Rolex's Four Seasons Daytonas Sell for $49.4 Million at Phillips

Last month, we previewed Rolex's first-ever auction: four unique gem-set Daytonas, one for each season, offered at Phillips with proceeds going to the Federer Foundation and Re:wild: charities founded by Rolex ambassadors. On September 28th in London, auctioneer Aurel Bacs sold all four for a combined £37.3 million, or roughly $49.4 million. Because this was a charity sale, Phillips waived the buyer's premium, so the hammer prices are the final prices.

Summer Took the Top Spot

The Summer Daytona (ref. 126595 SARO), with its Everose case and turquoise dial, led the sale at £10.3 million (about $13.66 million). Autumn (ref. 126598 TML) followed close behind at £10.2 million (about $13.53 million). Winter (ref. 126596 SABV), my personal favorite, sold for £10 million (about $13.26 million), and Spring (ref. 126599 SAVL) closed out the evening at £6.8 million (about $9.02 million).

The bidding seemed to favor the warmer, more colorful Summer and Autumn watches. The top three landed within £300,000 of each other. Spring, more than £3 million behind the rest, is the clear outlier.

Ten Times Rolex's Original Price

According to Hodinkee’s Ben Clymer, Rolex originally planned to sell the four watches as a set for roughly CHF 4 million. They brought in a combined CHF 41.15 million at Phillips, around ten times that figure. It’s reported that Rolex retailers nominated prospective buyers and generated more than 1,000 expressions of interest, which helps explain why the brand pivoted to an auction in the first place.

To the best of my knowledge, these four watches are now the second through fifth most expensive Rolex watches ever sold at auction, behind only Paul Newman's own Daytona, which hammered at $17.75 million at Phillips New York in 2017. Before this sale, the runner-up was the "Rainbow Zenith Daytona" ref. 16599SAAEC — a white gold Daytona with the first gradient sapphire bezel that sold for roughly $6.5 million in 2024.

Did This Reset the Daytona Market?

Ahead of the sale, Clymer said this auction had "a very real chance" of resetting the Daytona market the way Paul Newman's watch did. I'm still skeptical of this idea, even after the impressive result. These were one-of-one watches made by Rolex, sold in Rolex's first auction, with the proceeds going to charity. None of those conditions apply to a steel 126500LN at your local dealer, and I don't expect secondary prices for catalog Daytonas to move because of this sale.

Where I do expect an effect is at the very top of Rolex's lineup. Between the off-catalog pieces at Watches and Wonders, Drake's "Ice Gradient" Daytona, and now a $49.4 million result, Rolex has clear evidence of what its top clients will pay for something unique. My guess is we'll see more one-of-ones from the Crown, and older gem-set Daytonas like the Leopard and Rainbow could draw renewed attention at auction. That's speculation for now, and we'll keep watching.

What do you think of the results? Did the right season win? Let us know in the comments below.