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Last summer, Rolex surprise announced a new white-gold Daytona to commemorate the 100th running of Le Mans. This new model immediately became the most important—and hyped—release of the year for the Crown: a Rolex Daytona with a dial that took inspiration from a beloved vintage model. The watch’s bezel also carried a red ‘100’ on it for the anniversary. Now, Roger Federer just debuted that model’s even brighter and shinier sequel.
It’s good to be Fed. Not only does the longtime Rolex ambassador have access to seemingly everything in the brand’s catalog, he also gets to debut the Crown’s mostly hotly anticipated releases. Last year, while pulling host duty for the Met Gala, he showed up to the event wearing a Perpetual 1908, Rolex’s entirely new line of dressy watches that had only debuted a month prior. This is also the very first time that the yellow-gold version of the “Le Mans” Daytona has been seen in public.
This piece has been an open secret in the watch world since the industry’s biggest tradeshow, Watches & Wonders, back in April. Every year, Rolex puts out a selection of “quiet releases,” and this “Le Mans” Daytona debuted about as stealthily as an elephant. Despite the fact that there was no official imagery or announcement from Rolex, many considered it to be the Crown’s biggest release from the fair. Now, it finally gets to make its public debut on the wrist of Federer.
So, what makes this watch so special? The Daytona is already one of Rolex’s most coveted models—and therefore one of the most desirable pieces in the world. The most grail-level versions of the Daytona are vintage models with an “exotic” dial. These are characterized by their full-white moon-like subdials and retro lettering. These touches are borrowed from a vintage model known as the “Big Red.” Paul Newman’s version of this reference sold for $5.48 million at auction in 2020. The Crown also put a slightly modified movement in this watch so that the chronograph function keeps track of time for a full 24-hour period. (Because it’s the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Get it?)
The white-gold version of this watch was great, but the yellow gold makes this iteration that much more irresistible. The brashness of full yellow gold mashed with the design of a traditional sport watch adds up to something incredibly special. Hopefully Federer is just opening the floodgates and we get to see a few more of these in the wild.
