There are plenty of unusual Rolex Daytonas, but these four sit in a different category altogether. They are not limited editions waiting to appear in boutiques, nor are they new dial options destined to filter gradually into the regular catalogue.Rolex has created four individual Cosmograph Daytonas around the idea of the four seasons, and each watch exists as its own unique piece. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter will be offered separately by Phillips in London on 28 September 2026, with the proceeds benefiting the Federer Foundation and Re:wild.For a company that normally changes the Daytona with considerable restraint, the watches are strikingly expressive. Natural stone dials, coloured gemstones, diamond-set cases and four different precious metals turn one of Rolex’s best-known sports watches into something much closer to wearable jewellery.For readers of our Rolex replica watches UK site, that also makes these watches worth studying carefully. The interesting part is not simply that they are colourful or expensive. It is how Rolex has used materials, texture and colour while keeping the familiar Daytona architecture intact.
This Is Still Clearly a Daytona
The easiest thing Rolex could have done would have been to allow the gemstones to overwhelm the watch. That has not happened.The familiar three-register chronograph layout remains. The screw-down pushers, Oyster case, crown guards and broad visual stance are all recognisably Daytona. All four watches also use Rolex calibre 4131, with an approximately 72-hour power reserve.That underlying consistency is important because the four watches would otherwise risk feeling like unrelated jewellery pieces.Instead, the Daytona acts as a common frame. What changes from watch to watch is the material language inside that frame.This makes the collection an unusually clear example of how much personality can be changed without altering the fundamental shape of a watch.
Spring Is More Complicated Than Its Soft Colours Suggest
The Spring model, reference 126599 SAVL, begins with an 18 ct white-gold case. At first glance it is probably the calmest of the four.The dial is cut from chrysoprase, giving it a pale green appearance, while the chronograph counters are made from lepidolite. Purple sapphires are then used for the hour markers and across the bezel.That combination should not really work as easily as it does. Pale green and purple can become overly decorative very quickly, particularly once diamonds are added to the lugs and crown guards. Here, however, the cool tone of the white gold keeps the colours from becoming too heavy.It is also a reminder that a natural stone Rolex Daytona dial cannot be understood in quite the same way as a conventional lacquered or metallic dial. Natural material has variations in texture and pattern. Two pieces cut from the same type of stone will never look completely identical.That individuality is particularly appropriate on a watch Rolex intends to remain unique.
Summer Is the Most Immediately Recognisable
If Spring is relatively restrained, Summer is not.Reference 126595 SARO uses an 18 ct Everose gold case with a turquoise dial and counters made from heart of ruby. Pink sapphires appear on the bezel and as the hour markers.The contrast is strong: bright turquoise against warm Everose gold, with pink gemstones adding another layer of colour.There is almost nothing traditionally motorsport-inspired about the palette, yet the familiar Daytona sub-dials prevent it from feeling disconnected from the collection.This may be the most instantly recognisable of the four because turquoise already has a long history in high jewellery and luxury watch dials. Here, though, Rolex does not treat it as a simple block of blue. The red and pink details around it give the watch a considerably warmer character.From a comparison point of view, this is where photographs can be deceptive. A coloured dial can be copied reasonably closely in a photograph, but turquoise dial texture and gemstone colour matching are much harder to reproduce convincingly when the watch is seen in changing light.
Autumn Has the Most Earthy Character
Autumn, reference 126598 TML, takes another direction completely.The case and bracelet are made from 18 ct yellow gold, but the most unusual component is the mookaite dial. Rolex pairs it with chrysoprase chronograph counters and green tourmalines around the bezel and hour positions.Mookaite naturally carries earthy shades that can move through yellow, brown, red and cream. That makes it particularly well suited to the idea of autumn without Rolex needing to rely on an obvious orange dial.The green tourmalines are an equally interesting choice. Rather than simply copying the colour of autumn leaves, Rolex uses the combination of warm stone and green gemstones to suggest the transition between seasons.Of the four watches, this is perhaps the one where the natural material matters most. The dial is not supposed to appear perfectly uniform. Its irregularity is part of what gives the watch its identity.This is also why descriptions such as “same colour” tell very little when comparing an unusual watch like this. On a gem set Rolex Daytona with a natural stone dial, the material itself is part of the design rather than merely the colour applied to it.
