Tonight in London, four one-of-a-kind Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytonas were auctioned off for a combined total of $49.4M (£37.3M GBP). Rumored at Watches and Wonders this year and confirmed earlier this month, the sale was held in partnership with Phillips, with Aurel Bacs conducting, and was billed by Phillips as Rolex’s first charity auction. Proceeds benefit two organizations tied to Rolex Testimonees: the Federer Foundation, founded by Roger Federer, and Re:wild, co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, in support of Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative.
Left: “Spring” Daytona, in white gold with a chrysoprase dial and lepidolite counters
Right: “Summer” Daytona, in Everose gold with a turquoise dial and ruby counters
All four are cased in precious metal, with natural stone dials and gem-setting. The winter Daytona, in platinum with a blue opal dial and lapis lazuli counters, went for $13.2M (£10M GBP). The autumn Daytona, in yellow gold with a mookaite dial and chrysoprase counters, went for $13.5M (£10.2M GBP). The spring Daytona, in white gold with a chrysoprase dial and lepidolite counters, went for $9M (£6.8M GBP), and the summer Daytona, in Everose gold with a turquoise dial and ruby counters, went for $13.65M (£10.3M GBP).
Paul Newman’s Paul Newman Daytona changed the entire market for Daytonas, and watches as a whole., way back in 2017.
They say things come in threes, and tonight’s sale could be considered the third in a trio of seminal auction sales in the past decade. Almost nine years ago in New York, Paul Newman’s own Daytona sold at Phillips for $17.75M, setting a new benchmark for the industry. Then, almost five years ago, the Tiffany Blue Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 sold for $6.5M in December 2021
This Tiffany-blue 5711 changed things again in 2021.
What will this mean for the market as a whole? Well, the timing is hard to beat. Phillips set the record for the highest-grossing watch auction ever in Geneva this May, at CHF 74.8M, and in less than six weeks the Geneva sales start again. Phillips and Antiquorum sell November 7 and 8, Sotheby’s follows on the 8th and Christie’s on the 9th, with Hong Kong and New York to come before the year is out. The $49.4M achieved tonight will surely become the number one topic of conversation as we head into the next auction. Newman gave the market a number to measure against, and so did the Tiffany Nautilus. By November 7, these four will be the ones everyone is measuring against.
“Winter” Daytona, platinum with a blue opal dial and lapis lazuli counters
It’s been quite the year for Rolex. It started with the 100th anniversary of the Oyster case, which the brand celebrated at Watches and Wonders with the Oyster Perpetual 100th Anniversary Edition in Rolesor. Then, two weeks ago, Rolex did something it rarely does—an off-season release, unveiling the Perpetual Padellone in Milan. Tonight’s auction is the latest move in a year that has been anything but routine for Rolex.
Beyond new releases, Rolex is clearly investing in its Perpetual Planet Initiative, with a $100M gift to National Geographic’s Museum of Exploration, which reopened in June in Washington, D.C., and, last week, the premiere of season six of Planet Visionaries, its podcast hosted by Alex Honnold, during Climate Week in New York. This auction is a direct way the brand is bringing all of these things together—high-end watchmaking, its environmental work, and its own Testimonees.
“Autumn” Daytona, in yellow gold with a mookaite dial and chrysoprase counters
At Watches and Wonders earlier in the year, Rolex announced the new Daytona ref. 126502, a Rolesium model with a white grand feu enamel dial, which was considered by many to be their favorite from this year’s fair. With all the big releases this year from the brand, the Daytona might have flown under the radar a bit, but it’s quietly having a big year too, and after tonight it isn’t so quiet anymore.
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