Product Description
There truly is a Rolex for everyone, no other watch manufacturer runs the design gamut of staid-conservatism to avant-garde-eccentric like the Crown - minimalist Oyster Perpetual to gem-set leopard print Daytona. Regardless, this solid white gold Cosmograph Daytona ref. 116509 is in a category by itself. We need to acknowledge how remarkable it is that the meteorite dial of this watch was once actually in space - probably for thousands of years crisscrossing the galaxy before it fell to earth in some spectacular fiery event. As a material, meteorite is difficult to procure and challenging to work, which is why we see so few watches with these dials. The natural hash work is known as a Widmanstatten pattern and each is unique, there will never be two that are identical even Daytona to Daytona - this piece really is special, and it has a few other things going for it as well. For all but the most hardcore Rolex enthusiasts this 116509 is hiding a small but notable difference in plain site: the tachymeter numerals on the white gold bezel are all oriented toward the center of the dial as opposed to being upright all the way around. When the 116509 reference series was released in 2004 this was not at all insignificant news in the nuanced world of Rolex. In fact it marked the way forward for all modern Daytonas since. Beyond the meteorite base the dial sports eye-catching white gold Roman numerals that mirror the center orientation of those on the bezel, and a red arrow-tipped chronograph hand that matches the sub dial totalizer hands, sub dial numerals and the "Daytona" at 6. Like all modern Daytonas the 116509 is outfitted with the august caliber 4130 - an in-house, automatic, chronometer-rated, column-wheel chronograph movement - and Rolex's patented screw-down, Triplock crown so it's as technologically sound as it is visually arresting. What it's not is vintage-inspired in any way, save for a small detail common to all Daytona Cosmographs: sub dials that in some way contrast the dial. In this case the sub dials are sunken and outlined in white gold with black numerals, hashmarks and inner rings. Again, best way to describe it is "unique." No brand new Cosmograph in 1963 would have come this way but the spirit of utilitarian vs fashionable sub dials is with this one just the same. The Cosmograph was purposely designed for professional racing drivers to wear on-track to calculate speed and time laps during a race so at a glance contrasting dials were easier to read. Originally known only as the Cosmograph, the "Daytona" moniker found it's way to the dial in 1964 during the third year of Rolex's sponsorship of what is now known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance race. This 116509 is an entirely different breed of cat that you hand down for generations to come. Nothing will attract the attention of school age children and grownup Rolex enthusiasts like talk of a watch from outer space. They simply can't make 'em like this very often.
