Four Rolex Cosmograph Daytonas, four seasons and just one example in the world of each configuration. On September 28, 2026, in London, Phillips will auction The Four Seasons, a quartet of gem-set Daytonas inspired by spring, summer, autumn and winter, each created by Rolex as a unique piece.
The project is part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, through which the brand supports organizations and projects dedicated to exploration, environmental conservation, ocean protection and wilderness preservation. The entire proceeds from the sale will benefit the Federer Foundation, founded by Roger Federer and committed to early and foundational learning for children across Southern Africa and Switzerland, and Re:wild, an organization co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio that works to protect and restore wild ecosystems around the world.
The sale will be conducted by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, one of the leading names in the international collectors’ watch market and responsible for some of the most significant auction results of recent years.
The Four Seasons also holds particular significance from a collecting perspective. These are not simply four new precious configurations of the Cosmograph Daytona: each is a unique piece, an extremely rare occurrence for Rolex that makes this quartet something truly out of the ordinary within the brand’s contemporary production.
ROLEX THE FOUR SEASONS: FOUR SEASONS, FOUR DAYTONAS
The starting point for the project is the Cosmograph Daytona, but Rolex uses precious metals, natural stones, gemstones and different colour combinations to interpret the atmosphere and colours of the four seasons through four watches.
The concept also highlights one of the most fascinating aspects of Rolex’s savoir-faire: gem-setting. Colours, gemstones and finishes have been selected to evoke spring, summer, autumn and winter, creating a connection between the passage of time and the natural cycle of the seasons. Rolex itself describes the four watches as a showcase for its expertise in gem-setting, bringing together precision, creativity and beauty.
All four watches are based on the architecture of the 40 mm Cosmograph Daytona and are powered by the manufacture Rolex calibre 4131, an automatic movement with Superlative Chronometer certification and a power reserve of approximately 72 hours.
SPRING
Spring is interpreted through an 18 ct white gold case paired with a chrysoprase dial and lepidolite counters. The bezel is set with 36 trapeze-cut purple sapphires, while the hour markers feature baguette- and square-cut purple sapphires. Completing the composition are 54 brilliant-cut diamonds set into the lugs and crown guards.
SUMMER
For summer, Rolex opts for 18 ct Everose gold, combined with a turquoise dial and heart of ruby counters. The bezel is set with 36 trapeze-cut pink sapphires, a colour echoed by the hour markers, while the lugs and crown guards are set with 54 brilliant-cut diamonds.
AUTUMN
Warmer tones define autumn, with an 18 ct yellow gold case and a distinctive mookaite dial paired with green chrysoprase counters. The bezel features 36 trapeze-cut green tourmalines, also used for the hour markers, alongside 54 brilliant-cut diamonds decorating the lugs and crown guards.
WINTER
Winter is represented by a 950 platinum case, a blue opal dial and lapis lazuli counters. The bezel features 36 trapeze-cut sapphires carefully selected and arranged to create a colour gradation from blue to fuchsia. Here, the hour markers are set with baguette- and square-cut diamonds, complemented by 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards.
FROM RAINBOW TO FOUR SEASONS: THE APPEAL OF GEM-SET ROLEX WATCHES
There is another aspect that makes these four Daytonas particularly interesting. In recent years, gem-set watches have gained an increasingly prominent place in contemporary watch collecting, moving beyond the traditional idea of the jewellery watch to become, in their rarest configurations, genuine collectors’ pieces.
Rolex has played an important role in this evolution, and the Cosmograph Daytona is one of its most significant examples. The history of gem-set Daytonas dates back to the 1980s with the extremely rare references 6269 and 6270, the first manually wound Daytonas decorated with precious stones. In the decades that followed, Rolex’s chronograph became a platform for increasingly daring combinations of diamonds and coloured gemstones, often produced in extremely limited numbers.
The Cosmograph Daytona Rainbow is probably the best-known expression of this evolution. The first known example, the unique ref. 16599 dating from circa 1994, predates by many years the subsequent Rainbow Daytonas introduced from 2012 onwards. Over time, these configurations have helped make gem-set Daytonas a particularly fascinating niche within Rolex collecting.
Diamonds and precious stones, therefore, no longer necessarily represent a purely aesthetic exercise. For collectors, factors such as the rarity of a configuration, the selection of the gemstones, the quality of the setting, production numbers and, above all, the history and provenance of a watch all come into play.
And it is precisely in these respects that The Four Seasons takes the concept to a different level.
WHY THE FOUR SEASONS MATTER TO COLLECTORS
The Cosmograph Daytona is already one of the world’s most recognizable and collectible watches. Its history at international auctions offers numerous examples, the most famous being Paul Newman’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6239, sold by Phillips in 2017 for $17,752,500, at the time setting the world record for a wristwatch sold at auction.
Naturally, the Four Seasons belong to an entirely different context, but they bring together several of the elements that traditionally fuel the desire of major collectors: rarity, provenance, recognizability and a story that would be extremely difficult to replicate.
Here we have four contemporary Cosmograph Daytonas, four different precious metals, dials made from natural stones, elaborate gem-setting and, above all, just one existing example for each season. Added to this is impeccable provenance: the watches are presented directly by Rolex and offered at auction as part of an official project by the brand.
This combination of characteristics makes it extremely difficult to find any true points of comparison and will, in all likelihood, attract the attention of some of the world’s most important Rolex collectors.
There is also another element that will make the auction particularly interesting: the four watches will be sold separately. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter could therefore go their separate ways, or a single collector could attempt to secure all four lots and keep together what was conceived as a single quartet.
THE PHILLIPS AUCTION ON SEPTEMBER 28
The four Rolex Cosmograph Daytona The Four Seasons watches will be auctioned by Phillips in London on Monday, September 28, 2026, as four separate lots. The entire proceeds will benefit the Federer Foundation and Re:wild, placing the sale within the framework of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.
It is precisely this charitable purpose that gives the project a significance extending beyond the exceptional nature of the four watches themselves. Through The Four Seasons, Rolex places its watchmaking expertise and mastery of gem-setting at the service of two complementary goals: supporting future generations and helping protect nature and its ecosystems. The succession of the four seasons – and the relationship between nature and the passage of time – provides a particularly fitting symbolism for the initiative.
For the collecting world, September 28 will at the same time represent an extremely rare opportunity to see how the market values four contemporary, gem-set Rolex Cosmograph Daytonas that are, above all, unique pieces.
And perhaps the most intriguing question will not simply be which of the four achieves the highest result, but whether Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter will remain together or begin four entirely different collecting stories.
By Jacopo Giudici