WatchesApr 08, 2025
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Rare Custom Rolex Daytona Heads to Auction
A platinum Zenith-powered Daytona commissioned in the late ‘90s will headline Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in Geneva next month.
This platinum 1998 Cosmograph Daytona, Ref.16516, with a diamond-set mother-of-pearl dial is estimated to fetch between $850,000 and $1.7 million when it goes up for auction at Sotheby’s.
Geneva—A custom-made Rolex—a rarity in the watch world—will make its auction debut at Sotheby’s next month.
The 1998 Cosmograph Daytona, Ref.16516, with a mother-of-pearl dial set with 10 diamonds, will headline the auction house’s Important Watches sale on May 11 in Geneva.
It’s estimated to sell for $850,000 to $1.7 million.
The one-of-one watch, created around 1998, is made in platinum, an “extraordinary” exception for an automatic Daytona at the time, said Sotheby’s.
For decades, the model, first introduced in 1963, was offered only in stainless steel, two-tone steel, and gold, yellow gold, and white gold. It wasn’t until 2013 that the brand began producing platinum versions to mark the Daytona’s 50th anniversary.
The model on offer also features the Zenith El Primero movement, another unique feature.
Zenith-powered Daytonas were in production for 12 years, from 1988—when the brand launched the first automatic Daytona—to 2000, when Rolex added its in-house chronograph movement (Caliber 4130) to the model.
The 1998 Cosmograph Daytona, Ref.16516, with a mother-of-pearl dial set with 10 diamonds, will headline the auction house’s Important Watches sale on May 11 in Geneva.
It’s estimated to sell for $850,000 to $1.7 million.
The one-of-one watch, created around 1998, is made in platinum, an “extraordinary” exception for an automatic Daytona at the time, said Sotheby’s.
For decades, the model, first introduced in 1963, was offered only in stainless steel, two-tone steel, and gold, yellow gold, and white gold. It wasn’t until 2013 that the brand began producing platinum versions to mark the Daytona’s 50th anniversary.
The model on offer also features the Zenith El Primero movement, another unique feature.
Zenith-powered Daytonas were in production for 12 years, from 1988—when the brand launched the first automatic Daytona—to 2000, when Rolex added its in-house chronograph movement (Caliber 4130) to the model.
Sotheby’s calls the custom timepiece “one of the most elusive and compelling automatic Daytonas ever discovered,” as Rolex famously does not do privately commissioned limited editions.
The watch is the last of four platinum Daytona watches commissioned in a single order by the same private collector, each created between 1998 and 1999, to come to auction.
Each of the four specially commissioned watches have the same reference number 16516, the last digit of which (6) refers to the use of platinum, a first for any Daytona.
While it remains unconfirmed, many speculate that Patrick Heiniger, Rolex’s CEO from 1992 to 2008, ordered the watches, said Sotheby’s. The executive was rumored to have been seen wearing a platinum automatic Daytona before they were made in series.
The other three in the series previously sold above their estimates at Sotheby’s.
One with a dark mother-of-pearl dial sold for $871,000 in 2018.
One with a lapis lazuli dial set a world record, said Sotheby’s, selling for 25,375,000 HKD ($3.2 million) from an initial estimate of 4 million to 8 million HKD (approximately $516,000 to $1 million), at the auction house’s 2020 Hong Kong sale.
And one with a turquoise dial achieved 24,375,000 HKD ($3.1 million) in 2021.
“It is a privilege for Sotheby’s to bring this remarkable wristwatch to market for the very first time. A milestone in the history of the Cosmograph Daytona, its rarity, provenance, and superlative craftsmanship make this 1999 Cosmograph Daytona, Ref.16516, with a diamond-set mother-of-pearl dial, one of the most important examples ever to be presented at auction,” Benoît Colson, head of watches at Sotheby’s Geneva, said.
“It is also an exceptional book-ending to the sale of this extraordinary commission of four masterpieces, three of which have already found new homes through previous Sotheby’s sales.”
The timepiece is the only one of the four to be set with diamonds. It comes complete with its certificate and accessories.
More information about Important Watches is available on Sotheby’s website.
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