And in the end, over a decade after the very first Cerachrom Rolex watch, the Daytona model made its grand entrance to a very receptive audience. With its 40mm stainless steel Oyster case, black Cerachrom ceramic bezel, and stainless steel Oyster bracelet, the Daytona watch was exactly the Rolex chronograph everyone wanted. Don’t forget about its very close relationship with a brown dial.
The new Daytona runs on the Caliber 4130—the same automatic mechanical chronograph movement of the watch predecessor. However, the bezel has changed, the layout of the trio of registers remains the same on the new stainless steel Daytona models—30-minute subdial at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 6 o’clock, and 12-hour counter at 9 o’clock.
The Daytona replica watch was so highly anticipated, which is the moment that it was released it instantly became an icon. In fact, the day on March 16, 2016, will forever be memorized in horology history as the day the dynamic duo of steel and ceramic Daytona watches was born. It’s difficult to believe that it’s been a year since the replica Rolex introduced the pair of steel and ceramic Daytona watches. While Rolex unveiled some solid pieces at Baselworld 2017—including new Daytona models—there’s still more buzz around the “older” Daytona from 2016. As a matter of fact, a stainless steel Daytona with a black Ceramic bezel is still a challenge to find owing to its insane global demand. And one look at the stunning pair of Rolex chronographs, and it’s easy to find out the reason.
Before we take a look at the steel and ceramic Daytona watches, let’s revisit what Cerachrom is and find out why it’s so satisfactory. The name “Cerachrom” is a combination of “ceramic” and “chrom” (the ancient Greek word for color). This is what Rolex chose to name their special brand of patented ceramic alloy to be used on the bezels of their contemporary sports watches. The Cerachrom ceramic bezel made its debut in 2005 on the completely redesigned GMT-Master II.
The “chrom” portion of Cerachrom probably has something to do with the fact that the color of a Rolex Cerachrom ceramic bezel is immune to sun exposure. Therefore, unlike the faded bezels of vintage replica rolex watches, a Cerachrom bezel should sport the same color six decades from now as it does today. Another appealing benefit of Cerachrom is resistant to scratches.
However, Cerachrom is not without its faults. It is quite brittle and can be prone to shattering if it gets knocked at a certain angle. What’s more, replacing a Cerachrom bezel is vastly more expensive than an acrylic or aluminum one. Yet, many are willing to overlook these points in return for a very attractive component of modern Rolex sports watches, such as the Daytona.
Prior to last year’s launch of the watch, the fake Rolex already offered some Daytona models with Cerachrom ceramic bezels. But, the Cerachrom was only available on Everose gold and platinum models, thus completely out of reach for many. It was a ceramic bezel on a stainless steel Daytona that everyone wished for.
