Footballer Marouane Fellaini spotted wearing a Patek Philippe

Marouane Fellaini, the Belgian midfielder whose towering presence and legendary afro made him one of European football's most recognisable figures, was photographed wearing a Patek Philippe Aquanaut Ref. 5168G during his time with Shandong Luneng Taishan in the Chinese Super League. The watch is immediately identifiable thanks to its khaki green dial and matching composite strap — a combination that looks effortlessly casual while sitting in one of watchmaking's most prestigious houses.

The Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G is built around a 42.2mm 18K white gold case with a sapphire crystal caseback, offering water resistance to 120 metres. Inside beats the Calibre 324 S C, a self-winding movement with a 45-hour power reserve, running at 28,800 vph. The movement features a rotor in 21K gold and is finished to Patek's exacting standards. The embossed dial — Patek calls the pattern "Aquanaut" — mirrors the octagonal bezel structure first introduced with the reference 5060A back in 1997, a design conceived by Patek in-house as a more accessible, younger-skewing counterpart to the Nautilus.

What makes the 5168G particularly interesting to collectors is the tension between its materials and its attitude. White gold is a precious-metal choice typically reserved for dress watches, yet the Aquanaut's design philosophy is rooted in sport and casual wear. The khaki dial variant amplifies that contradiction — earthy, military-inflected, and worn on a rubber-feel strap rather than a bracelet. That friction is precisely what drives its appeal on the secondary market.

Fellaini has long been known for strong off-pitch style, and the 5168G fits his aesthetic: understated in brand terms to the uninitiated, but deeply considered for anyone who knows watches. It is not the flashiest object in the Patek range, which is arguably the point.

At UK list price, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut 5168G retails around £33,700. On the grey market, demand for white gold Aquanaut references with green dials has consistently pushed prices above retail, reflecting the broader collector appetite for Patek sports references in precious metal configurations.