Daytona Lust

You want to purchase a Daytona? Hope you have a great relationship with your Authorized Dealer and want Pave Day-Dates and a Two Tone Datejusts over the course of 2 years first…then you can have it. Maybe… if you are lucky enough. This is the game that has been created with these extremely exclusive and low production models. 

There was a time when a steel “Panda” Daytona went for more than a GOLD Daytona, what was happening?                            Hype.

Hype was and still is happening. With current MSRP at $16,900 and a secondary value at the time of writing this just shy of $40,000 Market Value…why would someone be willing to pay double for a watch that has a retail of half of it secondary value?

Quick in office poll, short answer only: Why do you think so many people want a Rolex Daytona?

Nick - “Most people want one because they were told that is the one to have.”

Brian - “Quintessential chronograph of all time, it is THE watch that made watches collectible assets.”

Chris - “Not only do they look great, they hold their value exceptionally well.”

Sean - “Prestige Worldwide.”

Rob - “Everyone loves standing in line.”

You wouldn’t think that in 1963 when Rolex introduced the Daytona, reference number 6239, the watch would sit on a shelf for many years, unloved by the public. One year Joanne Woodward bought Paul Newman a Daytona and had it engraved, “DRIVE CAREFULLY ME” and the lore began to build. In the 80s, the 6263 was the last Daytona that no one cared about. Then in the 1990s, the Automatic, El Primero powered, REF 16520 debuted with a porcelain dial - and would become one of the first watches ever sold over retail at Authorized Dealers. 

So why this particular watch? Is it the ability to calculate speed based on a fixed distance? I am guessing that isn't why most 25-55 year old men are checking in with the local AD about how their kid's birthday was this past weekend. Associations of loving fast cars and having a racing watch named after an actual race track, that makes sense. A “John Mayer” edition draped over the steering wheel of your money green Porsche…yeah, that works. That car meetup at Sunday Motor Company has plenty of cortados attached to 126500’s.

Rolex is a watch company that has many timeless designs that have been refined over the years, with subtle technical and cosmetic improvements made along the way. For instance, the bezel changes from Black Aluminum, to SS, then recently to fully ceramic, currently fitted with a ceramic and SS bezel, all these iterations have their design languages carry through where the heritage and purpose never deviated and its DNA was always there to link back to its original models.

The Daytona IS their iconic “Sports” watch. One that is not in the ocean like the Submariner, but land…at home on a racetrack no timepiece is more prevalent on drivers and seen in Hollywood racing films than the Daytona.

Also we’d be remiss if we also didn’t bring up another reason. It's just a great watch. Perfectly balanced dial, wearable case size of 40mm, easy to pick up and set, and is one of the benchmarks you would use to track the watch market. It is a watch that can be worn everyday and honestly, it should be. While some gold models can be “flashy” it’s not oversized and begging for attention. It’s a timepiece that can be handed down just like all other Rolexes and will never go out of style.

So do we thank Paul Newman, John Mayer, or your local AD for making the epitome of chronographs hard to get? Either way…do you want to look at something else OR accept it and be happy waiting?