Rolex has already busted out of its comfort zone on numerous occasions this year, but the brand just announced its most unpredictable move yet this week.
The Crown is bringing four pièce Unique Cosmograph Daytonas to auction on September 28th, with all the proceeds benefiting two charities headed by two of its top ambassadors: Roger Federer’s education-focused Federer Foundation and Leonardo DiCaprio’s conservation-centric Re:wild. The news is significant for a number of reasons, not least of which are the timepieces themselves.
All the hullabaloo began back in April at Watches and Wonders, when a select few were informed that Rolex had produced four unique gem-set Daytonas corresponding to the four seasons, according to Hodinkee’s Ben Clymer. Rolex reportedly priced the set at 4 million Swiss francs (roughly $4,898,600) and asked retailers to nominate potential buyers for the entire set. Hodinkee reports over 1,000 people signaled they were interested in ponying up that kind of cash. “The names included some of the most famous people in the world,” Clymer wrote. One person also contacted the Hodinkee founder personally to relay the message that they’d be willing to pay $10 million for the set.
The four Daytonas generated such intense interest that Rolex changed course and will now sell them all together through a charity auction on September 28th. Given the frenzy already surrounding the watches, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if this ends up as one of the biggest watch auction results in history.
The watches themselves are sensational and designed to represent the four seasons through the most spectacular colors and gem settings. They include:
“Spring” model made of 18K white gold with a chrysoprase dial, lepidolite subdials, purple-sapphire indices, 36 trapezoid-cut purple sapphires, and 54 diamonds on the case shoulders/lugs
