First released in 2016 as a replacement to the 116520, the steel Rolex Ceramic Daytona 116500LN is today one of the most iconic and sought after of all Rolex pieces – to say it is a legendary model is absolutely not an exaggeration in the current climate, where earlier variants of this models have been shattering records for prices set at auctions.

Coming in with a 40mm Oystersteel case, I personally feel this piece wears small perhaps because of the Cerachom bezel in ceramic with moulded tachymetric scale that is highly scratch-resistant, resists corrosion and impervious to colour degradation (a trait which vintage collectors may not like given aluminum bezels have the ability to fade over time creating very interesting looks to the bezel over time).

Interestingly, details in the tachymetric scale is created via the deposition of a thin layer of platinum in a hollowed-out area using the physical vapour deposition (PVD) process which creates a silver tint that contrasts well with the black of the ceramic.

The well known Oyster case is fitted with a Triplock screw-down crown, with screw-down chronograph pushers which keep true to the Rolex Daytona DNA, even if it makes it a slight hassle to activate the chronograph function.

On to the dial of the Rolex Ceramic Daytona 116500LN, this is the black dial version (and interestingly, less popular version compared to the white dial version) that has silver contrasting rings on its chronograph registers which I find to be very well balanced. Some would complain that there are quite a lot of words at the 12 hour market but I’m not too fussed about that.

In typical Rolex fashion, the bracelet is extremely well built with Rolex’s patented Easy link 5mm comfort extension link which is very helpful for micro-adjustments especially on a hot day.

On to the technical aspects – this Rolex Ceramic Daytona 116500LN is powered by the in house perpetual self-winding calibre 4130 that features a magnetic-resistant blue “Paraghrom” hairspring that is also COSC certified. It has has a power reserve of 72 hours (not that this really matters given one will likely find it very hard to take this off your wrists!!!).

All in, this Rolex Daytona is an amazing piece that I have the privilege of owning. A piece of history in Rolex’s long and established line of extremely well made pieces that justifies and deserves its standing as being one of the hottest pieces that collectors would like to add to their collection (if they do not already have one)!