The Daytona in stainless steel is argubaly the most sought after Rolex globally. This is further translated into its market price which is over 2X its manufacturer’s recommended price, regardless of which country you’re buying it from.
Interestingly, this roughly applies to both the white and the black dial variations of the model, with the black dial, at the time of this post, listed and selling for just under 2X its retail and the white panda, listed and selling for just a little above its 2X retail price.
Looking at their success or desirability purely from the sell price, the above information and estimated pricing would naturally transalate into the white panda dial daytona being a more sought after and a successful piece of the two. But there’s more to the story which supports or challenges the stats, and it goes without saying, that you can’t just apply logic to market values as its something that the market determines, and not the logic.
We at Calibre24 have sold more black dial Daytona in the current year than the white dial, but this again pictures only half the story. We can’t quite put the finger on exactly the reason why the black model was sold more but there is a possibility that it sells more because it’s a little cheaper in price and a little more accessible.
But then when you look at the market and the number of pieces avialable for sale globally, you’d argubaly and generally see the black dial daytona (126500) as more often available for sale than the white dial (126500). Along the same lines, we have seen and received much lesser white panda daytona since the release of the current latest generation 126500LN. Is it because Rolex make the white dial daytona less in numbers, or is it that their owners don’t sell them and simply hold on to them? That’s again something we can’t quite give the reason for.
What is interesting is that depsite a much higher price point, the white panda does also sell for much above the black dial. Now I will also mention that this year I recieved a lot more enquiries for the black dial Daytona over the panda dial, as opposed to previously, prior to the latest release model 126500, when I would almost always had an enquiry for the panda dial (116500). What has changed? Is it the new dial configuration that makes the black dial more interesting to the market or is it again just a better price point making the purchase justifiable?
It remains unconclusive as to why because going purely by the number of enquiries, the black dial is more popular than the panda dial, but going by the value rentention and sold prices, the panda continues to hold much stronger in terms of the price.
So what do you think is driving the prices and setting the market values? Or is it simply the perception of the model panda being too strong that it is simply not breaking despite more people coming forward asking for the black dial? Or may be, lastly, is it actually the functionality, the better legibility, the iconic panda looks making the white dial a lot more iconic and recognizeable from even 20 meters away and arguably the white panda daytona being pretty much the face of the brand has set its value so strong that its value retention and prestige remain unbeatable and it remains the strongest stainless steel Rolex watch in the market to be had? Part of me thinks its the latter.
Don’t forget to share your thoughts and opinion in the comments below.
