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Entrepreneur Giancarlo Giammetti spotted wearing Rolex

An archival photograph of Giancarlo Giammetti, the business architect behind one of fashion's great empires, has surfaced showing the Valentino co-founder wearing a yellow gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 6265 with a champagne dial and riveted Oyster bracelet. The image is undated but the bracelet detail alone tells a story — riveted center links were phased out in the early-to-mid 1970s, suggesting this is an early example of the ref. 6265 production run.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6265 represented Rolex's flagship chronograph offering throughout much of the 1970s and into the 1980s. Powered by the manually wound Valjoux 727 — a column-wheel movement with a horizontal clutch — it delivered 17 jewels and a 48-hour power reserve. The case measured 37mm in stainless steel or, as here, in 18-karat yellow gold. The champagne dial variant, with its warm, tonal registers and applied gold indices, is among the most elegant executions of the model and considerably rarer than its stainless steel counterparts.

For collectors, the yellow gold ref. 6265 occupies a specific and highly contested corner of the vintage Daytona market. Gold examples were produced in far smaller numbers than steel, and the champagne dial configuration — as opposed to the more commonly seen black or white — adds a meaningful premium. The riveted bracelet, if original and complete, is itself a significant find, as these early Oyster bracelets are frequently missing or replaced. A fully matching example in this configuration is the kind of watch that serious auction houses compete aggressively to consign.

Giammetti's taste is consistent with the piece. As the operational and strategic partner to Valentino Garavani for over five decades, he helped build one of couture's defining houses, moving in circles where understated luxury was the only currency that mattered. A gold Daytona — not a gem-set dress watch, not a complicated tourbillon, but a functional, beautifully proportioned sports chronograph in precious metal — says exactly the right thing about its wearer.

On the current grey market, yellow gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6265 examples with champagne dials command significant sums depending on condition, dial originality, and bracelet completeness. Auction results from Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's have placed strong examples well into six figures, reflecting the sustained collector appetite for vintage gold Daytonas that shows no sign of cooling.