Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Kanye West spotted wearing Rolex

Kanye West was spotted on the wrist with a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph in 18k yellow gold, reference 116518-0073 — one of the more theatrically beautiful dial variants in the modern Daytona catalogue. The combination of warm yellow gold and the shifting, organic iridescence of a black Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial gives the watch an immediate visual weight that few chronographs can match.

The Rolex Daytona ref. 116518 was introduced in the early 2000s as part of the brand's precious-metal Daytona family, powered by the in-house calibre 4130 — a self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement that Rolex developed to replace the Zenith El Primero base used in earlier references. The cal. 4130 offers approximately 72 hours of power reserve, a vertical clutch for clean chronograph starts, and a free-sprung Microstella balance wheel for precision. At 40mm in 18k yellow gold with the Oysterflex-adjacent black alligator strap, this reference 116518-0073 sits squarely at the intersection of sports chronograph and luxury dress watch.

The mother-of-pearl dial variants of the Daytona have always occupied a particular niche among collectors — desirable enough to command premiums over standard configurations, yet polarising enough that they circulate more freely on the secondary market than steel Daytonas. The black Tahitian MOP specifically benefits from dramatic depth and colour-play under varied lighting, and the applied gold Roman numeral hour markers reinforce the precious-metal ethos throughout. It is a cohesive, deliberate design rather than a casual upgrade.

Kanye West has long been associated with Rolex across multiple references, wearing everything from stainless steel sports models to heavily customised pieces. His choice of the ref. 116518-0073 here signals a moment of relative restraint — factory-original, architecturally sound, and aligned with the yellow gold aesthetic he has favoured across different creative periods.

At official retail the Rolex Daytona ref. 116518-0073 carried a list price in the mid-thirty-thousand-dollar range. On the grey market, yellow gold Daytona references with exotic dials have historically traded at or just above retail — a reflection of the model's sustained demand without the extreme scarcity premiums attached to steel variants. For a watch of this specification, that remains a compelling value proposition in the precious-metal chronograph segment.