Footballers' and rappers' watches: Royal Oak Offshore, Richard Mille, gold and diamonds, and their market value

In dressing rooms as in music videos, the watch is a sign everyone knows how to read: big, eye-catching, often gold, sometimes covered in diamonds. This culture has made the fortune of a few references, starting with the Royal Oak Offshore and Richard Mille watches. It has also produced a market in modified watches whose value holds some nasty surprises. Here is what is documented, what sells, and what resells badly.

Rap and the Royal Oak Offshore: the 2005 Jay-Z edition

The best-documented association between a rapper and a manufacture remains that of Jay-Z and Audemars Piguet. In 2005, to mark ten years of his career, the brand produced with him a Royal Oak Offshore Chronograph limited edition of 100 pieces: 50 in steel, 30 in rose gold and 20 in platinum (reference family 26055), delivered with an engraved iPod containing his albums. It was presented at the Audemars Piguet boutique in New York.

It was one of the first collaborations between a haute horlogerie manufacture and a hip-hop artist. The Offshore, launched in 1993 and considered too bulky at the time by some enthusiasts, gained an image it has kept: that of a powerful, sporty, unapologetic watch. The Royal Oak Offshore page presents the current references.

Football: public ambassador contracts

On the football side, the verifiable associations are contracts announced by the brands:

• Kylian Mbappé was announced as a Hublot ambassador in October 2018. The brand, very present in football, already counted Pelé among its ambassadors.
• Lionel Messi signed with Jacob & Co in 2019, which launched an Epic X Chrono "Messi" limited to 180 pieces, with his number 10 on the bezel and his signature on the back.

Beyond these contracts, what players wear is a matter of their private lives: we do not relay identifications made from photos. The trend, however, is readable on the market: gold, gem-setting, and a trio of brands, Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet and Hublot.

2026 value grid for "trend" references

The ranges below cover original, unmodified watches in good condition and complete.

Two readings. Steel Offshores now trade around €20,000, well below the 2022 peaks but at the level of a manufacture watch that retains real demand. Our article on Royal Oak market value explains the gap with the more sought-after "classic" Royal Oak. Richard Mille watches, meanwhile, remain a market apart, where access to new pieces is restricted and pre-owned sets the price.

Gem-setting: factory or aftermarket, two different worlds

This is the point that costs sellers the most. A gem-set watch does not have one market value, it has two, depending on who set the stones.

Factory gem-setting is done by the brand, referenced, guaranteed and documented. It resells, even if its depreciation is generally steeper than that of the steel version: the clientele is narrower, and the value of the stones is not fully reflected in the pre-owned price.

Aftermarket gem-setting is carried out by an independent jeweller, often on a bezel, dial or bracelet removed from the original. For the market, the watch is no longer original. Our findings are consistent:

• the value of the added diamonds is almost never recovered on resale; the buyer pays for the watch, not the stones;
• the service centres of the major brands often refuse to service a modified watch, or require the affected parts to be replaced with original parts, at your expense;
• a modified watch sells more slowly, to a narrower clientele, and at a discount that can reach a large share of the price of an original version.

If you own an aftermarket gem-set watch and have kept the original parts (bezel, dial, bracelet), hold on to them: refitting them before the sale is often the best financial decision.

Solid gold: a floor, not a guarantee

Gold watches are the other great code of this culture. Their metal gives them a floor value, but it remains far below the selling price: the weight of gold in a wristwatch represents only a fraction of its market value, most of which comes from the brand, the reference and the condition. A gold Day-Date or Offshore therefore resells first as a watch, and only as a last resort as metal.

On resale in France, a gold watch sold by a private individual falls under the precious objects regime, not that of precious metals: a 6.5% flat tax on the sale price above €5,000, or, with proof of acquisition, the option of the capital gains regime. The choice is worth making before signing. If you live outside France, check the rules of your own country.

Customisation: PVD, engravings, refinished dials

The same logic applies to other modifications. A black PVD or DLC treatment applied after the fact to a steel watch, a dial repainted in a club's colours, an engraving on the back: all choices that make sense to their owner and remove value for everyone else. A watch only keeps its market value if it remains true to its reference. The only notable exception is the proven provenance of a celebrity, which belongs to auctions, not the everyday market.

Before buying a pre-owned watch "in the style of the stars", ask explicitly whether it is original, insist on the papers and have it checked by a watchmaker: modified or counterfeit Offshores and Richard Milles are common in this segment. Our article on value retention by brand helps you choose a watch that resells well.

Want to know what your watch is worth, original or modified? The Causli valuation tool gives you an initial range for the reference, to be adjusted according to its condition.