Rolex to Auction Four Unique Gem-Set Daytona Watches for $4.9 Million — in Aid of Federer Foundation and Re:wild

When Rolex commits to a charity auction, it does not do it quietly. The Swiss manufacture — a company that has never offered a one-off model through public sale in its modern history — will bring four unique versions of the Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona to Phillips in London on September 28, with every franc raised going to two causes: the Federer Foundation, which funds educational access for children in Southern Africa and Switzerland, and Re:wild, the conservation organisation co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The four watches were developed in collaboration with DiCaprio and Roger Federer, both longtime Rolex brand ambassadors. Collectively titled "The Four Seasons," each piece takes one of the year's four seasonal moments as its inspiration, then expresses it through an entirely different combination of precious metals, coloured gemstones, and natural stone dials.

Four Watches, Four Seasons, Four Materials

The spring Daytona is crafted in 18k white gold, its lugs and crown guard pavé-set with 54 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling approximately 0.86 carats. The bezel carries 36 trapeze-cut purple sapphires at around 5.57 carats total weight. The dial itself is carved from chrysoprase, a translucent apple-green variety of chalcedony, with counters fashioned from lepidolite and hour markers in baguette and square-cut purple sapphires.

The summer watch arrives in 18k Everose gold with a turquoise dial, ruby counters, and a bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut pink sapphires. The autumn piece is crafted in 18k yellow gold, featuring a mookaite dial — a jasper variety found only in Western Australia — with chrysoprase counters and 36 trapeze-cut green tourmalines. The winter Daytona is in platinum, its blue opal dial offset by lapis lazuli counters, diamond hour markers, and a gradient of blue-to-fuchsia sapphires across the bezel.

From Private Sale to Public Auction

The backstory is unusual even by Rolex's standards. According to Hodinkee, which first reported the auction on September 3, the four watches were originally conceived as a single private transaction for one buyer, priced at approximately 4 million Swiss francs — roughly $4.9 million. The offer was extended quietly through Rolex's authorised retailer network. When that network came back with more than 1,000 potential buyers, Rolex decided the pieces deserved a different stage. The solution was to put all four to public auction at Phillips.

For the auction house, this represents a significant moment. Phillips has built its watch division into one of the most respected in the world, but a direct partnership with Rolex on bespoke charity pieces is without precedent. Individual hammer prices have not been disclosed in advance; each watch will find its own level on the day.

Why This Matters

The broader significance is threefold. First, it demonstrates that even the world's most commercially disciplined watchmaker will break with precedent for a cause it believes in. Second, it places extraordinary gemstone craftsmanship — natural stone dials, trapeze-cut coloured sapphires, green tourmaline bezels — at the centre of a watch story at a moment when the boundary between fine watchmaking and fine jewellery continues to blur. Third, with 1,000 pre-qualified buyers reportedly interested in what was initially one private transaction, it offers a striking data point on the depth of demand at the very top of the luxury market.

The sale takes place at Phillips in London on September 28.

Sources

JCK Magazine | Hodinkee