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Mixed martial artist Conor McGregor spotted wearing Rolex

Conor McGregor, the Irish UFC star turned spirits entrepreneur, was recently photographed wearing one of Rolex's most extravagant production references — the Day-Date 40 in 18k yellow gold, reference 128348RBR, featuring a green ombré dial with factory-set diamonds saturating virtually every surface of the watch.

The 128348RBR sits at the apex of the current Day-Date 40 range. Its 40mm Oyster case is crafted entirely in Rolex's proprietary 18k yellow gold, and the "RBR" suffix signals a baguette-cut diamond bezel — 36 stones set in a channel configuration that replaces the standard fluted or smooth bezel entirely. The President bracelet, Rolex's signature three-piece link design introduced in 1956 and offered exclusively on Day-Date models, is here set with diamonds running through the centre links, a factory option that transforms an already prestigious bracelet into a rolling display of stones. Diamond hour markers complete the picture on a dial whose green ombré finish graduates from a deeper, richer tone at the periphery toward a luminous centre — a relatively recent dial treatment that Rolex introduced to broaden the Day-Date's chromatic vocabulary.

Powering the 128348RBR is the calibre 3255, Rolex's in-house movement introduced in 2015 and now the backbone of the entire Day-Date 40 line. The 3255 features the Chronergy escapement — a nickel-phosphorus lever and escape wheel geometry that improves efficiency by roughly 15 percent over its predecessor — and delivers a 70-hour power reserve certified to COSC chronometer standards and then further regulated by Rolex to its own Superlative Chronometer benchmark of ±2 seconds per day.

Among collectors, the Day-Date has carried the informal title "President's watch" since Dwight Eisenhower received an early example. The fully set 128348RBR represents the reference's most uncompromising expression — appealing less to the restrained end of the collector market and firmly to buyers for whom the Day-Date's presidential symbolism should be worn loudly. McGregor's personal aesthetic aligns precisely with that philosophy; his collection includes multiple high-jewellery Rolexes and bespoke Richard Mille pieces, and the green dial here echoes the Irish tricolour in a way that seems anything but accidental.

At UK list price of £64,500, the 128348RBR is among the priciest catalogue Day-Date 40 configurations, and grey-market premiums remain firm given constrained supply of diamond-set references. Demand from high-net-worth buyers with a taste for maximum-specification yellow gold keeps this reference well above retail on the secondary market.