How to tell the world you’re wearing a Rolex, without showing them the name on the dial...
You don’t need me to tell you that Rolex’s catalogue of watches is littered with models that could individually be regarded as the defining watch for the brand. The Submariner is one of the most recognisable watches in the world, the Datejust with its cyclops and more often than not 36mm size is on the wrists of millions of people worldwide, or how about the Day-Date in a precious metal with a fluted bezel and its day window commanding the top chunk of the dial?
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
Great choices sure, but as soon as I saw this watch via WatchCollecting, I knew this was the watch to characterise modern-day Rolex perfectly.
What we have here is a Rolex Daytona reference 116508. Initially released in 2016, this version of the Daytona is solid yellow gold, with a matching bracelet (of course) with the final icing on the cake being that the dial is a gorgeous royal green
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
As we’ve mentioned, Rolex is known for a lot of recognisable watches and you could easily put a case forward for a good handful of them representing the coronet completely. But let’s look past the history for a moment and just focus on modern-day Rolex.
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
The ultimate modern-day Rolex?
In my eyes, a solid yellow gold sports watch on a matching hefty bracelet with a vibrant green dial is easily the most ‘Rolex’ Rolex I’ve ever seen. It screams opulence, luxury, confidence, but most importantly, it’s a representation of what Hans Wilsdorf’s creation stands for in the modern century.
Does anyone need a solid gold Daytona with such a bold dial? Of course not, but that didn’t stop Rolex from making it.
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
As much as we like to tell ourselves it still happens, gone are the days where a Rolex watch is an option for the working professionals to comfortably wear when needing something reliable and readily available for extreme occupations such as exploring, diving or flying. These watches, although still capable of said tasks, are now status symbols and flexes for Instagram. An example that includes the two colours seen on all Rolex branding to my mind is the epitome of just that.
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
As mentioned previously this model was released in 2016 but didn’t receive much love straight away. This was the same year the modern steel Daytona was released (116500LN) as well as the 60th anniversary of the Day-Date (228235). The steel Daytona was huge news, going on to steal all of the headlines meaning this new precious metal example fell to the wayside. It was readily available in AD windows for the following years until Mr John Mayer hopped on another episode of Talking Watches with HODINKEE in 2019 and essentially turned this watch from a model that people overlooked in favour of its steel brother, into an extremely hot commodity.
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
Let's talk money...
If you want to buy this watch from Rolex it will cost you £29,350. Although, if you know anything about Rolex you’ll know you don’t just walk in and throw the money on the table. The reality is you’ll end up paying something a little closer to what the lucky bidder did recently via WatchCollecting: £54,000.
The Rolex Daytona Ref. 116508 - Image Credit: WatchCollecting
Other examples are currently listed on various platforms for closer to £65,000. Short story short, If you like what you see you’ll need some deep pockets.
Although this one has now sold via WatchCollecting, you need to check out their newly launched auction site to explore the weird, wonderful and often in high demand watches that get added every day - start shopping with WatchCollecting here.
