Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN

The Origins

Inarguably one of the most iconic watches in all of watchmaking, the Rolex Daytona needs no introduction. Offered as the Cosmograph since 1963 and officially christened the Daytona by Rolex in 1965, the Rolex Daytona underwent baptism by fire whereby its lack of commercial success in the 1960s later drove demand towards those earlier references amongst collectors in the 1980s who saw the value that they represented. Since then, the Daytona has consistently topped the ranks as one of Rolex’s most sought-after offerings across their entire catalogue, and today it remains as once of the hardest Rolexes to buy straight from an Authorised Dealer. Plenty of collectors will know the difficulties in getting a Daytona straight from an AD and how the Daytona was the earliest Rolex to have its own waiting list and it was one of the first Rolexes to command a premium on the open market as a result of that waiting list.

While the Daytona’s history has been filled with an array of different construction materials, movements, dial colours, gem settings, case sizes and so on, the reference we are exploring today is perhaps the most quintessential modern Daytona reference of all, the ref. 116500LN. Launched in 2016 and discontinued in 2023, this was the first stainless steel Daytona to feature a ceramic bezel – a notable addition that gave the Daytona an old-timey feel through the black ceramic’s visual similarities to the black acrylic bezels that once featured on the original 4-digit reference Daytonas. Offered with just two dial options, black and white, or “reverse panda” and “panda,” respectively, the ref. 116500LN is the watch that perhaps best represents modern Rolex through its incredible performance on the secondary market, unwavering design language and breadth of historical importance, so let’s dive in.

The Case and Dial

In a rather surprising twist of fate for those who haven’t tried one on in the metal, the Daytona ref. 116500LN is a surprisingly under-the-radar timepiece given the level of reverence its name commands from the watch collecting community. Made of stainless steel and featuring a 40mm diameter, as Rolex claims, it wears surprisingly neat on the wrist no matter the dial option you opt for. Of course, the black dial does wear slightly smaller than the white, but the real reason is that the ref. 116500LN’s case is actually 38.5mm. As a result, the ref. 116500LN is the most universally appealing size Rolex could have made it. Why they claim it is 40mm is anyone’s guess.

Offered on an Oyster bracelet, the ref. 116500LN boasts polished center links throughout its bracelet along with polished lug hoods and crown guards, which help to give the Daytona a dressier look on the wrist and bringing a level of elegance to its design that previous Daytona generations lacked – a link that the ref. 116500LN maintains with its predecessor, the ref. 116500. While that one link to its predecessor is quite obvious, the ref. 116520LN’s most glaringly obvious difference from its predecessor is even more obvious, the addition of a black cerachrom bezel. Made of ceramic, this bezel is impervious to scratches and does not discolor or age, meaning it will stand the test of time in a way that the previous stainless steel bezels could not manage.

Beyond its construction, the ref. 116500LN boasts either a white or black dial, as mentioned. These dials are identical throughout besides their main colour, with both dials featuring red “Daytona” script and contrasting accents, whereby black script is used on the white dial and vice versa. With luminous indices applied at each hour marker and a trio of chronograph subdials controlled via screw-down pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock on the case, the Daytona’s dial is purely function-orientated.

The Movement

While the ref. 116520LN’s aesthetics are slightly different to the ref. 116500LN’s that came before it, both Daytona references share the very same engine, Rolex’s first in-house chronograph movement, the cal. 4130. Designed to be ruthlessly efficient, it has only 201 parts, a 20% decrease on the previous movement, the cal. 4030, making for an exceptional movement boasting longer service intervals and fewer parts to break, meaning greater reliability across the board. 

Additionally, with more space freed up due to its relatively small number of parts, the cal. 4130 can accommodate a larger mainspring than typical chronographs, and so the cal. 4130 boasts a 72-hour power reserve, which is quite impressive given the cal. 4030 before it only had 50 hours, which was impressive too at the time. All in all, even for a 20+ year old movement, the cal. 4130 is incredible even by today’s standards and fitting for the Daytona’s legendary legacy. While the cal. 4130 is no longer in use in the newest Daytona references; you can rest assured that the ref. 116500LN’s movement is up to scratch.

Celeb Love

As the quintessential unobtanium Rolex, the Daytona ref. 116500LN has found itself on a wide variety of celebrities over the years. With its under-the-radar stainless steel construction allowing it to stealthily slip under the noses of those who don’t know what it is, the ref. 116500LN has been a Hollywood darling ever since it came out. Unsurprisingly, its list of admirers is quite long, with celebs like Dave Chapelle, Kevin O’Leary, Tom Holland, Kevin Durant, Angel DiMaria, Sir Alex Ferguson, Remo D'Souza and hundreds of others being spotted with a Daytona ref. 116500LN on their wrist over the years. Of course, the number of celebrities spotted wearing a ref. 116500LN did increase in coordination with the ref. 116500LN’s market value, but that is to be expected with collectables.

Market Performance

As I touched on, the ref. 116500LN’s market value has consistently been north of its MSRP ever since it debuted in 2016. While the watch market was fundamentally different back then to how it is today, the Daytona was always incredibly sought after, which led to waiting lists which drove up market values, which led to more people joining the queue for the Daytona and so on. With a relatively affordable MSRP of $14800, the ref. 116500LN commands a price premium of either 105% or 80% for the white and black dials, respectively. This in turn infers a market value of $30300 for the white dial “panda” variant and $26700 for the black dial variant.

The reasons for this gulf in price, a rather substantial 14% difference, is likely down to the white dial variant being that bit louder on the wrist, a trend that is also seen in the Explorer II whereby the white dial “Polar” is more valuable than its black counterpart. In addition, the Daytona ref. 116500LN wears small thanks to its 38.5mm diameter, and its white dial gives it a larger appearance on the wrist.

However, as we alluded to before, the Daytona’s market value was once much higher than it is today, with both variants seeing market values in excess of $40000 in early 2022, just as the market peaked. While prices are down from those peaks, the ref. 116500LN’s performance over the next few years might surprise the naysayers given its 2023 discontinuation and iconic silhouette, rich heritage and enviable desirability amongst collectors.

Check out the live performance of Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN on The Wristcheck Index