Four One-of-a-Kind Daytonas Head to Auction
— Dials and Subdials Made of Chrysoprase, Lepidolite, Turquoise, Ruby, Mookaite, Opal and Lapis,
with Bezels and Hour Markers Set with Sapphires, Diamonds and Tourmalines
Four watches. Four seasons. And a rather remarkable combination of gemstone dials, bezels and hour markers.
On September 28 in London, Phillips will auction four unique Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona watches — Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
And you will want to take a close look at each.
This isn’t simply Rolex choosing green for spring, pink for summer or blue for winter.
Rolex has fashioned the four dials from carefully selected natural gem materials — avocado green chrysoprase, Tiffany blue turquoise, mookaite (an unusually colored rock from Western Australia), and blue opal.
Rolex then added counters — the three smaller chronograph subdials — made from purplish-pink lepidolite, opaque ruby (what Rolex calls “heart of ruby”), more of that avocado green chrysoprase, and deep blue lapis lazuli.
Then, surrounding and accenting those colorful gemstone dials, there are purple and pink sapphires, green tourmalines, diamonds, and sapphires graduating from blue to pinkish-red (what Rolex calls “fuchsia”).
That’s a lot of gem material packed into only four watches.
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Gary Roskin
Roskin Gem News Report
Spring — Chrysoprase and Lepidolite
Spring begins with green.
The 40 mm Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 126599 SAVL is fashioned in 18 karat white gold with a chrysoprase dial and lepidolite subdials. Rolex then surrounds the dials with purple: hour markers made up of eight baguette-cut and three square-cut purple sapphires, and a bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut purple sapphires, totaling approximately 5.57 carats.
Looking beyond the dial and bezel, we see the lugs and crown guards set with 54 round brilliant-cut diamonds totaling approximately 0.86 carat.
Chrysoprase and lepidolite on the same dial? We don’t get to write that sentence very often.
Summer — Turquoise and the “Heart of Ruby”
This one caught our attention. What is “heart of ruby”?
Summer, Ref. 126595 SARO, is fashioned in Rolex’s 18 karat “Everose” gold with a turquoise dial.
But look at the three chronograph subdials. Rolex identifies this gem material as “heart of ruby.”
In the close-up photographs, the “heart of ruby” subdials show what appears to be hexagonal growth structure. The center of that growth pattern marks the heart of the crystal. Perhaps that’s exactly why Rolex calls this material “heart of ruby.”
Surrounding the turquoise and ruby dials are pink sapphires — eight baguette-cut and three square-cut pink sapphires for the hour markers and 36 trapeze-cut pink sapphires, approximately 4.32 carats total weight, around the bezel.
The lugs and crown guards add another 54 round brilliant-cut diamonds.
Autumn — Mookaite
Mookaite is an interesting dial choice, but understandable since its available colors include autumn yellows and browns.
The Autumn watch, Ref. 126598 TML, is fashioned in 18 karat yellow gold around an orangy-yellow mookaite dial, with contrasting green chrysoprase subdials.
And then comes the green. The hour markers are eight baguette-cut and three square-cut green tourmalines, while another 36 trapeze-cut green tourmalines, approximately 4.32 carats total weight, create the bezel.
Once again, 54 round brilliant-cut diamonds decorate the lugs and crown guards.
Winter — Blue Opal and Lapis
Winter is certainly the coolest look of the four.
Ref. 126596 SABV is the only one fashioned in 950 platinum, with a blue opal dial and lapis subdials.
Here Rolex abandons the colored gemstone hour markers used on the other three watches and goes with diamonds — eight baguette-cuts and three square-cuts.
Then comes the bezel, set with thirty-six trapeze-cut sapphires, approximately 5.57 carats total weight, forming a graduated sweep of color from blue through pinkish-red.
Add the 54 round brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards, and the effect is unmistakably winter ice.
But of course, even with all of that, the play-of-color from the blue opal still takes center stage.
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Natural Stones to Represent the Seasons
That’s what makes these four watches particularly interesting to us. Rolex says each dial was “crafted from carefully selected natural stones.” And the choices are clearly about more than simply using natural stone. Their colors and patterns are being used to portray the colors we associate with Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
Spring:
Chrysoprase. Lepidolite. Purple sapphire. Diamond.
Summer:
Turquoise. Heart of ruby. Pink sapphire. Diamond.
Autumn:
Mookaite. Chrysoprase. Green tourmaline. Diamond.
Winter:
Blue opal. Lapis lazuli. Sapphire. Diamond.
Want One? Four Watches — Two Causes
The four one-of-a-kind Daytonas will be offered individually by Phillips in London on September 28 in what Phillips describes as Rolex’s first-ever charity auction.
Aurel Bacs, Senior Consultant at Phillips said: “We are deeply honored to play a role in this historic first charity auction with Rolex and to support the important work of the Federer Foundation and Re:wild. It is a privilege to bring our respective expertise to the table, united by shared values of excellence, craftsmanship and, above all, a commitment to doing good. This collaboration is a wonderful opportunity for the world of watchmaking to come together and make a meaningful contribution to future generations and the protection of our natural world.”
All proceeds will benefit two organizations associated with longtime Rolex ambassadors Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio. The Federer Foundation supports early and foundational learning for children in Southern Africa and Switzerland. Re:wild, co-founded by DiCaprio and conservation scientists, works to protect and restore wild ecosystems around the world.
Rolex places the auction under its Perpetual Planet Initiative, connecting the four seasons — and the natural materials used to portray them — with the larger themes of nature, time and future generations.
Which brings us back to the gems. There are four watches here that collectors will undoubtedly be watching very closely on September 28. Let us know when Apple comes out with a lapis face for the iPhone. In the meantime, we’ll take the gem-faced Rolex Daytona.
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