Footballer Riccardo Saponara spotted wearing a Rolex

Riccardo Saponara, the technically gifted midfielder currently turning out for Serie A side US Lecce, was recently spotted wearing what any seasoned collector would immediately clock as a serious piece: a yellow gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6263 with bakelite bezel and champagne-toned chronograph registers. It is the kind of wrist choice that separates casual luxury watch wearers from genuine enthusiasts.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6263 was produced from the early 1970s through to 1988, powered by the Valjoux 727 hand-wound movement — a robust, column-wheel chronograph calibre with a solid reputation for reliability. The defining technical feature of the 6263 over its sibling ref. 6262 is the screw-down pushers, which improved water resistance and gave the case a purposeful, tool-watch aesthetic. The 37mm yellow gold case is paired here with a bakelite bezel, the thermosetting plastic that ages unpredictably and is notoriously fragile — a cracked or replaced bezel can halve a watch's value overnight. Champagne subdials on a gold case represent one of the most harmonious dial configurations Rolex ever offered on this reference.

For collectors, the ref. 6263 in yellow gold with an intact, uncracked bakelite bezel and original champagne dials occupies rarefied territory. Condition is everything: originality of the bezel, the patina of the dial, and the tritium plots all factor into valuation. A well-preserved example with matching components commands strong premiums even within the already elevated vintage Daytona market. Paul Newman associations aside, the standard-dial gold 6263 has built its own devoted collector following.

Saponara has long been associated with an appreciation of fine objects off the pitch, and this sighting reinforces that. A footballer who reaches for a pre-ceramic, manually wound Daytona over a modern reference is making a deliberate, informed statement — not simply buying the most expensive thing available.

On the grey market, yellow gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6263 examples with original bakelite bezels and desirable dial configurations regularly trade between $80,000 and $150,000 depending on condition, provenance, and completeness. A pristine champagne-dial example with box and papers can push well beyond that ceiling. There was no retail equivalent — this reference has long been out of production.