Four seasons. Four dials. One icon.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona has taken countless forms over the decades, but few have looked quite like these. Created as four unique pieces, the Rolex Four Seasons Daytonas reinterpret one of the most recognizable silhouettes in watchmaking through natural stone dials, colored gemstones, diamonds, and precious metals.

Named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, each watch translates a season into a completely different palette while retaining the unmistakable architecture of the Daytona. The four pieces were created for a one-of-a-kind charity auction held by Phillips in London on September 28, ultimately raising £37.3 million for the Federer Foundation and Re.

Four Seasons, Four Expressions

What connects the collection is more than the Daytona name.

Each watch pairs a precious-metal case with a natural-stone dial, contrasting stone counters, gemstone hour markers, a fully gem-set bezel, and brilliant-cut diamonds across the lugs and crown guard. Beneath the elaborate gem-setting, all four are powered by Rolex Calibre 4131 with an approximately 72-hour power reserve.

The result is four watches built from the same foundation but given entirely different identities.

Spring, reference 126599 SAVL, begins with an 18 ct white gold case and a green chrysoprase dial contrasted by lepidolite counters.

Purple sapphires carry the color outward from the dial, appearing as the hour markers and across a bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut stones. The lugs and crown guard are finished with 54 brilliant-cut diamonds, a detail shared across all four watches.

Spring ultimately achieved £6.8 million at auction.

Summer, reference 126595 SARO, introduces one of the collection’s most vivid combinations.

An 18 ct Everose gold case surrounds a turquoise dial with deep red heart-of-ruby counters. Pink sapphires mark the hours and continue around the bezel, while diamonds complete the case.

The contrast between turquoise, ruby, pink sapphire, and Everose gold gives Summer an appearance unlike almost any conventional Daytona.

Collectors responded accordingly. Summer led the Rolex Four Seasons auction at £10.3 million, the highest result among the four unique watches.

Autumn, reference 126598 TML, shifts into warmer territory with an 18 ct yellow gold case and a mookaite dial.

Chrysoprase counters introduce green against the natural variation of the dial, while green tourmalines appear at the hour markers and across the bezel. As with the other seasons, diamonds are set into the lugs and crown guard.

The watch sold for £10.2 million, only slightly behind Summer.

Winter, reference 126596 SABV, takes the collection in a cooler direction.

Its 950 platinum case frames a blue opal dial with lapis lazuli counters. Diamond hour markers replace the colored stones used by the other three watches, while the bezel is set with 36 trapeze-cut sapphires graduating from blue to fuchsia.

The combination of platinum, opal, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and sapphires gives Winter a noticeably different character from the other seasons. It ultimately sold for £10 million.

A Different Kind of Daytona

Rolex did not simply introduce four new dial colors. Natural stones form the dials and counters, while carefully selected gemstones extend each color story across the hour markers and bezels. Every piece uses the same recognizable Daytona framework, yet the materials transform the character of the watch.

There is also another important distinction: these are not four new production Daytona references entering the regular Rolex catalog.

These were four unique Rolex watches created specifically for the event, offered in a highly publicized charity auction and met with exceptional bidding. Their results therefore represent a very particular moment rather than a new benchmark for the broader production Daytona market.

£37.3 Million for Four Daytonas

On September 28, Phillips offered the four watches individually in London. Together, they achieved £37.3 million.

All proceeds from the auction benefit two organizations: the Federer Foundation, founded by Roger Federer to support early learning and education, and Re, co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio and focused on protecting and restoring the natural world.

The charitable context matters when looking at the extraordinary results.

The Cosmograph Daytona is already one of the most recognizable watches in the world. The Four Seasons project shows how far Rolex can take that familiar design without losing its identity.

Spring brings together green and purple. Summer contrasts turquoise with ruby and pink sapphire. Autumn pairs the warmth of yellow gold and mookaite with green chrysoprase and tourmaline. Winter moves into platinum, blue opal, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and graduated sapphires.

And with £37.3 million raised for charity, the Rolex Four Seasons will be remembered for more than their gemstones or auction results. They represent a rare moment when one of watchmaking’s most familiar designs became the canvas for something that may never be repeated in quite the same way.