Reference Points: The Rolex Daytona

For one of the most famous models in the history of horology, the Rolex Daytona remains stubbornly misunderstood. It arrived late in the annals of the tool watch. For years – generations, even – it was a minor player, which makes its current status all the more impressive. We'll go reference by reference and year by year with the chronograph that has auto racing coursing through its springs. But to understand the Daytona, one must first understand Rolex: the maker of myths.

We did a Reference Points before where we covered the Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona, but this time we'll be going through the non-Newman varieties.

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[mdfu]

Back to basics, and I’m loving it. Democratizing watch scholarship is what made Hodinkee great, not hype-mongering. More of this please.

[gs]

"The Daytona now is a Daytona."

That's just stellar commentary right there. Bring this robot back for more insightful commentary asap!

[Ninoitaliano]

I absolutely love this reference points! Wish you guys would do more of them. It’s probably my favorite from Hodinkee besides talking watches. Well the older versions of talking watches

[watch_MrG]

As a Daytona fanboy, I really appreciated this kind of content. Great job HODINKEE ❤

[curtbrown]

Finally!!!Back to what makes Hodinkee great. Take a page from Rolex, subtle changes that drive quality and stay close to your DNA. Do this and the masses will continue to follow you.

[nikhilmathur]

Great video.
Daytona is pretty special created the same year my dad was born and easily my favorite model.
Was able to get my first Daytona few months ago it’s the black dial ceramic

[jonathansavage]

Great work Hodinkee! I really enjoyed this video and I learnt a lot too. Thank you.

[markroszkowski]

This is great!! You should do this for the date/datejust!

[nineelevensouth]

Absolutely spectacular video. Thanks for taking the time to walk us through start to finish.

[greeeklover]

Amazing you had all those Daytona's to show us! Picture is 1000 words! Keep up the excellent

[bobmclennan]

This was informative from a visual standpoint, but I'd love to see a companion piece to this video that explores the evolution of the Daytona's movement (especially now that a brand new one has entered the picture.)

[Canteaus]

You see hodinkee? People dont just complain, we can also compliment when you do what we ask for

[cezarb]

I love how nerdy it is, ‘hey here’s a word that’s slightly further away from other words’. Beautiful watch, I love the earlier simple look

[Novilicious]

Learned a lot on this video! In the market for a new Paul Newman on the rubber strap so had to brush up on the history of these gorgeous pieces ❤

[karolpiotrowski]

This is really informative video, a lot of work must have gone into it!

[christianburch]

Fantastic run through, this explains a lot. Thank you.

[GOLDshred]

Small correction regarding the ceramic models: The 116515LN did come out in 2011, followed by the 116506 in 2013, 116500LN in 2016, and then the 116518LN & 116519LN in 2017.

Thank you for an amazing episode!

[fullymechanical]

I think I remember reading that the Daytona was a very hard sell for the crown in the early days. Thanks for the vid, learnt a lot.

[jh-ilsb]

talk about geeking out on a single watch for the history lesson, amazing.

[jolness]

My grandfather had a white dial, zenith powere daytona. Was his only extravagant purchase that I know of. Sadly, it went to my uncle and he sold it close to 15yrs ago without telling anyone.

I am on the list for a white dial one at the AD. I am happy to wait, it's a watch I have wanted to own since he first explained how they worked to me when I was 6.