Footballer Benjamin Mendy spotted wearing a Rolex

Benjamin Mendy, the French international left-back who made his name at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, was photographed wearing the stainless steel Rolex GMT-Master II reference 126710BLNR — one of the most coveted sports-watch references of the modern era and a piece that proved almost impossible to acquire at retail the moment it launched.

Rolex introduced the 126710BLNR at Baselworld 2019, pairing the fan-favourite blue-and-black ceramic 'Batman' bezel — itself introduced on the reference 116710BLNR in 2013 — with the elegant five-link Jubilee bracelet for the first time on a GMT-Master II. The move was a deliberate historical callback: the very first GMT-Master models of the 1950s wore Jubilee bracelets. The 40mm Oystersteel case houses the in-house Calibre 3285, a movement that represented a genuine engineering step forward over its predecessor, offering a 70-hour power reserve, Rolex's Chronergy escapement for improved efficiency, and a redesigned rapid-setting GMT hand mechanism with a stop-seconds function for precise time-zone adjustment.

For collectors, the 126710BLNR occupies a singular position. The combination of the bi-colour ceramic Cerachrom bezel — scratch-resistant and UV-stable — with the Jubilee bracelet elevated what had been a purely tool-watch proposition into something considerably more versatile in terms of wrist presence. Waiting lists at authorised dealers stretched to years from the moment the reference was announced, and grey-market premiums reflected demand that Rolex's controlled production could not satisfy.

Mendy has long been known for an expressive personal style off the pitch, and the GMT-Master II 126710BLNR fits a profile favoured by footballers who want horological credibility without the overt showmanship of a gem-set dial. The 'Batman' colourway — blue and black — is assertive but restrained by modern sports-watch standards.

At a UK list price of approximately £7,150, the 126710BLNR is nominally accessible by luxury-watch standards, but authorised dealer availability remains negligible. On the grey market, examples have consistently traded at a substantial premium, reflecting both genuine collector demand and the broader Rolex scarcity dynamic that defined the watch market in the early 2020s.