The Cosmograph Daytona 116508 is the full 18 ct yellow gold version of the Daytona built on the caliber 4130 case generation, fitted with a matching solid gold Oyster bracelet and a fixed gold bezel carrying an engraved tachymetric scale. It is a chronograph designed to time elapsed intervals and calculate average speed over a known distance.
The green dial configuration, catalogued as 116508-0013, was introduced at Baselworld 2016, in the same year Rolex launched the steel Daytona 116500LN with its Cerachrom bezel. The reference replaced the yellow gold 116528, the first yellow gold Daytona to run the in-house caliber 4130, and carried over the movement while updating the clasp, the bezel markings, and the luminous material.
Within the Daytona line at launch, the 116508 sat as a standard-production precious metal model rather than a limited edition, positioned above the steel and Rolesor versions. Rolex offered it across a wide range of dial configurations under the same reference number.
The reference is known as the “John Mayer” Daytona. The name attached to the green dial version after the musician discussed it on camera in 2019, and Rolex has never used the term itself.
Dial and Face Design
The dial is green with a sunburst finish that radiates from the centre, shifting between a darker forest tone and a brighter green depending on the angle of light. The three chronograph counters are executed tone on tone in the same green as the base dial, each ringed and graduated with fine printed scales carrying red accents.
Hour markers are applied 18 ct gold batons with a round marker at 12 o’clock, filled with Chromalight, which emits a blue glow. The hands are gold in the same stick profile, also Chromalight filled. The central chronograph seconds hand and the counter hands are slim batons.
The counter layout follows the caliber 4130: running seconds at 6 o’clock, the 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, and the 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock. There is no date.
Printed dial text runs ROLEX under the crown at 12, then OYSTER PERPETUAL, SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER, OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED, and COSMOGRAPH. DAYTONA appears in red on a curve above the seconds counter, with SWISS MADE at 6 o’clock. The inner rehaut is engraved with repeating ROLEX text and the serial number at 6 o’clock.
Case and Bezel
The case is the Oyster round profile at 40 mm, built as a monobloc middle case with a screw-down case back and screw-down winding crown. Surfaces combine polished flanks and lugs with the polished bezel, giving a uniform bright finish across the gold. Recorded case height is 12.4 mm.
The crystal is scratch-resistant sapphire with no date magnifier. The winding crown uses the Triplock triple waterproofness system and sits between two screw-down chronograph pushers, which must be unscrewed before the chronograph can be operated. Water resistance is 100 metres.
The bezel is fixed 18 ct yellow gold with the tachymetric scale engraved directly into the metal rather than applied to an insert. It is not a rotating bezel and has no timing function of its own.
The tachymeter reads average speed up to 400 units per hour. Start the chronograph at the beginning of a measured mile or kilometre, stop it at the end, and the figure the chronograph seconds hand points to on the bezel is the average speed over that distance.
Bracelet and Clasp
The bracelet is the Oyster in solid 18 ct yellow gold, built from flat three-piece links with polished surfaces throughout. Lug width is 20 mm, and the end links are solid and fitted to the case.
The bracelet ships with twelve full links, seven on the 12 o’clock side and five on the 6 o’clock side, counted excluding the end links and the extension link. Links are secured with screws.
The clasp is a folding Oysterlock safety clasp in matching yellow gold, with a folding safety catch that closes over the clasp cover. It carries the Easylink comfort extension link, which allows the wearer to lengthen the bracelet by 5 mm without tools.
The 116508 was sold only on the gold Oyster bracelet. The parallel yellow gold references of the same generation, 116518 and 116518LN, carried a leather strap or the Oysterflex bracelet instead.
Movement and Functionality
The movement is the Rolex caliber 4130, a self-winding chronograph developed and manufactured in house, first introduced in 2000 as the replacement for the Zenith-based caliber 4030.
It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) with 44 jewels and a power reserve of approximately 72 hours. Winding is bidirectional through a Perpetual rotor mounted on ball bearings. The chronograph uses a column wheel and a vertical clutch, and the hairspring is the paramagnetic blue Parachrom.
