Not your dad’s Rolex
Rolex actually released a "co-branded" Daytona ?
In June 2023, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex will launch a commemorative Daytona chronograph as the official timekeeper .
18K white gold case , transparent sapphire glass bottom cover, black ceramic bezel , and the scale 100 on the speedometer is marked in red to indicate its relationship with the 100th anniversary of the Le Mans endurance race.
Rolex Daytona 24 Hours of Le Mans 100th Anniversary Special Edition
The dial is a reverse panda face: there are three white small dials on the black main dial. The small dials are still the retro "Paul Newman face" - the Daytona dial design from the 1960s to 1970s, because of the famous Hollywood movie star and racing driver Paul. Paul Newman is famous in the watch collecting community for wearing it.
Although Paul Newman himself has not officially served as a Rolex spokesperson, he actually wears the Daytona with that special disk and a conspicuous leather wristband, and has shot blockbuster covers for magazines, which is very eye-catching.
This special plate design is why it is called "Paul Newman Noodle". The "Paul Newman Face" Daytona is highly recognizable and easy to trade, so it has become the darling of auctions and brokers. It has been a well-known name in the collection market in the past 20 or 30 years.
Paul Newman and his “Paul Newman Face” Daytona © Phillips
In 2017, Paul Newman's own "Paul Newman Noodle" Daytona was auctioned for a sky-high price of nearly 120 million yuan, becoming the most expensive Rolex in history. It also held the title of the most expensive watch in history for the past two years .
Nowadays, the "Paul Newman Noodle" antique Daytona is still popular in the collection market, but it is also a mixed bag and is not accessible to ordinary enthusiasts. Rolex has now redone this dial style by itself, reducing the professional requirements to buy it, and it will definitely become a hot spot in the market in the future.
I guess the dealers have already made plans. If they want to buy an officially endorsed "Paul Newman Noodle" Daytona, why don't they get a 50-yuan Tudor first ? Or 10 yuan 1908?
Inside this Le Mans commemorative watch is the brand new 4132 automatic chronograph movement . It is an upgrade based on the new 4131 movement released in the spring. It uses 7 parts to change the 12-hour cumulative disk to 24 hours, which is in line with Le Mans. The race format of the Mango Endurance Race.
Rolex Daytona reference 4132 movement
Rolex openly launched special models for third parties, and also reproduced popular elements on antique watches ("Paul Newman face"). If you look at it from the perspective of the past, this is very un-Rolex.
If it were not officially released by Rolex itself, people would definitely think that this is another masterpiece from watch modification factories such as BWD, Blaken or ADG.
BWD’s “Paul Newman Face” modified from a contemporary Rolex Daytona
But Rolex did announce that this watch was made for the 24-hour Le Mans endurance race. Although there are no words such as "Le Mans" on the watch, many related designs can be regarded as de facto joint models.
Therefore, this Le Mans commemorative model can be regarded as a continuation of Rolex ’s launch of the transparent bottom cover Daytona, colorful bubble Oyster Perpetual , and enamel puzzle DD models at the 2023 Watches and Miracles Show.
Rolex wants to use this series of unusual new products to tell people that it has really changed. It wants to change the conservative, mysterious, and perhaps a bit dull image left to people in the past.
Surprising new Rolex products at Watches & Wonders 2023
If the transparent bottom of the Daytona 60th anniversary commemorative model is the technological advancement synchronized with the new movement, the color bubble perpetual motion is a further iteration of the five-color lacquer surface, and the enamel puzzle is the continuation of the Stella lacquer plate and the gemstone plate DD, then these It can also be regarded as a breakthrough for Rolex in its own universe, although the pace of this breakthrough is surprising.
In particular, the day-of-the-week calendar window on the enamel puzzle DD watch does not display the day of the week and calendar, but Emoji expressions and text. This is far from the image of Rolex's rigorous tool watch. Is this still the Rolex you remember?
The weekday calendar on the enamel puzzle DD watch is very special
The special Daytona for the 100th anniversary of Le Mans is another big step forward for Rolex. Rolex has left its own universe and begun cross-border cooperation to create a joint model with the Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance Race. Have you ever seen a publicly released joint Rolex?
Of course, cross-border cooperation between watch , especially for some new-generation brands without historical baggage. Cross-border integration is a handy marketing tool for them, such as Hublot .
There are also historical brands, such as TAG Heuer . The name of its Monaco watch comes from the Monaco Grand Prix. TAG Heuer is deeply tied to the Monaco event and launches various special or commemorative models related to the Monaco Grand Prix.
However, it is almost never for Rolex, especially in the past two decades, to openly cooperate with third parties or release special watches related to third parties. The Le Mans 100th anniversary model may still be the first once.
In the market, especially at auctions, there will also be some special models from Rolex, such as Daytona with "24H Le Mans" engraved on the bottom of the watch, double signatures with Tiffany and Comex on the dial , etc. wait.
Various special Rolex watches with third-party designations © Phillips
This type of watch exists broadly for two reasons:
One category is antique watches from the early years. For example, dual signatures with dealer brands such as Tiffany were a common practice in the early years of the watch industry. At that time, Swiss watch brands rarely opened direct stores around the world. They were sold through dealers around the world, including jewelry stores. It is a very important channel.
