Watch Paparazzi

Athlete Emil Iversen spotted wearing Rolex

Norwegian cross-country skiing world champion Emil Iversen was spotted aboard a speedboat — likely Lake Geneva given the alpine shoreline — wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in stainless steel with a black dial. The casual, sun-soaked setting made the watch unmistakable: the glint of an Oyster bracelet and the distinctive three-register chronograph layout are clearly visible on his wrist, consistent with the reference 116500LN.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN, introduced at Baselworld 2016, marked a watershed moment for the iconic racing chronograph. It was the first Daytona to feature Rolex's proprietary Cerachrom ceramic bezel — scratch-resistant, virtually fade-proof, and finished to a depth that Rolex's earlier aluminium bezels could never achieve. Powering the watch is the Calibre 4130, a column-wheel, vertical-clutch movement developed entirely in-house that delivers 72 hours of power reserve and COSC chronometer certification. Case diameter sits at 40mm with a tachymetric scale integrated into the black ceramic bezel ring.

Collectors and enthusiasts have obsessed over this reference since launch. The 116500LN — particularly in the black dial configuration nicknamed the "Panda's evil twin" by some — commands persistent grey-market premiums that have fluctuated between 1.5x and 2.5x retail over its production life. Getting one at list price from an authorized dealer remains a genuine achievement, making it simultaneously a horological icon and a litmus test of one's relationship with a Rolex AD.

Emil Iversen has claimed multiple World Championship medals and World Cup titles in cross-country skiing, disciplines that demand extraordinary endurance and precision — qualities that map neatly onto Rolex's longstanding association with motorsport and high-performance timing. Iversen's choice of the Daytona over the brand's more expected sporting references — the Explorer or GMT-Master II — signals a collector's sensibility rather than a purely lifestyle-driven pick.

At retail the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN in Oystersteel with black dial lists at approximately $14,550 USD, but on the secondary market the reality is starkly different: grey-market prices for unworn examples have hovered in the $28,000–$34,000 range through 2024, underscoring why this remains one of the most financially consequential wristwatches in the modern stainless-steel segment.