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Deep correctness and anti-slop audit: Cerachrom chronology, catalogue claims, strap fitment, market language, and accessory evidence qualified.
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The 116518LN is the 18k yellow gold Daytona Rolex introduced at Baselworld in March 2017, pairing a black monobloc Cerachrom bezel with the Oysterflex strap. It replaced the engraved-gold-bezel, alligator-strap [[Reference:116518|116518]] and shares five characters of reference number with it while changing almost everything a buyer looks at. Rolex's own launch page put it alongside two siblings in white gold and Everose, the [[Reference:116519LN|116519LN]] and the [[Reference:116515LN|116515LN]], as the first Daytonas ever sold on an elastomer strap.
Rolex introduced the 116518LN in 2017 as an 18k yellow-gold Daytona with a black monobloc Cerachrom bezel and Oysterflex strap. It followed the engraved-gold-bezel, leather-strap [[Reference:116518|116518]]. Rolex's launch material presented it with the white-gold [[Reference:116519LN|116519LN]] and Everose [[Reference:116515LN|116515LN]], the first Daytona references in the Oysterflex group.


Rolex's name for the launch dial is "champagne and black", later restated as "golden and black": a sunray champagne face with three snailed black counters, gold hands and gold hour markers edged in black PVD. Collectors named it the Pikachu, and the nickname stuck hard enough that it now travels ahead of the reference number. The 116518LN left the catalogue in 2023, when the cal 4131 generation replaced every Daytona at once.
Rolex's name for the launch dial is "champagne and black", later restated as "golden and black": a sunray champagne face with three snailed black counters, gold hands and gold hour markers edged in black PVD. Collectors commonly call this colour combination “Pikachu.” Rolex's catalogues use “champagne and black” and later “golden and black.” The 116518LN left the catalogue in 2023, when the cal 4131 generation replaced every Daytona at once.




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==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


Cerachrom reached the Daytona long before it reached the steel references, and it reached the gold ones first. Rolex's own 2011 model pages already carry a black monobloc Cerachrom bezel on the Everose [[Reference:116515LN|116515LN]], then paired with a chocolate dial on a black leather strap. The steel [[Reference:116500LN|116500LN]] did not get one until 2016. Sotheby's cataloguing has stated instead that the Daytona's Cerachrom bezel was first fitted to the platinum [[Reference:116506|116506]] in chestnut brown in 2013, and that black Cerachrom arrived with the 116500LN in 2016; Sotheby's own editorial gives 2011 for the gold rollout, which is what Rolex's archived catalogue supports.
The Cerachrom chronology is easiest to follow from the dated model pages. Rolex shows a black Cerachrom bezel on the Everose 116515LN by 2011, while the steel 116500LN arrived in 2016. Sotheby's has published a different account that places the first Daytona Cerachrom bezel on the platinum 116506 in 2013; the sources should be read as competing chronology claims, not as a settled factory sequence. Rolex's own 2011 model pages already carry a black monobloc Cerachrom bezel on the Everose [[Reference:116515LN|116515LN]], then paired with a chocolate dial on a black leather strap. The steel [[Reference:116500LN|116500LN]] did not get one until 2016. The 116518LN's black bezel therefore belongs to the later gold-and-Oysterflex phase, regardless of which earlier Daytona is counted as the first Cerachrom example.


What 2017 added was the strap. Oysterflex had launched on the Yacht-Master in 2015, and Baselworld 2017 brought it to three gold Daytonas simultaneously: yellow gold as the 116518LN with a champagne dial, white gold as the 116519LN with what Rolex called a "steel and black" dial, and Everose as the 116515LN, which had existed since 2011 and was re-cased onto the new strap. The engraved-bezel leather-strap gold Daytonas were finished. The 116518LN is the yellow gold half of that changeover.
What 2017 added was the strap. Oysterflex had launched on the Yacht-Master in 2015, and Baselworld 2017 brought it to three gold Daytonas simultaneously: yellow gold as the 116518LN with a champagne dial, white gold as the 116519LN with what Rolex called a "steel and black" dial, and Everose as the 116515LN, which had existed since 2011 and was re-cased onto the new strap. The engraved-bezel leather-strap gold references were superseded in the catalogue by the Oysterflex versions. The 116518LN is the yellow gold half of that changeover.


The reference sits between two generations of the same idea. Behind it is the 116518, which ran to around 2015 with an engraved gold tachymetre bezel and an alligator strap. Ahead of it is the 126518LN, launched March 2023 with cal 4131, which kept the Cerachrom-and-Oysterflex formula and moved the movement on.
The reference sits between two generations of the same idea. Behind it is the 116518, which ran to around 2015 with an engraved gold tachymetre bezel and an alligator strap. Ahead of it is the 126518LN, launched March 2023 with cal 4131, which kept the Cerachrom-and-Oysterflex formula and moved the movement on.
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Rolex introduced the reference in March 2017 and Sotheby's cataloguing agrees, describing it as introduced "in March 2017 at the Baselworld fair" together with its white and pink gold counterparts. Rolex's own Baselworld microsite page for the launch model was archived on 3 April 2017.
Rolex introduced the reference in March 2017 and Sotheby's cataloguing agrees, describing it as introduced "in March 2017 at the Baselworld fair" together with its white and pink gold counterparts. Rolex's own Baselworld microsite page for the launch model was archived on 3 April 2017.


