Watch Paparazzi

Boxer Martin Murray spotted wearing Rolex

British middleweight boxer Martin Murray was recently photographed wearing a Rolex Submariner Date in yellow Rolesor — reference 116613LB — one of the most polarising and persistently desirable variants in the entire Submariner lineup. The blue-and-gold combination is immediately recognisable, and on the wrist of a professional fighter who went the distance with the likes of Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin, it reads as a considered statement rather than an accident.

The Rolex Submariner Date 116613LB sits in the two-tone Rolesor configuration, combining a 40mm Oyster case in 904L stainless steel with 18k yellow gold crown guards, bezel, and Oyster bracelet centre links. The blue Cerachrom ceramic bezel insert, introduced on this reference when it replaced the 16613 around 2009, offers genuine scratch resistance and UV stability that the older aluminium insert could not match. The sunburst blue dial carries applied yellow gold hour markers and Mercedes hands, and the whole package is water-resistant to 300 metres — a legitimate dive specification, not merely decorative.

Power comes from the Rolex Calibre 3135, a self-winding movement with a paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring and a Paraflex shock absorber system. Beating at 28,800 vph with a 48-hour power reserve, the 3135 has been the benchmark movement in the Submariner family for decades and remains one of the most robust and reliable mechanical movements in production. It was eventually succeeded by the Calibre 3235 in the updated 126613LB, but the 116613LB retains a strong following precisely because the 3135 is so well understood and trusted.

Martin Murray's career brought him agonisingly close to world championship gold on four separate occasions across three weight classes, making him one of British boxing's most decorated nearly-men. A watch that mixes steel utility with gold ambition feels faintly appropriate for that biography.

On the secondary market, the Rolex Submariner Date 116613LB continues to command premiums over its original retail price, driven by the broader demand for discontinued Submariner references now that the 126613LB has taken its place in the catalogue. Examples in full set, unworn condition regularly transact well above retail, and the model's crossover appeal — sport watch credibility combined with jewellery-adjacent gold detailing — keeps demand broad and consistent.