Watch Paparazzi

Footballer James Rodriguez spotted wearing Audemars Piguet

James Rodríguez was celebrating one of the finest individual seasons of his career — the Best Midfielder award in La Liga 2014/15 — when he was spotted wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver in stainless steel, reference 15710ST. The choice was fitting: a serious watch for a man at the peak of his professional game.

The Royal Oak Offshore Diver 15710ST sits in a distinct corner of the AP catalogue, one that blends Gerald Genta's iconic octagonal bezel with genuine dive-watch credentials. The 42mm stainless steel case is rated to 300 metres water resistance, a specification achieved through a screw-down crown and reinforced case architecture. Inside beats the Calibre 3120, AP's fully in-house automatic movement featuring a 60-hour power reserve, 21,600 vph frequency, and a 22-carat gold rotor. The movement is finished to a standard — anglaged bridges, perlage, Geneva stripes — that far exceeds what is strictly necessary in a dive watch, which is precisely the point.

The 15710ST was introduced in the mid-2000s as part of the broader Offshore family expansion and remained in production long enough to develop genuine collector traction. Its dial variants — blue, black, orange, green — attract different followings, though the cleaner configurations in steel consistently hold value. The skeletonised or open-worked versions of the Offshore Diver line command premiums, but the 15710ST in its solid-dial guise remains the entry point that most collectors recommend as a first serious AP.

Rodríguez's affinity for high-end watchmaking is well documented. During his time at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on loan, he was regularly photographed with significant pieces. The Offshore Diver suits his public profile: recognisable to a general audience through the Offshore's aggressive case geometry, yet technically substantive enough to satisfy an informed collector.

On the secondary market, the 15710ST in stainless steel trades in a range that reflects both AP's brand heat and the Offshore Diver's position as a gateway reference. Demand has remained stable as AP has continued to thin its steel Royal Oak allocation globally, making pre-owned examples increasingly attractive to buyers priced out of newer releases.