Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116505

Daytona › 116505

116505 in Everose gold with black dial and rose-gold subdial rings, three-quarter view — 116505 in Everose gold with black dial and rose-gold subdial rings

The 116505 is an Everose-gold Daytona introduced in 2008. It uses caliber 4130 in the 40mm Oyster case shared by the 116520 and 116528, with an engraved Everose tachymeter bezel. Rolex replaced the reference in the 2023 generation with the 126505 and caliber 4131.

Catalogue and auction records document chocolate, black, ivory, pink or “sundust,” diamond-marker and meteorite configurations. Availability varies by year and suffix, so a dial record should be tied to the individual watch rather than treated as a complete catalogue list.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	116505
family	Daytona (Cosmograph, automatic)
production	approximately 2008–2023
case	40mm, 18k Everose gold
crystal	flat sapphire, no Cyclops
bezel	engraved 18k Everose gold tachymeter, fixed
crown	Triplock screw-down, Everose gold
movement	Rolex caliber 4130, in-house, COSC
frequency	28,800 vph (4 Hz)
power reserve	72 hours
jewels	44
water resistance	100m / 330ft
bracelet	18k Everose gold Oyster, SEL
clasp	Oysterlock with Easylink 5mm comfort extension
siblings	116520 (steel), 116528 (yellow gold), 116523 (Rolesor), 116519 (white gold, leather)
successor	126505 (cal 4131, 2023, out of scope)

Where it sits in the line

The 116505 joins the 4130 Daytona generation launched in 2000. Its case, screw-down pushers and engraved-metal bezel are closely related to the 116528, while the metal is Everose. The Cerachrom-bezel 116515LN provided a parallel Everose option from the 2010s. Rolex introduced the 126505 and caliber 4131 in the 2023 generation, replacing the 116505 family.

Production outline

The published production window is approximately 2008–2023. Early catalogue and auction records document chocolate, black and ivory dials; pink/sundust and meteorite variants appear in later material. Serial formats changed during the modern period, so a serial is a dating clue rather than proof of a precise production year. Rolex’s Chromalight system is documented for this generation, but dial and service-lume details should be checked on the individual watch.

Movement notes

Caliber 4130 sits inside every 116505, the same first in-house Rolex chronograph that launched on the 116520 in 2000. It couples the chronograph through a vertical clutch and handles start, stop, and reset on a column wheel, running at 28,800 vph on 44 jewels with a 72-hour reserve and COSC certification. The blue Parachrom hairspring is standard on production from around 2005 onward. The chronograph layout places the hour and minute counters on one side of the movement. Service work and replaced parts should be recorded separately from the factory specification.

The 116505 is described as COSC-certified, and later Rolex documentation uses the post-2015 Superlative Chronometer standard. The certification language and warranty documentation should be read from the period of the individual watch.

For the full caliber lineage and the architecture comparison with the predecessor cal 4030, see Reference:Movements#cal-4130.

Dial map

The cited catalogue and auction records document the following 116505 dial families. Availability and suffixes vary by year and market; the table is a working record, not a complete factory census.

Variant	Period	Distinguishing features
Chocolate	documented in early and later catalogues	Warm dark-brown lacquer base; sub-dial-ring color and suffix vary by configuration; applied gold markers
Black	documented across the generation	Black lacquer base with Everose-tone sub-dial rings in some configurations; marker and script details vary by dial
Ivory	documented across the generation	Off-white lacquer base with applied gold markers; exact sub-dial treatment varies by suffix
Sundust / pink	documented in later catalogues	Soft pink lacquer base; sub-dial and marker treatments vary by suffix
Meteorite	documented in late-generation catalogues	Iron-nickel meteorite dial with a natural Widmanstätten pattern; the exact meteorite source and introduction year should be tied to the catalogue or watch in hand
Diamond-marker variants	2008–2023	Applied diamond hour markers on chocolate, black, ivory, sundust, or meteorite base; documented across the production run rather than on a single sub-period
Baguette-marker variants	2008–2023	Baguette-cut diamond markers replacing the standard applied gold markers; appears on chocolate, black, sundust and ivory bases in catalogue text

