Watch Paparazzi

Musician DJ Khaled spotted wearing Rolex

DJ Khaled was recently spotted in the company of boxing legend Mike Tyson, and while the occasion drew attention on its own terms, watch observers locked onto something arguably rarer than the guest list: a platinum Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 116506 secured to Khaled's wrist. The ref. 116506 was discontinued by Rolex, making every public sighting a reminder of how finite the supply truly is.

Introduced in 2013 as Rolex's first platinum Daytona, the 116506 houses the in-house caliber 4130 — a column-wheel chronograph movement with a vertical clutch, 72-hour power reserve, and a frequency of 28,800 vph. The 40mm platinum case frames an ice blue dial, a color Rolex reserves exclusively for its platinum pieces, creating an immediate visual hierarchy within the Daytona family. Eight baguette-cut diamond hour markers replace the standard applied indices, adding a haute joaillerie dimension to an already exceptional sports chronograph. The defining detail, however, is the brown Cerachrom bezel: a direct consequence of platinum's chemical interaction with the ceramic sintering process, producing a tone that cannot be replicated in any other metal. It is, in short, an accident of metallurgy that became one of the most coveted aesthetic signatures in modern watchmaking.

Among collectors, the Rolex Daytona 116506 occupies a position just below the legendary Paul Newman dials in terms of cultural weight, but arguably above them in terms of material rarity. Platinum Daytonas surface infrequently at auction and even less frequently on wrists in daily wear, which makes Khaled's casual deployment of one all the more notable. The reference was produced in limited numbers across its production run and has not been replaced on a like-for-like basis.

DJ Khaled has long operated at the intersection of hip-hop culture and ultra-luxury horology, routinely wearing pieces that function as both personal statements and collector benchmarks. Seeing the 116506 on his wrist alongside Mike Tyson — himself a figure synonymous with outsized luxury — underscores the watch's status as a genuine trophy piece rather than a brand exercise.

On the current grey market, the platinum Rolex Daytona ref. 116506 commands approximately $150,000, a significant premium over any steel or gold Daytona variant and a figure that reflects both the discontinued status and the material cost of the case itself. For a watch that retailed at a fraction of that price, the secondary market tells its own story.