Argentine midfielder Landro Paredes’ brawl with Spanish defender Eric Garcia in Sunday’s World Cup final showed exactly why fine timepieces are kept off the pitch. In horological terms, all eyes were on the stands, with Spanish tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz sporting his 2012 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rainbow. He
Adam Bloodworth
Tuesday 21 July 2026 3:57 pm | Updated: Tuesday 21 July 2026 4:00 pm
Argentine midfielder Landro Paredes’ brawl with Spanish defender Eric Garcia in Sunday’s World Cup final showed exactly why fine timepieces are kept off the pitch.
In horological terms, all eyes were on the stands, with Spanish tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz sporting his 2012 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rainbow.
He blagged his way onto the pitch to hug 19-year-old Lamine Yamal following the Spanish win, where he was photographed with his striking red and blue timepiece.
The piece on his wrist this week is off-catalogue and features a solid gold strap, with 36 mutlicoloured sapphires set around the bezel, giving the impression of a rainbow.
A variation of the Rolex Daytona chronograph, it is one of the rarest Rolex pieces and it is limited edition, driving a strong auction market where the timepieces frequently command hundreds of thousands.
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Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg and England football star Harry Kane have also worn the Daytona Rainbow.
The timepiece was a step outside of the ordinary for the heritage Swiss brand formerly famous for their understated elegance.
Part of the romance is how “extremely difficult” it is to source sapphires that match one another for the bezel, leading to extremely low production runs (the last iteration was released in 2018 and was available in yellow, white and everose gold).
Alcaraz has been a Rolex ambassador since 2022 when he was aged just 18.
Go to rolex.com
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