​

The Daytona is named after the city of Daytona Beach in Florida, where since 1903 car races take place. As early as 1930, Rolex produced a chronograph specifically designed to meet the demands of racing. However, this was not yet the name Daytona, but was provided with the inscription "Chronograph" on the dial. Since other manufacturers in this category had established much earlier, Rolex landed with the Pre-Daytona, as it is called today, with no great success. The former storekeepers, however, are very popular today. As they went for only 200$ at the time, they are today traded for around $20,000 or even more.
In 1962, Rolex became the official timepiece for race events at the Daytona International Speedway. Over the years, the races were drawn more and more from beach stretches to partially asphalted roads and have been carried out since 1959 on the fully asphalted Daytona racing track. Already in 1963 Rolex brought out the first Rolex Daytona with the reference 6239. At first only the specimens intended for the American market had the red lettering "Daytona" on the dial until it later became common for all models.

Since the Daytona was designed specifically for use in racing, its bezel is wider and more legible than comparable models of competing manufacturers. It measures average speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour and achieved prominence by famous wearers such as Paul Newman beyond racing.

​

Focusing primarily on the demands of racing drivers in the development of the Daytona, their most striking feature is their tachymeter bezel. Its chronograph function is activated by two pushers on the right side, which are bolted just like the crown and are therefore watertight.

The chronograph movement is extremely reliable and reacts thanks to coordinated pushers without any loss of time. Visually striking are the three sub-dials, which are colored in the variants of the current collection. They are also equipped with a self-winding caliber 4130 caliber, which guarantees optimum accuracy even in the event of shocks and temperature changes. The Daytona measures speeds of up to 400 units, kilometers per hour or miles.