The Rolex Daytona We All Want From Watches and Wonders 2025

We are less than ten days away from Watches and Wonders 2025, and we are in full effect, foaming at the mouth over what Rolex will unveil. There have been some recent, possibly fake, leaks—but this Rolex buff has been hoping for something truly surprising from Rolex this year. I bet you're thinking… Coke Bezel GMT-Master II. And you would be wrong. I want a special Daytona to finally make its way into the Rolex catalogue.

In 2023, Rolex released the two-tone (aka bi-metal) Cosmograph Daytona in Oystersteel and yellow gold, Reference 126503, featuring a new case, bezel, and movement. This particular variant is the one I believe Rolex could improve upon. The way I see it, there was one minor misstep they can correct this year—take the all-gold bezel and swap it for a bezel-set ceramic version.

It's a simple change. See our rendering here…

Frankly, this rendered watch is amazing. I recently had the chance to speak with a few different Rolex Authorized Dealers. They explained that demand for the two-tone Daytona simply wasn’t there the way it is for the blue bezel/blue dial Submariner in its current iteration. From our conversation, I got the sense that this particular model may have been a tough sell. And I understand why—it just doesn’t hit the same way the all-steel version does. However, I believe that making this simple edit would get buyers to fully appreciate this iconic bi-metal version.

Image Source: Rolex Forums

This is a relatively easy change for Rolex to make. A key point to note: this bezel already exists. It’s featured on the full-gold version of the watch with an Oysterflex bracelet. I’m not part of the Rolex engineering team, but I suspect that all they would need to do is swap the full-gold bezel for the half-ceramic, half-gold bezel. I don’t see this being an overwhelming task for Rolex to tackle in 2025.

Image Source: Luxury Bazaar

One thing we have going for us regarding this change is that Rolex operates on its own timeline. They read the market, and if this reference is underperforming within an otherwise highly popular model lineup, they will take steps to revamp it. We've seen this happen with the Datejust and President models over time. Let’s hope they do the same with the bi-metal Daytona in 2025. See you in Geneva in just a few days!

(Below is another variation of the model, this time featuring the red-accented dial that we all love so much.)