Rolex Leaks a Tricolor Le Mans Daytona

Over the past few days, a short piece of Rolex promotional footage tied to a Michael Bublé documentary quietly made the rounds online. Collectors immediately zeroed in on what was on Bublé’s wrist. It looked like a Rolex Daytona, more specifically a Le Mans Daytona, but it didn’t line up with any known version currently in circulation.

The watch appears to combine three different precious metals across the bracelet: white gold, yellow gold, and Everose. The case and center links read as white gold, while the outer bracelet links appear split between yellow and Everose on opposing sides. Add a black dial, black Cerachrom bezel, and the red “100” on the tachymeter scale, and the silhouette is unmistakably Le Mans Daytona.

To be clear, this wasn’t a true leak or a paparazzi shot. The footage was published through Rolex’s own promotional channels, produced and edited as part of an official documentary project. Rolex has been doing this kind of visual teasing for years now, like their Watches and Wonders preview videos that essentially give away the new releases, offering just enough information for enthusiasts willing to slow things down and look closely. In that context, this sighting feels intentional.

Why the Le Mans Daytona Matters

Image Source: Tiger River Watches

The Le Mans Daytona has quietly become Rolex’s most restricted modern chronograph. Beyond the obvious aesthetic cues, the watch is mechanically distinct, using a modified movement with a 24-hour chronograph totalizer, a direct nod to the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Add the ceramic bezel with the red “100” and the presence of a sapphire caseback, and it’s clear this isn’t just another precious-metal Daytona variant.

Image Source: Tiger River Watches

More importantly, every Le Mans Daytona so far has been produced in extremely limited quantities and allocated far outside normal retail channels. These are watches reserved for Rolex’s most valuable clients, partners, and insiders. Any new execution in this line is notable, regardless of how many pieces ultimately exist.

Tricolor, Revisited

Image Source: Jake's Rolex World

What makes this version especially interesting is the bracelet. Rolex has explored tricolor precious-metal bracelets before, most famously with the Tridor Day-Date. In those watches, white, yellow, and rose gold were fused together within a single center link, a very specific construction that Rolex has not revisited in decades.

This Le Mans Daytona doesn’t replicate that approach. Instead, the metals are separated into individual bracelet components, with distinct link pieces rendered in different alloys. It’s not a Tridor revival, but the historical reference is unmistakable. Rolex is clearly harkening back to its own past here, and the choice to echo that language on a Daytona rather than a Day-Date is an interesting one. To me, it shows a shift in desirability when it comes to Rolex. In the 1980s, the Day-Date was king, and in many ways still is. Today, though, the Daytona, especially the Le Mans Daytona, has become the ultimate Rolex status symbol.

What Happens Next

AI-Upscaled Image of Buble's Le Mans Daytona

Whether this watch ends up as a true one-off or as an ultra-limited piece allocated to a handful of clients remains to be seen. Either way, the outcome doesn’t change the larger point. The Le Mans Daytona operates in a different universe than the rest of The Crown’s catalog, one where Rolex experiments, distributes selectively, and showcases in a carefully calculated way.

What this sighting ultimately shows is that Rolex is comfortable letting its most knowledgeable audience do the work of discovery. For those paying attention, this tricolor Le Mans Daytona isn’t just a cool object; it’s a reminder that some of the brand’s most interesting decisions happen far from the catalog.