Footballer Luca Toni spotted wearing a Rolex

Luca Toni, the 6ft 4in Italian centre-forward who lifted the World Cup with the Azzurri in Germany in 2006 and claimed the Bundesliga Golden Boot with Bayern Munich, was recently photographed wearing one of the more collectible variants of the modern Rolex Cosmograph Daytona — the white gold Ref. 116519 fitted with a turquoise dial and a matching crocodile leather strap. The image, credited to photographer Valerio Pennicino, gives a clear look at the piece.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 116519 was introduced in the early 2000s as the white gold counterpart to the yellow and Everose gold Daytona line, all powered by the in-house Calibre 4130. That self-winding movement, developed entirely by Rolex, runs at 28,800 vph, offers a 72-hour power reserve, and features a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and vertical clutch — a significant upgrade over the earlier Zenith-based ebauche. The case measures the standard 40mm, water-resistant to 100 metres, with a screw-down pushers architecture that defines the professional chronograph category.

The so-called 'Beach' dials were a limited production run within the Ref. 116519 family, presenting dials in coral, turquoise, and green — colours borrowed more from the jewellery world than traditional watchmaking. The turquoise iteration is particularly sought after: its vibrancy against the white gold case creates a contrast that reads as genuinely luxurious rather than garish. Matched here with a coordinating crocodile strap rather than the Oyster bracelet, the configuration leans firmly into dressed-up territory.

Toni, who retired from professional football in 2015 after spells at Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, Roma, Juventus, and Hellas Verona, has maintained a high public profile in Italy through media work and charitable endeavours. His watch choice is consistent with a certain generation of Italian footballers who gravitated toward precious-metal Rolexes as the ultimate expression of earned success — practical enough for daily wear, rare enough to signal genuine connoisseurship.

On the secondary market, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 116519 in white gold with exotic dial variants commands a meaningful premium over standard configurations. The turquoise 'Beach' dial trades in the €28,000–€35,000 range depending on condition, box, and papers — modest by modern Daytona standards, but reflective of sustained collector demand for this distinctive and now discontinued reference.