Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Reece James spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

Reece James, Chelsea FC's first-choice right-back and one of the Premier League's most decorated young defenders, was recently spotted wearing the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in 18K rose gold, reference 15407OR — a watch whose secondary-market premium speaks louder than almost any other reference currently in circulation.

The 15407OR is built around AP's Calibre 3132, a self-winding movement engineered with a double balance wheel system in which two balances, connected by a differential gear, average out positional errors caused by gravity and movement. The result is a regulation performance that justifies the complication beyond pure aesthetics. The 41mm rose gold case, with its signature hand-polished and satin-brushed Genta-designed octagonal bezel, frames a fully openworked dial that puts the twin-wheel architecture on complete display. Power reserve sits at approximately 55 hours.

The Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked occupies a specific and coveted position in the Royal Oak family tree. Introduced as a showcase for AP's in-house movement engineering rather than a straightforward skeletonisation exercise, it resonated immediately with collectors who wanted mechanical substance behind the visual drama. The rose gold variant — warmer and rarer than the steel or white gold executions — has consistently outperformed expectations on the secondary market, with demand from athletes, entertainers, and serious collectors converging on a relatively constrained supply.

James has established himself as one of English football's more discerning watch enthusiasts, and the 15407OR is a choice that reflects genuine knowledge of the market rather than defaulting to the obvious. At 24, his collection has drawn attention from watch media well beyond the usual sports-celebrity crossover coverage.

At an official retail price of approximately $81,500 / £61,980, the 15407OR already occupies AP's upper tier, but current grey-market valuations in the region of $395,000 / £300,000 represent a premium of roughly 4.8x retail — a figure that places it among the most inflated references outside of limited steel Royal Oak references. For any collector watching James's wrist, the message is unambiguous.