IS THIS THE MOST COVETED WATCH ON THE PLANET?
Rolex’s gold Cosmograph Daytona with green dial has been seen on Drake and Roger Federer. Here’s why it is so incredibly hard to own one
What do UFC fighter Conor McGregor, musician John Mayer, tennis great Roger Federer, rapper Drake, actor Jonah Hill and mega-influencer Supercar Blondie all have in common?
They’ve all been spotted wearing a gold Rolex Daytona Cosmograph with a brilliant green dial, putting them in an elite group of collectors.
In the past decade or so, interest in luxury watches has grown exponentially, which analysts attribute in part to an increase in millionaires around the world.
With production of many high-end watches limited and demand for them growing, waiting lists to buy them are being extended from months to years.
For those who can afford highend timepieces, sports watches are generally the most sought after, especially by millennials.
Rolex has enjoyed an advantage in this area through its historical links with sports such as tennis and golf. And while Rolex’s Oyster Perpetual, Submariner and Day-Date models are highly popular, the Daytona, especially the one with a green dial, is one of the most notoriously difficult Rolex models to own.
But what makes the Rolex Daytona green dial – also known as the “Gold Hulk Rolex” or the “John Mayer Daytona” – special enough to make waiting lists to buy one so long that retailers no longer give estimates on delivery?
When it was announced at Baselworld watch fair in Switzerland in 2016, the reception for it was initially lukewarm. On release, many of the watches reportedly sat untouched in boutiques’ display cases.
This all changed when, in a 2019 interview with watch website Hodinkee, John Mayer enthused about his green dial Daytona, declaring it a “sleeper hit” in reference to what he predicted would be latent success for the model.
This was a resounding call to action for collectors, who began a race to get one, pushing prices up from US$34,650 when it was first released to as much as US$85,000 now for a pre-owned one.
Objectively, the green-dialled Daytona is not much different to other full-gold Daytonas. At its heart is the Calibre 4130 – a perpetual, self-winding, mechanical chronograph with a precision of -2/+2 seconds per day.
Watch nerds will wax lyrical about the calibre’s blue Parachrom hairsprings – the Rolex proprietary parts made from niobium and zirconium that
The contrast between its iridescent green dial and 18-carat gold case makes it eye-catching
are behind its accuracy thanks to their incredible “memory” and ability to bounce back to their original shape after every movement.
On the surface, too, it’s only the green dial that differentiates this model from its black and white-faced counterparts. Just as is the case with other Daytonas, there is a small second-hand at six o’clock, a 30-minute counter at three o’clock and a 12-hour counter at nine o’clock.
Despite having three sub-dials and the (rather long) name of the watch model inscribed at 12 o’clock, the dial doesn’t feel overcrowded.
The Calibre 4130, which was originally released in 2000, also offers a power reserve of around 72 hours, which improves on the 50 hours for earlier models.
There have been quite a few iterations of full-gold Daytonas, but the contrast between this particular watch’s iridescent green dial and the 18-carat gold case makes it instantly recognisable. The green adds a playful note that is absent in Daytonas with a black or white dial.
An appealing feature of all Daytonas is their 40mm-diameter case. This size makes the watches appropriate for both men and women whether at the gym or in a boardroom meeting. They are rugged and utilitarian.
In light of all this, the key question is: how do you get your hands on a “Gold Hulk Rolex”? Unfortunately, Rolex isn’t telling.
The Swiss watchmaker is one of the most secretive horology brands, to the extent that its executives are discouraged from doing press interviews. There is no confirmed information on the number of Rolex watches produced each year, although experts estimate it to be between 20,000 and 40,000 for all models.
In the past, prospective luxury watch buyers tried their luck in the United States and China – the world’s two biggest Swiss watch markets – where supply was previously plentiful.
However, in light of such high demand of late, even these countries are no longer promising resources to tap.
In Hong Kong, gold Rolexes are popular with businesspeople, not purely for their value as a status symbol, but because in Cantonese “Gold Ro[lex]” sounds like kum lo, a phrase meaning “lasting success”.
According to a recent report by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Hong Kong remains the third largest market for Swiss-made watches.
But even this distinction, retail sources say, doesn’t earn the city more than a handful of green-dial Daytonas arriving for sale each year.
The second-hand market might be the only chance for impatient collectors to source this coveted Rolex model.
One idea would be to keep an eye on watch auctions, or get on the waiting list of a friendly luxury retailer and hope one will arrive on your wrist before you’re too old to appreciate it.