Watch Paparazzi

Singer Maluma spotted wearing Rolex

Maluma — born Juan Luis Londoño Arias — was recently spotted wearing one of Rolex's most extravagant factory-set configurations: the Day-Date 36 reference 128349RBR in 18K white gold, dripping in chromatic baguette diamonds from bezel to bracelet. For a performer who has built an aesthetic brand around unapologetic opulence, the choice is entirely on-character.

The Rolex Day-Date 36 ref. 128349RBR sits at the extreme end of the manufacture's gem-setting programme. The 36mm case and signature President bracelet are crafted entirely in 18K white gold, while the dial is finished in full diamond pavé — hundreds of brilliant-cut stones set flush across the entire surface. The hour markers are factory-set rainbow baguette-cut diamonds, each individually calibrated for colour sequence, progressing through the spectrum around the dial. The bezel receives the same treatment, and crucially, the centre links of the President bracelet are also set with diamonds — a detail that separates the RBR configuration from lesser gem variants and dramatically increases the stone count and production complexity. Powering it all is the Rolex calibre 3255, a manufacture movement offering a 70-hour power reserve, Chronergy escapement, and Superlative Chronometer certification to ±2 seconds per day.

The Day-Date line has carried political and cultural weight since its 1956 debut as the first wristwatch to display the full day of the week spelled out — a feature still exclusive to the line today. The 36mm case size, ref. 128349RBR specifically, was introduced as part of the current-generation Day-Date 36 family and represents Rolex's most involved in-house gem-setting work. Collectors and the trade refer to the rainbow baguette variants simply as "rainbow" references, and they have become among the most aggressively sought Rolex configurations on the secondary market over the past decade.

Maluma occupies a space in Latin pop where fashion and jewellery are genuine artistic statements, not afterthoughts. His watch choices — frequently Rolex, frequently heavily set — are consistent with that identity. The 128349RBR is not a subtle flex; it is a deliberate, informed one.

At retail, the Rolex Day-Date 36 ref. 128349RBR lists at approximately $135,000 USD. On the current grey market, demand for rainbow baguette Day-Dates consistently pushes values above list, with the 128349RBR trading at roughly $177,000 — a premium that reflects both constrained supply and sustained collector appetite for Rolex's most jewelled executions.