Watch Paparazzi

Basketball player LeBron James spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

At a high-profile formal appearance, LeBron James — four-time NBA champion and one of basketball's most decorated athletes — stepped out wearing what is arguably the most opulent configuration of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph: a full pavé diamond example in 18-carat white gold, mounted on a black alligator strap. The sighting is entirely consistent with James's established taste for landmark AP references that sit at the intersection of sport and haute horlogerie.

The watch in question is reference 26092BC.ZZ.D002CR.01, the 42mm Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph in white gold with a fully diamond-set case and dial. The octagonal bezel, lugs, case flanks, and crown guards are all pavé-set with brilliant-cut diamonds, continuing onto a dial that itself is entirely covered in stones, interrupted only by three white gold subdial counters — a 30-minute register at 3 o'clock, a 12-hour register at 6 o'clock, and a small seconds at 9 o'clock. A date window sits at 4:30. The tachymeter scale remains legible on the chapter ring, a disciplined engineering detail that grounds the piece in its sporting DNA despite the diamond saturation. Power comes from Calibre 2226/2840, a column-wheel chronograph movement with 40-hour power reserve.

The Royal Oak Offshore was introduced in 1993 as Emmanuel Gueit's deliberately provocative enlargement of Gérald Genta's original 1972 Royal Oak. At 42mm with aggressive case architecture, the Offshore was initially divisive among purists but became one of the defining luxury sport watches of the 2000s and 2010s. The full-pavé white gold variant represents the summit of the Offshore lineup — a piece that required AP's in-house gem-setting atelier to invest hundreds of hours per unit.

For collectors, references like the 26092BC occupy a rarified tier. Full-diamond Offshores rarely appear at retail and, when they do, command immediate attention. The combination of white gold, pavé case, and pavé dial makes this among the most labour-intensive watches in the Offshore family. AP quotes these pieces well into six figures, and grey-market transactions — when they occur — typically match or exceed that figure.

LeBron James has worn Audemars Piguet references publicly for well over a decade, cementing his status as one of the brand's most visible cultural touchpoints outside of formal ambassadorship. This particular sighting adds the full-diamond Offshore to a documented collection that spans Royal Oak codes across multiple generations and metals.