Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116505

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.

Filled with an array of different construction materials, movements, dial colours, gem settings, case sizes and so on over the years, the Daytona has encompassed just about every design language possible since its inception, and the reference we are exploring today is perhaps one of the most luxurious of those references, the full 18k Everose gold ref. 116505. Launched in 2008 and discontinued in 2023, the Daytona ref. 116505 was the first ever rose gold Daytona variant, made from Rolex’s proprietary rose gold alloy, Everose, which they had only debuted three years prior. 

With its muted golden colour, the new ref. 116505 speaks to Daytona’s sporty inspiration and tool watch function. A watch meant for a specific purpose, the Daytona, at its heart, is a no-frills watch. Yet, the Daytona has still evolved over the decades and the ref. 116505 combines that original utilitarian functionality with Rolex’s impressive craftsmanship and luxury through the use of its precious metal construction to offer something distinctly Rolex. 

The Case and Dial

Made of 18k rose gold, or Everose gold as Rolex likes to call it as it is their proprietary alloy after all, the ref. 116505 features a 40mm diameter, as Rolex claims, that 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 brown due to its darker colour, but the real reason is that the ref. 116505’s case, like other Daytonas from the same generation, is actually 38.5mm. As a result, the ref. 116505 is the most universally appealing size that Rolex could have made it. Why they claim it is 40mm is anyone’s guess.

Offered on an 18k Everose gold Oyster bracelet, the ref. 116505 boasts polished center links throughout the length of its bracelet along with polished lug hoods and crown guards, which help to give the Daytona a dressy look on the wrist and bringing a level of elegance to its design that befits its precious metal construction.

As mentioned, the ref. 116505 is offered with either a black or brown dial. The black dial features golden inscriptions and rose gold subdial registers with subtle black chapter rings, whereas the sunburst brown dial features golden inscriptions with solid black subdials with matching golden inscriptions. With luminous indices applied at each hour marker and the 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

Powered by Rolex’s first in-house chronograph movement, with only 201 parts, the cal. 4130 is ruthlessly efficient as Rolex stripped back its movement so as to result in a 20% decrease in number of parts when compared to the Daytona’s previous movement, the cal. 4030. This makes for a movement with 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. 116505’s movement is up to scratch.

Celeb Love

Thanks to its 18k Everose gold construction giving it a luxurious yet toned-down presence on the wrist when compared with 18k yellow gold, the ref. 116505 has been a watch that celebrities have been known to enjoy over the years since its debut. While leather-strapped versions, the ref. 116515, have been produced in the past too, the braceleted version has been the clear winner with it attracting far more attention from the rich and famous. Celebrities such as Jay-Z, Mark Wahlberg, Achraf Hakimi, Victoria Beckham, Drake and plenty of other household names have been spotted wearing this stunning Daytona reference over the years. 

Market Performance

In keeping with the majority of Daytona variants, the ref. 116505 has enjoyed some rather favourable market performance over the years thanks to the intense desirability the collection commands. With long waiting lists and thus heavy premiums on the secondary market across the Daytona collection, it serves as no surprise that the ref. 116505 commands a market value in excess of its MSRP of $41600 for both variants. To begin, the black dial variant commands a market value of $49500, which translates to a price premium of almost 20%, while the brown dial fetches an impressive $54000, which results in a price premium of 29% - not too bad of a return at all. 

Like most things with Rolex, the brown dial variant’s higher market value is no mistake or fluke. Indeed, the stick indices dial variant that we track was launched in 2020 to replace the discontinued brown dial variant that featured Arabic numerals. As a result of this relatively short production period, and the black dial’s comparatively long production period, the stick indices brown dial variant is the rarer of the two to find on the open market, and thus commands a higher price. Similarly, the colour also better lends itself to the colour of Rolex’s Everose gold, thus resulting in a more appealing aesthetic on the wrist, at least according to the opinion of the majority of collectors. 

Check out the live performance of Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116505 on The Wristcheck Index