Beyond Rare: The Rolex that "Didn't Exist"
April 17, 25
(IDEX Online) - One of the world's rarest Rolex watches - so rare that many collectors didn't believe it actually existed - is to be sold by Sotheby's Geneva next month with an estimate of $800,000 to $1.6m.
The Cosmograph Daytona, ref 16516, was made of platinum with a diamond-set mother-of-pearl dial in 1999 as a special commission - four Daytonas, each with a different dial - even though Rolex is famous for not producing privately commissioned limited editions.
The watches were rumored to exist for years but never seen, said Sotheby's. In a statement it said: "This exceptional wristwatch which comes for the first time to auction is one of the most elusive and compelling automatic Daytonas ever discovered."
The watch is a highlight of the Important Watches live auction on 11 May.
In 2020 one of the four platinum Daytonas, with a lapis lazuli dial, sold for $3.27m at Sotheby's Hong Kong. The other two have also sold at auction.
The highest price ever paid for a Daytona is $17.75m for Paul Newman's own Paul Newman Daytona, at Phillips New York in October 2017.
Pic of the platinum Cosmograph Daytona, ref 16516, with a diamond-set mother-of-pearl dial, courtesy Sotheby's.