Cricketer Hardik Pandya spotted wearing a Rolex

Hardik Pandya, one of Indian cricket's most recognisable and flamboyant personalities, was photographed on his birthday wearing the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 116595RBOW — a watch that sits at the absolute apex of Rolex's jewellery-sports crossover output. It is a sighting that tells you everything you need to know about how Pandya approaches personal style: deliberately, expensively, and without apology.

The 116595RBOW is built on the standard 40mm Daytona case but executed entirely in 18kt Everose gold, Rolex's proprietary rose gold alloy formulated to resist fading. The bezel is set with 36 baguette-cut sapphires arranged in a carefully graduated rainbow spectrum — transitioning from violet through blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Eleven further baguette-cut rainbow sapphires serve as hour markers on the dial, which itself is pavé-set with diamonds. The movement inside is the calibre 4130, Rolex's in-house chronograph with a column wheel, vertical clutch, and a 72-hour power reserve — a serious piece of engineering beneath all that colour. The pushers and crown are set with yet more stones, making the 116595RBOW one of the most gem-intensive references in the current Rolex catalogue.

From a collector standpoint, the Rainbow Daytona occupies a peculiar and powerful position. First introduced as the reference 116598RBOW in yellow gold in 2012, the Everose variant followed and both have become benchmark grail watches — simultaneously derided by purists for their ostentation and aggressively hunted by a younger, wealth-driven collector demographic. Authorised dealer waitlists are effectively theoretical; almost no one buys this reference at retail.

Pandya, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and has represented India across all formats, has built a public persona in which luxury watches feature prominently. He is among a cohort of Indian cricketers — alongside Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni — who have elevated watch culture visibility in South Asian sports media considerably over the past decade.

At UK list price the 116595RBOW sits at approximately £72,000, translating to roughly $91,000 USD at time of writing. On the secondary market, however, demand consistently drives the grey-market price well above that — reflecting a watch that functions as both jewellery and one of the most recognisable status objects in contemporary horology.