Without doubt, the new Daytona is a very good men’s watch. Good in the sense that it is, almost, perfectly made as a mechanical object. Sculpted, polished, refined, and put together with uncanny tidiness. It possesses quality that is only possible with expensive and advanced manufacturing; the spring-loaded Oysterlock clasp alone is micro-engineering feat.
The acclaim doesn’t stop there. As a mechanical timekeeper the Daytona and its calibre 4130 is wonderful – hardly a surprise for a Rolex. The movement is robust and smartly constructed, with features typically found in more luxury watches. A watch made like this, with such features, cannot not keep good time. 
The Daytona is sought after not just because it is a good watch, but because it is a Rolex. Geneva’s green giant is the world’s largest luxury watchmaker, so there are plenty of people who want a Rolex. Buying a Daytona now not just nets you a solidly made watch, but also bragging rights.
Despite the stellar qualities of the Daytona – and the fact that it is indeed hard to get, for now – don’t get caught up in the fanfare. Prudence is advisable.
The only way to produce a mechanical chronograph that is as good as the Daytona, for what Rolex charges for them, is to make a lot of them. Economies of scale are inescapable in a watch like this. According to the well versed analysts at Swiss bank Vontobel, Rolex produced about 780,000 watches in 2015.
So while the ceramic Rolex Daytona is scarce for now, they will be plenty of them to go around because production is continuous, meaning the cumulative number of them will rise. Another factor that will slacken demand is time – once the novelty wears off the bragging rights go away with it.
And the thing is, despite the new Daytona being an accomplished watch in any tangible sense, it is almost exactly the same as the old one (the discontinued ref. 116520). With the exception of the ceramic bezel, the rest of the watch is essentially identical.
The ceramic bezel, which Rolex labels Cerachrom, is an improvement. It’s progress compared to the steel bezel because ceramic is scratch-resistant. Being mirror-polished, the steel bezel on the old model scuffed easily, with the engraving lettering getting prone to getting marred. While ceramic is brittle, a really, really sharp impact can crack or chip the material, the bezel is practically indestructible in ordinary use.
And like the rest of the watch, the ceramic bezel is marvellously well made. The markings are laser engraved and then coated with platinum. Even under magnification the bezel withstands scrutiny.
Though the ceramic bezel is a step forward, it is not novel. Rolex already took that step a few Baselworlds ago when the Cerachrom bezel made its debut on the Everose Daytona in 2011.
Because demand currently exceeds supply, the new Daytona is offered for sale in lots of places at a major markup to the retail price. Getting on that bandwagon as a buyer is ill-advised. The premium over retail will gradually taper off, as supply catches up with demand.
That prediction of supply eventually meeting demand is premised on two reasonable assumptions. One is the fact that Rolex will continue making the Daytona for some time, simply because it is not cost effective to make such a watch in a small quantity. Just like the remarkably engineered Mercedes S-Class is viable because it is made in large numbers over several years, the same is true for the Daytona.
