Footballer Tim Howard spotted wearing a Rolex

The Merseyside derby rarely lacks drama, and the weekend's 1-1 stalemate between Everton and Liverpool at least gave watch spotters something to celebrate: Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard was photographed wearing the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea D-Blue, reference 116660 — one of the most technically and historically loaded sports watches in the modern Rolex catalogue.

Introduced at Baselworld 2014, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea 116660 D-Blue is built around the same formidable architecture as the standard Deepsea: a 44mm Oystersteel case rated to a staggering 3,900 metres of water resistance, achieved through the proprietary Ringlock System — a nitrogen-alloyed steel compression ring, a 5.5mm-thick domed sapphire crystal, and a grade-5 titanium case back engineered to withstand over 3.9 tonnes of pressure per square centimetre. The movement inside is Rolex's Calibre 3135, a self-winding COSC-certified chronometer beating at 28,800 vph with a 48-hour power reserve.

What elevates the D-Blue variant beyond the already capable standard Deepsea is its dial. The gradient blue-to-black surface directly commemorates James Cameron's March 2012 solo descent to the Challenger Deep — the deepest point in the world's oceans at approximately 10,908 metres — aboard the Deepsea Challenger submersible. A dedicated Rolex Deepsea Challenge experimental watch accompanied that dive on the vessel's exterior arm, surviving the extreme pressure intact. Geneva honoured the achievement by releasing the D-Blue as a permanent catalogue reference, not a limited edition, making it accessible yet unmistakably narrative-rich.

Among collectors, the 116660 D-Blue occupies an interesting position: it is simultaneously a serious tool watch and a conversation piece with genuine scientific heritage behind it. Its size — at 44mm and 18.5mm thick it is emphatically wrist-filling — suits the physicality of professional athletes, and Howard's choice reads as that of someone who wears watches for their story as much as their aesthetics.

On the grey market the 116660 D-Blue has traded at a modest premium above retail, reflecting strong but not frenzied demand. With Rolex having since introduced the updated Sea-Dweller 50th Anniversary 126600 and newer Deepsea iterations, the 116660 remains a collector-friendly entry point into deep-dive Rolex history at a comparatively reasonable price point.