Rapper Drake spotted wearing a Rolex

Drake stepped into the promotional cycle for his seventh studio album, 'Honestly Nevermind,' with a wrist statement that commanded as much attention as the record itself — a factory-jewelled Rolex Daytona in 18K yellow gold, reference 116568BR, positioned firmly at the intersection of haute horlogerie and rap-world excess.

The 116568BR is built on the Daytona's well-established 40mm Oystersteel architecture, here executed entirely in 18K yellow gold. Its most striking features are factory-set: 24 baguette-cut diamonds ring the bezel in place of the standard tachymetre scale, while 8 brilliant-cut diamonds serve as hour markers against a mother-of-pearl dial. Rolex supplies the piece with its calibre 4130 automatic movement — a column-wheel chronograph with vertical clutch, offering approximately 72 hours of power reserve and COSC chronometer certification. The movement is as serious as the case is flamboyant.

From a collector standpoint, the 116568BR occupies a specific and deliberate niche. Rolex does not produce jewellery Daytonas in large numbers, and the baguette-diamond bezel variant in yellow gold is among the rarest configurations in the current catalogue. It is not a piece that trades heavily on the secondary market in the way the stainless steel 116500LN does, but when examples do surface, they carry a significant premium — current grey-market estimates place the reference at approximately $250,000, reflecting both scarcity and the intrinsic value of the stone-setting work.

Drake — born Aubrey Drake Graham — has built one of the most-documented watch collections in contemporary hip-hop, with Patek Philippe grand complications, AP Royal Oaks, and bespoke Rolexes appearing regularly across his social media. The choice of the 116568BR during an album release fits a deliberate aesthetic narrative: the record's Miami-influenced, house-inflected sound was matched by an equally ostentatious visual identity.

At retail, the Rolex Daytona 116568BR is listed at prices that reflect its precious-metal and diamond content — typically in the $70,000–$80,000 range at authorised dealers, though allocation is extremely limited and public retail pricing is rarely advertised. The grey-market premium of roughly three times that figure underscores how tightly Rolex controls supply on its jewellery-grade references.