Dial codes accumulated in waves. The launch configuration and one variant appear in 2017 and 2018; a broader set of seven codes appears through 2018 and 2019, taking in white, champagne, black and three diamond-set layouts; the meteorite dial and a further diamond-set black dial appear in 2021. Sotheby's dates the meteorite introduction to 2021 and calls it the most sought-after version of the model, which the archived catalogue supports.
Dial codes accumulated in waves. The launch configuration and one variant appear in 2017 and 2018; a broader set of seven codes appears through 2018 and 2019, taking in white, champagne, black and three diamond-set layouts; the meteorite dial and a further diamond-set black dial appear in 2021. Sotheby's dates the meteorite introduction to 2021. Its “most sought-after” wording is an auction-house description, not a production fact.


The end of production is clean. Rolex's Daytona catalogue still lists the whole 1165xx generation in February 2023 and lists none of it by June 2023; the cal 4131 references replaced them across the board following the announcement on 27 March 2023. Case serials through the run use the random eight-character alphanumeric format with no public year mapping, so guarantee cards and hang tags do the dating work. See [[Reference:Serial-numbers]] for the full key.
The catalogue transition is clear, although catalogue withdrawal and final case production are separate questions. Rolex's Daytona catalogue still lists the whole 1165xx generation in February 2023 and lists none of it by June 2023; the cal 4131 references replaced them across the board following the announcement on 27 March 2023. Case serials through the run use the random eight-character alphanumeric format with no public year mapping, so guarantee cards and hang tags do the dating work. See [[Reference:Serial-numbers]] for the full key.


==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==
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Rolex's published US retail figure for the black-dial 116518LN was USD 28,500 as of late 2021. European launch pricing in March 2017 was reported by Monochrome at EUR 25,000 for the yellow gold version against EUR 26,150 for white gold and Everose; the same publication gave EUR 25,250 and EUR 26,350 five months later, after the first of the annual increases that ran through the reference's life.
Rolex's published US retail figure for the black-dial 116518LN was USD 28,500 as of late 2021. European launch pricing in March 2017 was reported by Monochrome at EUR 25,000 for the yellow gold version against EUR 26,150 for white gold and Everose; the same publication gave EUR 25,250 and EUR 26,350 five months later, after the first of the annual increases that ran through the reference's life.


The 116518LN arrived into the middle of the Daytona allocation era and behaved accordingly. Gold Daytonas on Oysterflex were less supply-constrained than the steel 116500LN, though the Pikachu developed a following of its own on the strength of the dial, and the meteorite from 2021 has consistently outrun the standard dials.
The dial and auction records below show different catalogue and sale contexts. They do not establish a general supply or price ranking among the 116518LN dial variants.


==Auction record==
==Auction record==


The reference is thinly represented at the major houses, which is what a modern gold chronograph in wide production should look like. Most of the trade happens in retail and marketplace channels.
The auction examples below document individual watches and accessories. They are not a complete sales census.


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Full sets carry a clear premium on this reference, more so than on the earlier gold Daytonas, because the watches are recent enough that guarantee cards, hang tags and outer packaging should still be present. A 116518LN offered without its card is being offered incomplete, not merely unaccompanied.
Boxes, cards, hang tags, and straps are accessories attached to the individual lot. Their presence can help document provenance, but an absent card does not by itself prove that the watch is incomplete or incorrect.


==Related references==
==Related references==


* [[Reference:116518|Daytona 116518]] — Yellow gold, engraved bezel on leather, 2000–2015
* [[Reference:116518|Daytona 116518]]: Yellow gold, engraved bezel on leather, 2000–2015.
* [[Reference:116519LN|Daytona 116519LN]] — White gold Cerachrom on Oysterflex, 2017–2023
* [[Reference:116519LN|Daytona 116519LN]]: White gold Cerachrom on Oysterflex, 2017–2023.
* [[Reference:116515LN|Daytona 116515LN]] — Everose gold Cerachrom, 2011–2023
* [[Reference:116515LN|Daytona 116515LN]]: Everose gold Cerachrom, 2011–2023.
* [[Reference:116508|Daytona 116508]] — Yellow gold on bracelet, cal 4130, 2016–2023
* [[Reference:116508|Daytona 116508]] — Yellow gold on bracelet, cal 4130, 2016–2023
* [[Reference:116500LN|Daytona 116500LN]] — Steel Cerachrom, 2016–2023
* [[Reference:116500LN|Daytona 116500LN]]: Steel Cerachrom, 2016–2023.
* [[Reference:116506|Daytona 116506]] — Platinum, 50th anniversary, 2013
* [[Reference:116506|Daytona 116506]]: Platinum, 50th anniversary, 2013.


See also the [[Reference:daytona|Daytona family index]], [[Reference:daytona-glossary|Daytona glossary]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet and clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
See also the [[Reference:daytona|Daytona family index]], [[Reference:daytona-glossary|Daytona glossary]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet and clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
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