Winter Is the Most Dramatic
Winter, reference 126596 SABV, receives the heaviest material treatment of the four.The case is made from 950 platinum, while the dial is blue opal with lapis lazuli counters. Instead of coloured stones for the hour markers, Rolex uses diamonds.The bezel is where the watch becomes particularly striking. Thirty-six trapeze-cut sapphires move through a gradient from blue to fuchsia.On paper, fuchsia might seem an unusual choice for a watch representing winter. In practice, the transition works more like changing light than a literal representation of snow or ice.The platinum case also matters. Its colder tone provides a very different background from yellow or Everose gold, allowing the blue dial and sapphires to dominate visually.Among the four, Winter probably shows most clearly that Rolex was not trying to produce a simple “season-themed” novelty. There is genuine consideration in the relationship between case metal, stone dial and gem colours.
The Details Shared by All Four Watches Matter
Despite the very different palettes, Rolex has deliberately repeated several details across the quartet.Each bezel carries 36 trapeze-cut coloured stones. The lugs and crown guards are set with 54 brilliant-cut diamonds. All four watches use calibre 4131 and retain the core mechanical identity of the current Cosmograph Daytona.Those repeated elements create visual continuity.Without them, Four Seasons could easily have felt like four unrelated bespoke watches gathered under one name. Instead, they genuinely read as a set even though each one has its own reference and material combination.Anyone interested in understanding why small reference differences matter can find more background in our Rolex watch knowledge and reference guide, where we look at how cases, dials, bracelets and reference generations can change the character of otherwise familiar Rolex models.
Why London Makes This Story Relevant to a UK Watch Site
There is no need to manufacture a UK angle for this story. The auction itself takes place in London.Phillips will offer the watches individually on 28 September, rather than requiring one buyer to purchase the complete Four Seasons group. The proceeds are intended for two organisations connected with Rolex Testimonees Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio.The Federer Foundation works primarily around children’s education, including projects in Southern Africa and Switzerland. Re:wild focuses on protecting and restoring the natural world.That charitable purpose changes the meaning of whatever prices eventually appear.A result from this auction should not automatically be treated as a normal market valuation for a gem-set Daytona. Buyers are bidding for a unique Rolex while also supporting the organisations behind the sale. The two motivations are inseparable.
Why These Watches Are Especially Difficult to Compare With Replicas
Most replica-watch comparisons begin with fairly repeatable details: case dimensions, bezel typography, sub-dial spacing, bracelet taper, clasp design and dial printing.The Four Seasons watches introduce an entirely different problem.Natural stone is not uniform. Gemstone colours do not behave like printed colour. The appearance of chrysoprase, turquoise, mookaite or blue opal changes according to texture, cutting and light.The sapphires and tourmalines around the bezels also depend on careful colour selection. A gradient is convincing only when neighbouring stones move naturally from one shade to the next.That means a photograph showing roughly similar green, blue or pink colours tells only a small part of the story.For UK readers studying Rolex Daytona replica design differences, these watches are a good reminder to separate surface resemblance from material execution. A similar layout is not the same thing as the same material, construction or finishing.That distinction should always remain clear. The four watches discussed here are genuine one-of-a-kind Rolex creations; replica watches are separate products and should not be described as containing genuine Rolex components unless that can actually be established.
There Is More to This Story Than Auction Records
It will be tempting to judge this event entirely by the hammer prices.That would miss what makes the project interesting.The Daytona began life as a functional chronograph closely associated with motor racing. More than six decades later, Rolex is using exactly the same recognisable silhouette as the basis for four watches defined by natural stones, coloured gems and high jewellery techniques.Yet none of them stops looking like a Daytona.That is probably the strongest part of the Four Seasons project. Rolex has pushed colour and decoration much further than it normally does, but the underlying watch is still immediately identifiable.Spring feels cool and delicate. Summer is bright and unapologetic. Autumn is warmer and more organic. Winter has the deepest and most dramatic palette of the group.You do not need to prefer gem-set watches to appreciate the thought behind them.
The Four Seasons Daytonas are interesting precisely because they sit outside the normal Rolex catalogue.They do not need to appeal to the broad audience that buys a steel Submariner or a conventional Daytona. They were created for one event, around one idea, with the freedom that comes from knowing there will not be thousands of identical examples.That freedom has allowed Rolex to show a side of the Daytona that is rarely visible in the regular collection.For a UK Rolex replica watch site, the useful lesson is not that these watches should immediately become templates for replicas. It is the opposite: they show how much of a watch’s character can depend on material, texture and execution rather than a list of colours copied from a specification sheet.Whatever happens when the four lots reach Phillips in London, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter have already made the Daytona look unexpectedly different without changing what makes it recognisably a Daytona.
