Watch Paparazzi

Baseball player CC Sabathia Jr spotted wearing Rolex

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia Jr was photographed at what appears to be a Cinco de Mayo event, his left wrist carrying what is unmistakably a full 18kt yellow gold Rolex Sky-Dweller — champagne dial, fluted bezel, Oyster bracelet, the whole monochromatic gold package. For a man who earned over $246 million during his MLB career, the choice tracks perfectly.

The Sky-Dweller ref. 326938 is Rolex's most technically ambitious sports-adjacent watch. Beneath the 42mm yellow gold case beats the in-house Calibre 9001, a 12-patent movement offering a bi-directional annual calendar via a peripheral ring display, an off-center 24-hour GMT disc for a second time zone, and the ingenious Ring Command bezel — rotating the fluted bezel through three positions to switch between setting functions without a dedicated pusher. It winds at 28,800 vph and carries a 72-hour power reserve. The champagne dial with Arabic numerals on the yellow gold ref. 326938 is the purest expression of the model — no two-tone compromise, no contrasting metals.

Collectors regard the Sky-Dweller with a mixture of admiration and pragmatism. It is technically the most sophisticated watch in the Rolex catalog outside the Cellini Dual Time, yet its complexity is largely invisible in daily wear. The annual calendar corrects itself for months of 30 days, requiring manual adjustment only once a year — February 28th. For frequent travelers, the GMT function is genuinely useful. The full yellow gold configuration commands premium positioning even within the Sky-Dweller range.

Sabathia, a six-time All-Star and 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, built one of the more decorated careers in modern MLB pitching history. His watch choices over the years have consistently leaned toward heavy-hitter Rolex references — appropriate for a man who anchored the Yankees rotation for over a decade.

At retail, the 326938 in yellow gold with champagne dial listed around $46,650 USD before Rolex's periodic price adjustments. On the secondary market, demand for full yellow gold Sky-Dwellers has remained firm, with grey market values consistently trading at or modestly above retail, reflecting both the model's restricted production and sustained collector interest in gold sports references.