The movement is COSC certified and carries Rolex’s own Superlative Chronometer designation, applied after casing, to a tolerance of minus 2 to plus 2 seconds per day.
Functions are hours, minutes, small seconds with hacking, and a chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counters. To operate the chronograph, unscrew both pushers, press the upper pusher at 2 o’clock to start and stop, and press the lower pusher at 4 o’clock to reset to zero. Both pushers should be screwed back down before the watch is exposed to water.
Materials of the Watch
The case, bezel, crown, pushers, case back, bracelet, and clasp are all 18 ct yellow gold, making this a solid precious metal watch rather than a plated or capped one. Rolex casts its own gold alloys in-house.
The crystal is synthetic sapphire, chosen for hardness and scratch resistance. The hour markers and hands are 18 ct gold, which does not tarnish and holds a bright finish against the dial.
The luminescent material is Chromalight, Rolex’s proprietary compound, which emits a blue glow. The tachymetric scale is engraved into the gold bezel rather than printed or filled with a separate insert material.
The overall material character is uniform: one precious metal used throughout the exterior, with sapphire and a luminous compound as the only additions.
Box and Papers
A full set for this reference’s production era consists of:
- Rolex modern green wave presentation box with a cream interior, in the larger presentation-box size normally supplied with precious metal Daytona sets
- Matching cream or ivory outer carton
- Green document wallet
- Green Rolex international guarantee card, completed and dated by the Official Rolex Jeweller
- Green Superlative Chronometer seal tag
- Model-specific hang tag
- Owner’s manual for the Cosmograph Daytona
- Rolex service and care booklet
- Bezel protector and factory stickers on unworn examples
- Any bracelet links removed at the point of sale
Box Variations
Older version
- Generation 1, covering the full 2016 to 2023 production run
- Rolex modern green wave presentation box
- Cream interior
- Matching cream or ivory outer carton
- Green document wallet
- Larger presentation-box size, the format normally supplied with precious metal Daytona sets
Newer version
- Service-replacement boxes issued after a Rolex Service Centre visit, which follow the presentation box current at the time of service rather than the year of sale
- Replacement boxes sourced separately on the secondary market, where the size and generation may not match a precious metal Daytona set
The reference ran under a single manufacturer-issued box generation across its whole life. No reliably documented factory box redesign occurred between 2016 and 2023, so a 116508 of any production year within the run should sit in the same green wave box with the cream interior and the cream or ivory outer carton.
That makes the packaging check straightforward for a full set. The two things to confirm are the presentation-box size, which should be the larger precious metal format rather than the standard sports box, and the presence of the green document wallet alongside the cream outer carton. A box from a later generation, or a smaller-format box, indicates a replacement rather than the original packaging.
Original Warranty
A 116508 sold new in 2022 carried Rolex’s five-year international guarantee, which applies to all Rolex models purchased from an Official Rolex Jeweller from 1 July 2015 onward. Before that date the guarantee ran for two years.
The guarantee is issued by Rolex, completed and dated by the retailer at the point of sale, and registered with Rolex. It is international and transfers with the watch, running from the original purchase date rather than restarting with a new owner.
The certificate format for a 2022 example is the revised minimalist green Rolex international guarantee card, the second of the two card generations used across this reference’s run. On this format the purchaser-name field and much of the previously visible printed information were removed, and the retailer activates the guarantee electronically.
Validity depends on the card being completed by the Official Rolex Jeweller and presented together with the watch.
Warranty Variations
Older version
- Generation 1, covering examples sold from 2016 to approximately mid-2020
- Older-style green Rolex international guarantee card
- More printed watch, retailer and purchaser information visible on the card face
- Supplied with the green leather-style card holder of the period
- Five-year international guarantee, already applicable from 1 July 2015
Newer version
- Generation 2, covering examples sold from approximately mid-2020 to 2023, which includes 2022 watches
- Revised minimalist green warranty card
- Purchaser-name field and much of the visible printed information removed
- Guarantee activated electronically by the retailer
- Revised green card-holder style
- Two-year Rolex service warranty issued after a full service at a Rolex Service Centre, supplied with service paperwork rather than a replacement guarantee card
- Rolex Certified Pre-Owned documentation from December 2022 onward, carrying its own two-year international warranty issued at the point of resale
A watch sold new in 2022 is inside the five-year window until 2027, so the original guarantee on a 2022 example is still running, depending on the exact purchase date recorded on the card. Earlier examples from 2016 through 2020 are outside the original period.
