Feature: 5 Rolex Daytona Dials You’ll Love… Or Hate
Such is the Rolex Daytona’s star power that some vintage models, such as the Paul Newman versions, are almost regarded as sacred objects. And just as you wouldn’t stick a baseball cap on the Virgin Mary or spray Stonehenge in neon paint, the Daytona is best left unmolested. A watch that good looking doesn’t need any blingification or the horological equivalent of breast enlargement.
Or does it?
We’ve put together a handful of modern Rolex Daytonas with seriously eye-catching dials—although we’ll let you be the judge of whether they’re the epitome of good taste or a diabolical liberty.
Rolex Daytona 116598 SACO
We’ve all seen this one, right? Some of you will shudder in horror and wish you could turn back time to unsee it! A nightmarish carbuncle of leopard-print rosettes, yellow gold and blindingly dazzling diamonds and sapphires, it’s Rolex at its most gloriously gaudy.
Let’s face it, Paul Newman would have sooner walked down Hollywood Boulevard wearing nothing but Swarovski nipple tassels than wear this.
Rolex Daytona Meteorite Dial 116519
The dial of this watch spent millions of years hurtling through space as part of an asteroid belt. Look down and have your mind blown as you ponder its journey from the cosmos to the Rolex conveyor belt to your wrist.
It’s only right that something this special gets put inside a white gold case, with those classic Roman numerals adding some timeless finesse.
Rolex Daytona 116508
Green, as we all know, has been a seriously in-demand dial colour in recent years. Across multiple brands, green-dial versions of iconic watches—from the Patek Philippe Nautilus to the AP Royal Oak—have shot up in price. The contrast between the bottle-green colour of this dial and the yellow-gold case and Oyster bracelet is stunning. It's been christened the "John Mayer" after the US rock musician, an an influential Rolex collector, who owns this model.
Rolex Daytona Mother of Pearl Dial 116518 LN
Sometimes, searching for an available Rolex Daytona with a meteorite dial seems about as futile as scanning the surface of Loch Ness for sea serpents. But there is an alternative that’s just as attractive. Few watches are as mesmerising as those with a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial.
Boasting the iridescence of fish scales, together with diamond hour markers, this 2021 model comes in a yellow gold case with black bezel and rubber strap.
Rolex Daytona Customised Skeleton
What if your Daytona didn’t have a dial at all? Rolex don’t make skeleton-dial watches, but maybe they should, given how cool this model is. Customised by the independent Geneva-based Label Noir, this watch lets it all hang out, flaunting the calibre 4130 chronograph movement that powers the whole of the current Daytona line-up.
Few people get to admire that intricate beauty due to Rolex’s closed case backs, but with this you could drool over it all day long.
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