Rolex Cosmograph Daytona "Leopard" 116598SACO 18kt Yellow Gold Baguette Diamond Special Edition with Monobloc Middle Case and Screw-Down Case Back with Winding Crown, Bezel Set with 36 Cognac Baguette Sapphires, 18K Yellow Gold Case Set with 48 Round Brilliant Diamonds, Scratch-Resistant Sapphire Crystal, Special Leopard Dial with Chaton-Set Diamond Hour Markers, Exotic Leopard Leather Strap with 18kt Yellow Gold Fold-Over Deployant Buckle.

The 40mm diameter solid three-body case, curved lugs, and flat channeled bezel set with 36 cognac baguette sapphires, are polished. The hooded lug end pieces are set with triple rows of brilliant-cut diamonds (48 in all), and the unique leopard dial has 8 applied Chaton-set diamond hour markers around a gold perimeter minute/one-fifth second scale. There are applied 18k gold Arabic numerals at the 15, 30, and 45-minute positions. It has gold baton hands, a center sweep chronograph seconds hand. There are three gold guilloche subsidiary dials with black markers, gold indicators, and black Arabic numerals, including a 12-hour chronograph totalizer at 9 o’clock, a 30-minute totalizer at 3 o’clock, and there is a running small seconds dial at 6 o’clock. It has a Certified Official Superlative Chronometer (COSC) rating, a 72-hour power reserve at full wind, and it’s water-resistant to 100 meters/330 feet. The 12mm thick case, dial, and movement are all signed.

This Rolex Cosmograph Daytona "Leopard" 116598SACO has a mechanical automatic self-winding Rolex Caliber 4130 column-wheel chronograph movement. It’s rhodium-plated with fausses cotes embellishment, and it’s constructed with 44 jewels, a shock absorber mechanism, and a straight-line lever escapement. It has a monometallic balance that’s adjusted to heat, cold, and 6 positions. It includes a self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, a hacking seconds mechanism for precision time-setting, and Microstella regulating screws. It has the Rolex blue Parachrom hairspring and overcoil. The mechanism oscillates at a frequency of 28,800 vph (4Hz).

Excellence, opulence, decadence: Virtually impossible to acquire at your local Rolex dealer, even for longstanding customers of Rolex, the present Leopard Daytona is virtually unworn since its initial purchase. The reference 116598SACO is a captivating reminder of the joie de vivre that wearing a watch can inspire, as well as the creative, technical, and aesthetic excellence of the Rolex brand. Each sapphire – every single gemstone used is internally flawless - is perfectly cut to fit without prongs into the bezel, and selected with the right color for transitioning to the stones on adjacent sides, so that rather than seeming like 36 individual stones, they blend into one another. Due to the difficulty in sourcing these stones, subjecting them to Rolex’s high standards, and then fitting them into the watch, production numbers remain extremely low and across all metals, very few are available on the open market and none are in this collectors condition. 

As one of the most coveted designs in this legendary watchmaker’s line, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in 18kt Yellow Gold has a keen reputation to live up to. It does not fail to deliver. This stunning timepiece marries Rolex precision and quality with an incredibly exotic appearance. 
 

Reference No. 116598SACO