The two-year service warranty matters for listings because it stands independently of the factory guarantee and does not extend it. Where a watch has been serviced by Rolex, the service paperwork sits alongside the original card rather than replacing it.
For a full set, the guarantee card is the primary documentation the market checks, and the card generation should match the year of sale. A 2022 watch belongs with the Generation 2 minimalist card, not the older information-heavy format. The serial number should match the rehaut engraving and the number between the lugs, and a blank card, a card with mismatched numbers, or a photocopy is a problem regardless of the condition of the watch.
Production and Discontinuation Status
- Currently in production: No
- Year introduced: 2016
- Year discontinued: 2023
- Approximate production run: seven years
Rolex removed the green dial 116508 from the catalogue in the March 2023 line update, alongside the blue dial 116509 and the meteorite dial versions. Some specification databases record the run ending in 2022, so the sources differ by a year on the closing date.
The successor generation is the 126508, a yellow gold Daytona on the Oyster bracelet running the caliber 4131. Its green dial version carries contrasting gold subdials rather than the tone-on-tone green counters used here.
On-Wrist Feel
At 40 mm across, 12.4 mm thick, and 20 mm between the lugs, the 116508 sits in the same footprint as the steel Daytona of the same generation. The proportions suit wrists from roughly 6.5 to 7.75 inches, and the short lugs keep the case from overhanging on smaller wrists.
The difference is weight. Solid 18 ct gold is roughly twice as dense as stainless steel, so the case and bracelet together carry noticeably more mass than the steel version, and the watch settles heavily rather than sitting light.
The Oyster bracelet is a flat three-link design with no taper drama, and the Oysterlock clasp adds a safety catch over the cover. The Easylink link gives 5 mm of extension without tools, which covers the swing between a cool morning and a warm afternoon.
The case is thin enough to pass under a shirt cuff, and the polished gold reads as a dress chronograph in practice rather than a tool watch, despite the 100 metre rating and screw-down pushers. It suits a wearer who wants a chronograph that presents formally.
Variations
Across every 116508 the case, bezel, bracelet, and movement are constant: a 40 mm 18 ct yellow gold Oyster case, a fixed gold bezel with an engraved tachymetric scale, a gold Oyster bracelet with an Oysterlock clasp and Easylink, and the caliber 4130. What changes between examples is the dial, and, by year of sale, the guarantee card generation.
Dials
- 116508-0013, green with tone-on-tone green counters, the configuration on this page
- 116508-0001, white
- 116508-0003 and 116508-0014, champagne
- 116508-0004 and 116508-0009, black
- 116508-0006, champagne with diamond hour markers
- 116508-0007, mother of pearl with diamond hour markers
- 116508-0008 and 116508-0016, black with diamond hour markers
- 116508-0011, black mother of pearl with diamond hour markers
- 116508-0015, silver-coloured meteorite with black counters, added to the reference in 2021
Guarantee cards
- 2016 to approximately mid-2020: older green international guarantee card with fuller printed watch, retailer and purchaser information, in the green leather-style holder of the period
- Approximately mid-2020 to 2023: revised minimalist green card with the purchaser-name field and much of the printed information removed, activated electronically by the retailer, in the revised holder style
Neighboring references:
These are separate reference numbers and their specifications do not carry across to the 116508:
- 116528, the yellow gold Daytona that the 116508 replaced, on the earlier bracelet and clasp generation
- 116518 and 116518LN, yellow gold Daytonas of the same generation supplied on a strap or the Oysterflex bracelet, with the LN suffix carrying a black Cerachrom bezel rather than an engraved gold one
- 116509, the white gold version of the same case and bracelet configuration
- 126508, the successor generation on the caliber 4131
