Watch Paparazzi

Basketball player Anthony Davis spotted wearing Rolex

Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star center, was recently spotted wearing one of Rolex's most visually arresting and commercially coveted references — the Cosmograph Daytona 116595RBOW in 18KT Everose gold. The sighting is entirely in keeping with Davis's taste for statement-level horology, and the watch itself demands closer examination.

The Rolex Rainbow Daytona 116595RBOW is built on the manufacture's in-house Calibre 4130, a column-wheel chronograph movement with a vertical clutch, offering 72 hours of power reserve and COSC-certified chronometric precision. The case measures 40mm in Rolex's proprietary Everose gold — a rose gold alloy developed to resist fading over time. The dial is set with 11 baguette-cut sapphires as hour markers, each individually calibrated and graduated in colour to create a seamless spectral progression. The bezel escalates the drama further, carrying 36 baguette-cut sapphires — roughly 2.27 carats total — arranged in a full rainbow sequence from violet through red. The bracelet is the integrated Oyster in matching Everose gold.

First introduced in 2012 and updated with the in-house 4130 movement in subsequent iterations, the Rainbow Daytona has evolved into one of the definitive grail watches of the modern era. The reference 116595RBOW specifically represents the Everose gold variant, positioned above the white gold 116599RBOW in terms of warmth and visual contrast with the sapphire array. Gem-setting at this level requires hundreds of hours of hand-finishing by Rolex's in-house gem-setters in Geneva — work that is rarely discussed but entirely responsible for the watch's price point.

For collectors, the 116595RBOW occupies a peculiar status: it is simultaneously a Rolex sports watch and a high jewellery object. Allocation from authorised dealers is virtually non-existent for most clients, pushing serious buyers directly to the secondary market. NBA players have been among the most prominent public ambassadors for the Rainbow Daytona, and Davis wearing one reinforces the model's cultural grip on elite sport.

At UK list price of £72,000 — approximately $91,000 USD at current rates — the 116595RBOW is already stratospheric at retail. On the grey market, demand consistently pushes examples well beyond that figure, with clean examples trading between $120,000 and $160,000 depending on condition, box and papers.