For example, Tiffany in New York, Cartier in Paris, and Asprey in the United Kingdom are all well-known dealers of Swiss watches. Jewelers often require their own brand logos. This not only marks the products to facilitate after-sales service, but also serves as an endorsement of the watches and facilitates sales. .
Not only Rolex, but also Patek Philippe , Vacheron Constantin , Audemars Piguet and other brands have similar dual signatures.
Antique watch with jeweler's double signature © Phillips
Later, on the one hand, watch brands gradually became stronger and had global influence. On the other hand, they also began to build their own exclusive boutiques. They no longer relied so much on dealers, especially jewelers, and there were fewer and fewer double signatures. Rolex no longer has jeweler double signatures today.
Another type of special style with a third-party name is a gift from Rolex and is not a publicly sold product.
For example, the Submariner and Sea-Dweller with the word Comex on the dial are test watches provided to Comex by Rolex to cooperate with the professional diving service company Comex to assist Rolex in testing professional diving watches .
The Daytona with the "24H Le Mans" logo on the bottom cover is the prize provided by Rolex to the winner of the Le Mans event every year after becoming the official timekeeper of the Le Mans event.
The championship trophy and prizes of the 2023 Le Mans event Daytona
In addition to the Le Mans event, Rolex also provides timekeeping for the Daytona endurance race and also provides prizes for the winner of the event. The name Rolex Daytona comes from the Daytona event, so Rolex has closer cooperation with the Daytona event. It has been the title sponsor of the Daytona endurance race since 1992.
Coincidentally, Paul Newman, who loves racing, led the team to win the Daytona championship in 1995, so he also received a Daytona as a prize. The bottom cover of this model 16520 watch is also engraved with Paul Newman’s name and awards.
Paul Newman's prize was first put up for auction by his family in June 2023, and was sold for a high price of US$1.14 million, which is more than 20 times the price of the ordinary version of model 16520. The name of Paul Newman is of great significance to Rolex Daytona.
Paul Newman receives the prize of the 1995 Daytona Endurance Race - a Rolex Daytona © Sotheby's
Rolex has indeed been conservative and closed in the past few decades. Although it sponsors many events, it almost never publicly releases watches related to third parties.
A few years ago, when the popular fashion brand Supreme printed its logo on the dial of Rolex , people who knew Rolex could tell at a glance that it was a unilateral move by Supreme rather than a cooperation between both parties.
So we say that Rolex’s release of the special Daytona for the 100th anniversary of the Le Mans race is undoubtedly of symbolic significance for Rolex. It is a sign that Rolex is changing.
Rolex did not choose Le Mans as the starting point for further changes.
Before the Rolex Cosmograph chronograph was called Daytona, for a while it chose the Le Mans circuit, which was closer to home, but later gave up.
The origin of the Rolex Daytona watch is the model 6239 born in 1963, a Cosmograph chronograph with a steel bezel speedometer. At that time, there was no Daytona on the dial. At that time, it was only called the Cosmograph. .
A Rolex Daytona without Daytona , early reference 6239 © Phillips
In some early promotional materials, Rolex said that it was called Le Mans and that the speedometer on the bezel was specially designed for motorsports.
But soon after, the name was changed to Daytona in advertisements, and in 1965, the Daytona text was officially printed on the dial.
Perhaps the change in name choice was for the American market at that time. After all, the Le Mans circuit was in France, a distant European country, and Daytona Beach was the carnival of American car fans.
An early advertisement for the Rolex Cosmograph Chronograph Left: Named "Le Mans" Right: Named "Daytona"
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Rolex’s 100th anniversary commemorative model of the Le Mans race, in addition to its fate as a partner of the event, actually has a long-standing naming origin.
It remains to be seen whether the Rolex Daytona Le Mans 100th anniversary commemorative model will become the beginning of a series of cooperation models between Rolex and third parties.
Rolex has a very extensive partnership. In the racing field, in addition to the Le Mans and Daytona endurance races, Rolex is also the official timekeeper of the 12 Hours of Sebring, the FIA World Endurance Championship, F1 and other events.
In addition to racing, Rolex also maintains cooperative relationships with global events such as tennis Grand Slam tournaments, major golf open tournaments, and the Academy Awards.
Rolex is the official timekeeper of the Australian Open
If Rolex opens the magic box of joint cooperation, many attractive watches will be born, attracting more customers from different fields.
The joint model will not be everything, it is just a signal of Rolex’s changes. Maybe the joint model will stop here, but the changes of Rolex will not stop. Next, Rolex will have unexpected new works.
Perhaps Rolex will be more flexible, more transparent, and closer to the market in the future. This giant brand in the watch market will bring greater pressure to its peers.
Although Rolex has sufficient market advantages today, the reason why the strong become the strong is that they dare to make huge changes when they are most proud of themselves and prepare for the future.
That’s why color bubble Perpetual, puzzle enamel DD, back-through Daytona, and formal watches 1908 have come to the market so intensively. This is an era when Rolex is least afraid of trial and error, and it is also an era when Rolex strives for change.
Lu Xi’s interview notes