The Secret Rolexes Only Guys Like Roger Federer and Drake Can Buy

This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.

What do I have in common with Roger Federer, Drake, CC Sabathia, Lionel Messi, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? We all love ordering off-menu. For me, that means an Animal Style burger at In-N-Out; for those other guys, it means something slightly more extravagant.. Think: exclusive Rolex watches that sometimes cost over a million dollars and come set with an absurd amount of diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and beyond. These pieces are never released (or even announced) to the public and often garner nicknames like “Giraffe,” “Leopard,” and “Eye of the Tiger.” (So they are sort of Animal Style in their own way.) Welcome to the secret world of Rolex’s off-catalog models.

Right now, we’re in the midst of the special time of year when VVIPs start popping up in Rolex’s most prestigious and elusive watches. Like seeing the leaves turn red, I first sensed the change in the air earlier this month, when Drake was spotted on Bobbi Althoff’s podcast (again…) wearing the new Rolex Daytona “Giraffe,” the dial of which recreates the pattern on the long-necked mammal’s fur in gems and gold. Later that week, former New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was spotted wearing the same piece at the US Open.

You’ll notice that the “Giraffe” was never included in Rolex’s official lineup of 2025 releases—which might seem odd, because it would’ve easily been the brand’s biggest and coolest debut of the year. That’s very much by design: The Crown only invites its top clients to purchase these off-catalog pieces, a reward for being a loyal customer. “Rolex operates like this to give the buyers who are selected for these pieces exclusivity,” says Eric Rivera, a dealer who recently sold a “Giraffe.” “So they [retain] that off-catalog mystique.”

While there is inherent prestige in owning any Rolex, the brand is estimated to produce somewhere in the neighborhood of one million watches per year. These off-catalog pieces are a way to provide clients with something truly unique. “It’s a quiet acknowledgement by Rolex of how important prestige and exclusivity is,” says Paul Altieri, founder of Bob’s Watches, who has moved several of the ultra-coveted “Le Mans” Daytonas in white and yellow gold.

Rolex’s secret releases are defined by extravagant gem settings and wild patterns—the type of stuff you don’t normally see while browsing the Crown’s website. In that way, it makes strategic sense for the brand to keep these watches—which are deeply incongruous with the tough, toolsy pieces the brand’s foundation is built on—out of the public eye. “They don’t really want to have them on their web catalog both because of [the price] and to avoid the public asking for them,” Rivera theorizes.