Few watches have attracted a mythology like that of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. Named for a city in Florida known as the capital of speed, it is arguably more famous than the motor racing which takes place there. In common with perhaps only the Submariner and the Speedmaster, it has attained a status that even lets it drop the name of its illustrious maker.

The only conventional chronograph made by Rolex for the last 54 years, its latest version always carries a lengthy waiting list, and vintage models have become both the bedrock and the brightest stars of the auction market.

The History And Heritage Of The Rolex Daytona

Launched in 1963, the Daytona – like the Heuer Carrera and Omega Speedmaster – was aiming to tap into the rising popularity of motor racing (remember this is long before the Speedmaster went into space). Rolex had produced a handful of chronographs before, but they belonged to the previous generation, with thin, elegant hands, Arabic numerals and in less substantial cases. At the start of the sixties, the sports chronograph was born.

And… it was a bit of a flop. Dealers habitually offered attractive discounts on Daytonas, and far fewer were made than competing watches.

“We tend to think of Rolex as a very focused and decisive firm,” says James Dowling, Rolex historian, author and collector. “This wasn’t the case in the 1950s and 1960s, when there was often indecision about model names. The Submariner was almost called the Rolex Skin Diver and some watches found their way to the market with dials so marked; similarly, the Rolex Daytona was originally planned to be called the Le Mans.

“When I bought my first Rolex in the late 1970s (a 1675 GMT), I enquired about a discount and the salesman responded, ‘Sorry sir, we don’t discount Rolex, but if you want one of the Daytonas, I can give you 20 per cent off’.”