Rolex Daytona Watches

Steel or gold: Rolex Daytona 116500LN in steel or 116508 in yellow gold

Take steel if the Daytona will be worn every day. A steel one such as the 116500LN is Oystersteel, Rolex's word for its steel, and it takes knocks well. A yellow gold one such as the 116508 is solid gold from the case to the bracelet. It sits heavier on the wrist, and the gold marks sooner when it meets a desk edge. The case size and the chronograph inside stay the same in either metal. In a Daytona reference, LN names a black bezel, and a closing 8 means yellow gold.

The references: Rolex Daytona 116500LN, 126500LN, 116508, 116518LN and 126505

Ask for a Daytona by its reference number. Here is what our own listings show for the 116500LN, the 126500LN and the 116508, and how to ask for the other two.

• 116500LN, in steel: a 40 mm Oystersteel case, a black ceramic bezel with the tachymeter scale, and the steel Oyster bracelet with an Oysterlock clasp. We have had it with a white dial and black subdials, and with a black dial.
• 126500LN, in steel: a 40 mm Oystersteel case under a black Cerachrom bezel with a tachymeter, on an Oyster bracelet. We have had it with the black Reverse Panda dial.
• 116508, in 18K yellow gold: a 40 mm case and Oyster bracelet, both in yellow gold, with a tachymeter bezel. We have had it with the green dial, the one the trade calls the John Mayer.
• 116518LN and 126505: ask for one in the live chat, or text the desk on 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET.

For a 116500LN, a 126500LN or a 116508 that is not in our listings, send the desk the same request with the dial you want, and we go looking for one in the trade.

The John Mayer: John Mayer Rolex Daytona, the green dial 116508

Only the 116508 in yellow gold with a green dial is the John Mayer. The trade named it for the musician, who wore one. It is a nickname, never a Rolex name, so go by the reference and the dial on a listing, not the word. Gold on gold with green is loud, and that is the point of it. When none is listed, ask the watch desk to find one.

The chronograph: how Rolex Daytona pushers, subdials and the tachymeter work

A Daytona is a stopwatch you wear. The pusher above the crown starts and stops the timing, and the pusher below sends the hands back to zero. The long center hand counts the seconds being timed. Small dials add up the minutes and hours, and another turns with the watch's own seconds. The scale on the bezel is a tachymeter. Time a mile from one marker to the next, and if it took under a minute, the center hand points to your speed in miles per hour. The pushers and the crown screw down, so keep them tight near water and never press a pusher under water.

What comes with it: Daytona box and papers and the Rolex card

Just under its description, each listing says whether the watch has its Rolex card or papers, and whether a box can be added. On a modern Rolex the papers are that warranty card. It carries the serial and dates the first sale, so the year on a listing is usually the card's year. Our watch team looks over every Daytona in person before it goes on the site. Each one ships tracked, and one in stock is usually on its way within two to five business days.

Final sale: buying a pre-owned Rolex Daytona or finding another

Every watch is final sale here, so settle each question before the payment. Check the reference and the card line, and ask whether spare links come with the bracelet. Type those questions into the live chat, or send the watch desk a text on 212-872-9692, read from 10 AM ET. If the Daytona you want is not listed, tell the desk what you are after, such as a black dial on steel or a case in Everose, Rolex's rose gold. We look through the trade for it and tell you what turns up.