Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Drake spotted wearing Rolex

Drake touched down in Miami wearing what is arguably the most opulent production Daytona Rolex has ever released — the Ref. 116568BR in 18K yellow gold, green dial, and a factory-set baguette diamond bezel. No aftermarket jeweller touched this watch; every stone was set at Rolex's own workshops in Geneva, a point of provenance that matters enormously to serious collectors.

The 116568BR is built on the Daytona platform that debuted with the Cal. 4130 movement in 2000 — a Rolex-manufactured, column-wheel chronograph with a vertical clutch, offering 72 hours of power reserve and a 28,800 vph beat rate. The 40mm oyster case in 18K yellow gold houses a green lacquered dial with three subsidiary registers in matching tones. The bezel, rather than the standard engraved tachymeter, carries 24 baguette-cut diamonds channel-set by Rolex's in-house gem-setting division, a process requiring exceptional precision given the rectangular cut's unforgiving geometry.

Within the Daytona collector community, the 116568BR occupies a narrow tier. Standard steel and even two-tone Daytonas are scarce enough, but factory jewelled gold references represent a fraction of total production. The green dial configuration — as opposed to black, white, or champagne — is among the least frequently encountered, and the combination of yellow gold, green dial, and baguette bezel in factory specification is genuinely uncommon on the secondary market in any condition.

Drake has assembled one of hip-hop's most technically literate watch collections, regularly photographed in references that reflect genuine horological knowledge rather than simple brand recognition. The 116568BR fits a pattern: he consistently gravitates toward pieces where Rolex's own craft, not a third-party jeweller, does the heavy lifting.

At retail the 116568BR listed at approximately $67,000 — already a significant number. On the current grey market the piece trades at roughly $390,000, a near six-fold premium that reflects both chronic supply scarcity and sustained collector demand for factory-jewelled Rolex chronographs. For a watch that functions as a fully certified, serviced Rolex chronograph first and a jewellery piece second, that valuation is difficult to argue with.