Off Catalogue Rolex Daytona Platinum 116576TBR
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116576TBR
Its probably fair to say that if there was ever a competition for “The Daytona to end all Daytonas” this glorious lump of platinum may well come out on top.
It is the Daytona for when the likes of the Rainbow simply won’t do.
This is the reference 116576TBR.
First launched in 2014, this was Rolex having themselves a party to follow up on the infinitely more sombre release of the original full platinum Daytona in 2013.
The TBR brought a fully baguette set diamond bezel to the table, as well as a full pave dial which only conceded a bit of its sparkle to show off its ice blue sub-dials.
Ice blue being the hallmark of a full platinum piece.
With heat blued hands providing the icing on the cake, this is a full diesel Daytona that is absolutely style over subtlety.
Platinum is one of the purest metals comprising of 95% platinum and 5% cobalt.
One of its most interesting properties is that despite being a precious metal it is exceptionally durable, more so than gold.
The difference between the two is the way that each metal behaves when scratched, and lets face it, if you wear and love a watch, you’ll smack it on to something, at some point.
When you scratch or mark platinum, what you’re actually doing is displacing the metal. It simply moves aside in a furrow without loss. Sounds like a disaster, but with a gold counterpart, you’ll lose metal to scratches and over time (a lot of time, granted) the surface will eventually wear down.
Not so with platinum, the amount you get, is pretty much the amount you’ll be left with despite scuffs and marks. It is much more robust which is why its considered to be boss level.
Not to mention the weight on the wrist, which just feels outright decadent.
The case, which still boasts 100m of water resistance, is exactly as expected from the 11 reference Daytonas. Asymmetrical, fully polished with curves that ebb and flow with no sharp lines or edges. As it is platinum, it has a significant weight to it.
Daytonas have always had perfect balance on the wrist though, and this is no exception with the bracelet stabilising the head perfectly.
The dial and bezel are clearly the focus points here, and, as per typical Rolex standards they have both been executed flawlessly.
It will come as no surprise that “Factory” dials and bezels are streets ahead of their aftermarket counterparts. But what is not immediately obvious unless you’ve had both in hand at the same time is just how stark the difference between Rolex diamond setting and any-other-jeweller-after-setting-a-watch really is.
Big brand gem-set manufacture caters to an exceptionally small demographic.
Without putting too fine a point on it, they are produced a brands “God Tier” clients because:
A) Getting to the point where you’re even offered an off-catalogue gem set piece takes a LOT of spending power.
B) The price of precious metal diamond clad watches from the manufacturer is prohibitive for “normal buyers” and I absolutely consider myself to be in that bracket.
Whether or not we agree with the practice, nobody is going to be able to walk in from the street and buy a diamond Nautilus, Daytona, Royal Oak Openworked.
Even the chances of walking in to an AD and buying their steel counterparts are absolutely zero such is the way that the industry works.
But when you reach that level, what you are paying for is both exclusivity, and an absolute masterclass in gem setting and stone quality, which is what we have here.
The bezel is ring of channel set baguette diamonds which show no visible setting between the stones which under the light display some wonderful flashes of fire.
They’re mesmerising, even if you aren’t an overt fan of diamonds the way that they respond to even the slightest ripple of light with a colourful internal display is very cool.
The crown takes their diamonds exceptionally seriously. They use only the highest quality natural stones and say of their process -
“Rolex gems undergo rigorous verification procedures.
To guarantee the quality of the stones, gemologists have a range of analysis tools at their disposal, in addition to their own expertise.
These tools, some of which are specially developed for Rolex, provide information on the rocks chemical composition.
Diamonds are systematically tested via X-ray imaging to confirm their authenticity.
The way in which the gemstones are cut – the symmetry and shape of the facets – determines the way in which light penetrates the stones and is reflected off the pavilion, or lower part of the diamond. The cut therefore directly influences a stone’s brilliance. A well cut stone accentuates the intensity and number of reflections, even creating rainbow hues. The facets of each of the stones – the result of the diamond cutter’s painstaking work – are analysed in the brands gemmology laboratory.
