Footballer Paul Pogba spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Paul Pogba made his presence felt at the Golden Boy Awards not only on the guest list but on the wrist, arriving with an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in full black ceramic — reference 26579CE — drawing attention from anyone within arm's reach of the footballer.

The 26579CE is built around the 41mm black ceramic Royal Oak case, one of the most technically challenging executions in Audemars Piguet's production history. Ceramic at this scale demands precision sintering and finishing that took the Le Brassus manufacture considerable development time to perfect. The case and integrated bracelet are rendered entirely in black ceramic, giving the watch a monolithic, almost architectural presence that distinguishes it sharply from the steel and gold variants in the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar family.

At its heart sits calibre 5134, AP's self-winding perpetual calendar movement operating at 2.75Hz with a 40-hour power reserve. The movement accounts for the lengths of all months, including leap years, and will not require calendar correction until 28 February 2100. The dial presents day, date, month, leap year, and moon phase in AP's signature integrated layout — information-dense but visually disciplined, with the Royal Oak tapisserie guilloche pattern visible beneath the subdials.

The Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar has been a cornerstone of the AP catalogue since Gerald Genta's original case design was adapted for grand complication use. The ceramic iteration, reference 26579CE, is a relatively recent chapter in that story and has proven consistently difficult to obtain through authorised dealers, which goes a considerable way toward explaining its extraordinary secondary market performance.

Pogba has demonstrated a long-standing and well-documented interest in high-end watchmaking, with Audemars Piguet featuring prominently in his collection. Wearing the 26579CE to a football industry awards ceremony is consistent with his approach — choosing technically serious watches over purely decorative ones. At a list price of approximately $83,500 and a grey market value now tracked above $330,000, this is one of the steeper appreciating references in AP's current lineup.