With more than half a century of history, the storied Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is considered first among equals by many. Possibly the most famous of sports chronographs and almost certainly the most sought after, it is a watch that never fades and continues to capture the imagination of collectors everywhere.

This year, the legend is renewed with a new dial that pushes the watch, once more, to centre stage. A new series within the collection will now feature a rare material, metallic meteorite, for its dials.

The clear highlight of the watch is the attention-grabbing meteorite and black dial fitted on the watch. The raw material comes, literally, from outer space, and makes for a stunning dial thanks to its glittering textured appearance caused by its metallic crystalline composition.

Essentially composed of iron and nickel, the substance gained its distinctive look thanks to being super-cooled as the meteor struck the surface of the Earth. Metallic meteorite dials are difficult to work but the effort is definitely worthwhile once one views the resulting varied formations, known as Widmanstätten patterns, on the dial. To contrast against this mesmerising dial, Rolex has installed the watch with black chronograph counters at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions.

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All the variants bear the famous Superlative Chronometer rating, which is the COSC rating and Rolex’s own certification done after casing up the watches. The series comes in three models — the version in white gold has the prominent black Cerachrom bezel coupled with a black Oysterflex strap whereas the other two versions are in yellow gold and Everose gold respectively (with matching precious metal bezel and Oyster bracelets). All the aforementioned bezels are marked with tachymetre indications.

The Daytona watches are powered by the already famous Rolex calibre 4130 which is fitted with a blue Parachrom alloy hairspring, made in-house. Ten times more precise than a traditional hairspring, it is equipped with a Rolex overcoil for consistent accuracy.

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Oysterflex is a material developed and patented by Rolex. Inside the durable black elastomer strap is a super-elastic metal blade. It is exceptionally robust and resistant to environmental effects. This strap is also fitted with an Oysterlock safety clasp that comes equipped with Rolex’s patented Easylink rapid extension system. This allows for a quick increase of strap length by approximately 5mm, for additional comfort.

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