So, you want a new Ceramic Daytona? Welcome to the club. Now, how do you accomplish this goal before the second term of the Trump presidency? Therein lies the rub. I’ve reached out to a few luminaries in various arms of the Rolex market and here is what I have learned.
First and foremost, it’s not going to be quick or easy unless you have impeccable contacts or you happen to be Roger Federer. Shit, even poor Bublé got stuck with an Air King — tough noogies for him. The conventional wisdom for the rank and file is to go to your neighborhood Rolex Authorized Dealer and plunk your name down on “the list.” If you happen to be a high volume client with real traction, you will probably have some success via this route. However, as noted vintage megadealer Eric Ku cautions, you shouldn’t expect to have your watch before the ball drops on 2016. In a conversation on the Vintage Rolex Forum Facebook page, Eric half-joked that to get one in hand before 2017 one might expect to pay double retail, further explaining that “friend of mine is an AD and reports 75 people calling asking to be put “on the list” for a new Daytona. At the rate of 6-10 per dealer per year, that’s a crazy wait!” Now keep in mind, none of these numbers will ever be confirmed by Rolex but it’s certainly a likely estimate. As an aside, Mr. Ku noted that the 116520 is indeed out of production, and further, “it’s brilliant marketing for Rolex as the movement is still the same as the now discontinued 116520 series, and this will allow them to instantly revive the sales of the Daytona, which has gone from a watch going for well over retail for years, to one that needed to be (slightly) discounted to sell.”
Bottom line here is that buying the Ceramic Daytona from an AD at retail price is going to require a lengthy wait for most people. I know what you are thinking, “there’s more than 1 way to make an omelette.” You’re all, “I am a savvy modern watch collector! I buy from grey dealers at a discount when it comes to my modern watches.” It’s true, many grey dealers
do get hot new releases early on in the game. However, in this setting the watches sell at a premium. I reached out to the guy that almost invariably has the first examples of new Rolex models for sale on the web, David S. Williams. David is the proprietor of
DavidSW.com and one of the largest and most reputable grey dealers in the country. He knows the industry inside and out, and explained to me that in the past AD’s would typically sit on hot watches like the old 116520 and wait to offer them to high volume clients as a reward for repeat business. This is how an AD can effectively get a premium on a watch that they can’t themselves sell for over MSRP and how that fabled (and soon to be rekindled) “Daytona waitlist” developed. David went on to say that he has never seen this kind of frenzy over a watch, and while he will of course be stocking the new Daytona, it will definitely be selling for a premium for at least the first few months. In order for grey dealers to get early allocations of such a hot watch, they themselves have to pay a premium which obviously gets passed on to the consumer. So, when will grey dealers like David have the watch and what will they cost? While nothing is concrete, you can expect them in September or October for a to-be-determined premium over retail initially.
The question you must ask yourselves, oh future C-tona buyer, is do you have the patience to wait out the feeding frenzy? While Mr. Williams’ estimate of 1 black and 1 white dial model per dealer per month is slightly more generous than Mr. Ku’s estimate of 10 or less a year, allocation of this watch will be tightly controlled by Rolex and the market will dictate an inflated price in one manner or another for the foreseeable future. So, do you still want a new Ceramic Daytona?
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Tique
Great article. You diminished my hope of getting this by march of 2017. But its all good. Lol
Laz
The notion of paying twice the price just to have this piece is absurd. I wouldn’t buy this watch even if it was half off.
I was hoping for Nomos to release a chrono, but oh well.
Chris
I enjoy the infinite nuances and slight deviations in almost all Rolex models, but for the life of me, I cannot get on board with the new Daytona. They added a black ceramic bezel. A white dial. With black subs. For all intents and purposes, I SHOULD love this watch, but I don’t. While Rolex aficionados go bananas, I can’t help but thumb my nose at this watch and it’s attempt to pull at the wallet-strings of those yearning for a 6241. I appreciate the effort…but this my friends is no Paul Newman. Unfortunately, that won’t stop it from commanding a high premium, which I don’t fully believe it deserves.
Chris
Daytonas have never done much for me, but I do like it more with this bezel. Still, not enough to pay a premium for it. There are so many impressive chronos on my list before I’d consider this.