Clarity relates to the absence of inclusions in a stone.
Rolex selects only the most translucent natural gemstones and accept only internally flawless (IF) gems.”
Safe to say, then, that the bezel is absolutely perfect.
The same goes for the pave dial which is fully diamond set using snow-like melee (meaning small) brilliantly cut diamonds.
These stones may be small but they are still mighty and are top colour graded and just as flawless as their big brothers on the bezels.
Each diamond is set into its own custom placed mount which is drilled into the dial rather than being attached by claws across a flat dial surface. As a result of the drilled setting, the diamonds are absolutely flush and the dial surface is flat despite being littered covered gemstones.
I particularly like the colour play between the pave of the dial and the ice blue sub-dials, its all exceptionally and literally very cool and a bit reminiscent of snow and glaciers, which is fitting for a Swiss watch.
The heat blued hands are a thoughtful touch and offer some welcome contrast as white metal hands against pave would render the watch almost impossible to read at a glance by anybody under the age of 25.
It’s all very well having an iconic sports piece made from platinum and diamonds but if its luxury overrules its legibility then its rather pointless as a timekeeper. Never fear though, the hands are absolutely just the job.
On the subject of timekeeping, the movement is probably my favourite that Rolex have ever made, so far.
When Rolex finished its run of “Zenith” Daytonas in 2000, it introduced the fully in-house calibre 4130 which is, in my opinion, is one of the finest chronograph movements ever built, and not just by Rolex.
At the time, it was hugely innovative with a 72 hour power reserve thanks to an oversized mainspring barrel.
To put that into vague context - it took another 20 years before the 72 hour reserved trickled down to the Submariner range.
The 4130 is a column wheel chronograph movement with vertical clutch that used 77 fewer parts than the Zenith El Primero, and uses 12 screws as opposed to 40.
Fewer parts = fewer problems, less maintenance.
The rotor is mounted on ceramic ball bearings for efficiency and decreased maintenance, and the chrono clutch is vertical as opposed to horizontal which completely did away with the “stutter” and lag when starting the timer.
The wheel that deals with the chronograph is skeletonised and instead of the traditional gear teeth that we all know and recognise, the chronograph wheel that drives the seconds in the 4130 uses cantilever spring loaded steel teeth.
These teeth ensure that there is absolutely no backlash when operating the chronograph as the springs make full contact when meshing against the other gear wheels when operating. Flawless micro mechanics.
Cal 4130 was also the first Rolex movement to receive the Parachrom Hairspring which is made from niobium and zirconium, and is anti magnetic, unaffected by temperature changes and 10 times more resistant to shocks. More to the point, the stability of this new breed of hairspring increased precision enabling +2/-2 timekeeping and superlative chronometer status.
It was the pinnacle of Rolex engineering at the time and I still think that it is unrivalled.
It is comparatively simple, elegant, accurate, easy to maintain and even if you don’t maintain it particularly diligently, this movement will run, and run, and run without fault for years.
So, at the end of the review, we have a very special watch indeed.
Granted it isn’t one that will appeal to all tastes, but having really struck it under the microscope for the sake of this review, I can come up with only one gripe, which puts me in rather an unenviable position of criticising a watch that I would love to own - The AR coating, or lack thereof, lets the dial down at certain angles.
Dead on the dial is a riot of flashes and brilliance with icy toned subdials bringing the whole shebang together as a work of absolute art - at other angles, it is a white sheet because the crystal is not doing a good enough job of controlling the glare and maximising visibility.
Granted, this is an older model as it was released ten years ago, but ten years ago the likes of Breitling and Omega were releasing AR coated crystals that were coated in a way that made the sapphire appear invisible and the dials rich in depth and colour.
The Daytona dial is a flat sapphire, so there is no reason for it not to have an inspired level of AR coating to suit the detail of the dial, particularly not on a watch of this level.
Quite a significant boo in a field full of praise.
And on that note, regardless of the lack of AR, I’m off to check for TBR change down the back of the sofa.