 26560 series represents a refined iteration of the Concept architecture, trading some of the earlier generation's raw industrial drama for greater legibility and wearability without compromising the watch's fundamental identity as a skeletonised complication piece. Production numbers are deliberately constrained, making open-market examples difficult to source.

Depay has long demonstrated a genuine collector's instinct rather than simple badge-chasing. His watch choices — AP, Richard Mille, and beyond — reflect an engagement with high complications and avant-garde case design that sits apart from the standard luxury-sport-watch circuit favoured by many of his peers. The Concept GMT Tourbillon, with its uncompromising aesthetic and serious movement credentials, suits his documented taste precisely.

At UK list price of approximately £180,000, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept GMT Tourbillon ref. 26560IO sits at the upper tier of AP's current catalogue. On the secondary market, authorised dealer waitlists and restricted supply keep grey-market premiums elevated, with traded examples regularly achieving figures above retail when they surface at all.