Rolex's First-Ever Auction: Four Unique Daytonas, One for Each Season

On September 28th, Rolex will auction off four unique Daytonas as part of its Perpetual Planet initiative, with proceeds going toward the Federer Foundation and Re:wild, charities founded by Rolex ambassadors Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Each colorful gem-set Daytona corresponds to a season of the year. According to Ben Clymer of Hodinkee, Rolex initially priced the set of four watches at roughly CHF 4 million ($4.9 million), planning to sell them as a set. Rolex told a handful of VIPs about these watches this past April at Watches and Wonders, and when they were met with extreme interest, Rolex pivoted, opting to partner with Phillips on this charity auction, where each watch will occupy its own lot (i.e., they'll be sold individually, not as a set).

To the best of my knowledge and research, Rolex has never hosted an auction of its own, but it's increasingly characteristic of the Crown to produce these sorts of ultra-luxury, "off-catalog," gem-set models.

The Watches

Let's start with the season we're still in, for a few more days: Summer. Sporting the reference number 126595 SARO, the Summer Daytona features an 18k Everose (rose gold) construction, turquoise dial with ruby subdials, pink sapphires around the bezel and for each hour marker, and 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards.

The Autumn Daytona, reference 126598 TML, features an 18k yellow gold construction, a yellow mookaite dial with green chrysoprase subdials (don't worry, I've never heard of those stones either), green tourmalines around the bezel and for each hour marker, and 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards.

My personal favorite of the bunch, Winter (ref. 126596 SABV), features a 950 platinum construction, opal dial with lapis lazuli subdials, blue-to-purple sapphire gradient around the bezel, diamonds for each hour marker, and 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards.

Last but not least, for Spring, the Daytona ref. 126599 SAVL comes in 18k white gold with a green chrysoprase dial, lavender lepidolite subdials, purple sapphires around the bezel and for each hour marker, and 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards.

This Is Very (Un)Like Rolex

Serti Dial Rolex GMT-Master II ref. 16713. Image Source: SwissWatchExpo

While I'm surprised to see Rolex hosting its first auction ever, the watches themselves fit within the recent direction the Crown has been heading. Each year, we see more and more colorful, out-there, rare, blinged-out Rolex watches. This goes back to the first Serti dials of the '70s and '80s: luxury gem-set versions of Rolex tool watches.

Fast forward to 2004, when we got the Leopard Daytona (116598 SACO), one of the first ultra-limited colorful gem-set Rolexes to really enter the cultural zeitgeist. A few years later, in 2012, we got the Rainbow Daytona, and from there, the off-catalog system has only grown.

This year at Watches and Wonders, Rolex showcased off-catalog watches in its displays, and even on the homepage of its website, something we had not seen until that point. A few weeks ago, Drake unveiled his piece unique "Ice Gradient" Daytona: a colorful, gem-set one-of-one Rolex for the superstar performer. We'd never seen Rolex make such a watch, both technically, with its baguette gradient bracelet, and optics-wise, publicly gifting an opulent piece unique to one of the most famous people on Earth.

All of those choices have led to this charity auction, where once again, Rolex places the rarest of the rare, the blingiest of the blingy, in front of the public eye. I'm about to quote Ben Clymer a second time because he's one of the foremost experts on the Daytona and he's forgotten more about watches than most of us will ever know: 

"From a market perspective, I think there is a very real chance that this auction resets the market for Daytonas in a way that we haven't seen since Paul Newman's steel Cosmograph did back in 2018."

I'm not sure how to reconcile this, comparing a vintage Daytona sale with unbelievable provenance to a charity auction of four modern Daytonas, but Clymer mentioning this auction in the same sentence as Paul Newman's Paul Newman speaks for itself. This auction will probably make for some otherworldly results, and we'll be watching closely.

What do you think of this Daytona charity auction? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.