Footballer Neymar Jr spotted wearing a Audemars Piguet

Caught in a candid rooftop moment, Brazilian football superstar Neymar Jr is seen wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph cased in 18-carat yellow gold, secured to his wrist on what appears to be a brown hand-stitched alligator leather strap with yellow gold AP deployant buckle — a combination that softens the case's inherent opulence while keeping the overall aesthetic unmistakably luxurious.

The watch in question is almost certainly reference 26022BA, the yellow gold iteration of the Royal Oak Chronograph featuring AP's signature white 'Grande Tapisserie' dial — a hobnail-pattern guilloche surface that has defined the Royal Oak's identity since its 1972 debut. Three white subsidiary counters sit at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock in true integrated-chronograph fashion, with applied yellow gold hour markers and a date window at 3. The 39mm octagonal bezel, secured by eight hexagonal screws, is brushed and polished in alternating finishes — a hallmark of AP's finishing philosophy that requires dozens of hours of hand-work per case.

Powering the 26022BA is the calibre 2385, a self-winding column-wheel chronograph movement with integrated architecture, meaning the chronograph mechanism shares the same plate as the base movement rather than being added as a module. This results in a slimmer, more elegant profile and is a significant horological achievement that underpins the Royal Oak Chronograph's collector credibility.

Neymar has long been documented as a serious watch collector, with a rotation spanning Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, and multiple Audemars Piguet references. His choice of the yellow gold Royal Oak Chronograph — a model that predates the current generation's obsession with steel sport watches — signals genuine horological taste rather than mere trend-following. The 26022BA is a watch for collectors who understand the heritage.

On the secondary market, yellow gold Royal Oak Chronographs in this reference trade at a premium above retail given the scarcity of full yellow gold configurations and growing collector demand for pre-2020 AP references. Grey-market values for well-documented examples currently hover around $42,000–$48,000 USD, reflecting sustained appetite for the model.