Golfer Tiger Woods spotted wearing a Rolex

Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters title at Augusta National in April 2019, ending an 11-year major drought that most observers had quietly written off. On his wrist throughout that week — and captured in photographs circulating widely afterward — sat the Rolex DeepSea Sea-Dweller reference 116660 in its distinctive 'James Cameron' dial configuration: a dramatic gradient that bleeds from pitch-black at twelve o'clock to vivid electric blue at six.

The Rolex DeepSea Sea-Dweller ref. 116660 was introduced in 2008, representing a significant engineering escalation beyond the standard Sea-Dweller. At 44mm in diameter and 17.7mm thick, it is purpose-built for professional saturation diving to 3,900 metres — roughly 12,800 feet. The case employs Rolex's proprietary Ringlock System, a nitrogen-alloyed steel compression ring sandwiched between the sapphire crystal and case back, distributing hydrostatic pressure across the architecture rather than concentrating it at a single point. Power comes from the in-house Calibre 3135, a 28,800 vph movement certified as a Superlative Chronometer to ±2 seconds per day. The helium escape valve at nine o'clock remains a functional detail, not a decorative one.

The 'James Cameron' dial variant — formally launched in 2014 — takes its collector nickname from filmmaker and deep-sea explorer James Cameron, who descended to the Mariana Trench's Challenger Deep in March 2012 aboard the Deepsea Challenger submersible. Rolex mounted an experimental watch to the exterior of that vessel; it returned intact from 10,908 metres. The gradient dial references the colour transition from surface light to abyssal darkness and has since become one of the more visually striking executions in the modern Rolex sport catalogue.

For Tiger Woods, the DeepSea represents a considered choice rather than a showy one. Woods has a long-documented relationship with Rolex — the brand has been an official partner throughout much of his career — yet the ref. 116660 reads as a personal preference: a serious tool watch worn by someone who clearly gravitates toward functional understatement even at elite price points. Wearing it during arguably the most watched week of his career gave the reference considerable visibility.

The Rolex DeepSea Sea-Dweller ref. 116660 carried a UK list price of approximately £9,700 at the time of the sighting. On the secondary market, demand has remained steady, with grey-market prices typically trading at a modest premium over retail given the model's broad name recognition and the enduring appeal of the 'James Cameron' dial among sport-watch collectors.