A white mother-of-pearl dial is documented on the 116509 white-gold Daytona; the cited sources do not establish it as a regular 116505 catalogue option. Dial fitment should be checked against the reference, suffix and papers.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The case is described as 40mm in 18k Everose gold, with dimensions otherwise shared broadly with the 4130 Daytona family. Published catalogue measurements can differ from measured examples, so case diameter and thickness should be recorded from the watch rather than inferred from the nameplate.

The bezel is engraved 18k Everose gold, with the tachymeter numerals and graduations cut directly into the metal rather than printed onto an insert. It is the same engraved-bezel architecture the 116520 and 116528 carry. Cerachrom reached the Everose Daytona only with the parallel 116515LN in 2011, so anyone who wanted ceramic on an Everose case had to cross to the LN reference. The 116505 stays engraved across its full run.

The crystal is flat sapphire with no Cyclops, the running-seconds sub-dial sits at six o'clock, and the Triplock crown handles 100m water resistance. Screw-down chronograph pushers sit either side of the crown and have to be unscrewed before the chronograph will start, the cal 4130 generation's standing trade-off for the case's water rating and identical across steel, gold, and Everose.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

The bracelet is the 18k Everose gold Oyster with solid end links, integral to the first link rather than a separable stamped piece, machined throughout in Everose. It is the gold parallel to the steel 78490 that carried the 116520 across its run. Auction catalogues generally identify the bracelet by material; record any bracelet reference from the watch or its paperwork rather than inferring it.

The clasp is the modern Oysterlock with the Easylink 5mm comfort extension, the lever-and-keeper micro-extension Rolex added to the cal 4130 generation around 2002–2003. The cited 116505 examples use Easylink; whether an early exception exists should be checked from the clasp and period documentation rather than assumed. Clasp and bracelet codes date those components, not automatically the watch head. Record the code and its location, then compare it with the bracelet and service history. See Reference:Bracelets for the date-code guide.

The Daytona never adopted the Glidelock micro-extension Rolex rolled onto the Submariner-line clasps in 2010. Easylink remains the only on-bracelet adjustment the 116505 ever offered.

Finishing follows the standard modern precious-metal Daytona formula, with brushed outer links, polished centre links, and a polished clasp cover.

Special branches

The cited records document chocolate, black, ivory, sundust and meteorite dials, with diamond and baguette markers in some catalogues. Each configuration remains tied to its period source and individual watch.

The meteorite dial is documented in later catalogue records. The cited material does not establish a single introduction year or how long it was available before the 2023 cal 4131 transition. The meteorite base shows a natural Widmanstätten pattern, so individual dials differ. Dealer descriptions sometimes distinguish the meteorite dial by price, but that does not establish a reference-wide rule.

The related metal references use different bezel and bracelet combinations: the white-gold 116519LN pairs a black Cerachrom bezel with Oysterflex, while the yellow-gold 116508 and Everose 116505 use engraved metal bezels and Oyster bracelets. The 116505’s documented configuration is the Everose case, engraved bezel and Oyster bracelet.

The cited auction record does not include a Tiffany & Co.-signed 116505. Earlier signed Daytona examples belong to a different period and should not be used to infer a 116505 branch.

Historical market and auction record

Auction and dealer records cover multiple 116505 dial and metal configurations. Results depend on condition, dial, completeness, venue and provenance; the cited sources do not establish a reference-wide price hierarchy.

A brushed Everose 116505 formerly in the collection of Eric Clapton CBE, sold at Sotheby's Important Watches, Hong Kong, October 2021, lot 2068 — an individual auction example.

Related references

Daytona 116500LN (ceramic bezel, 2016–2023)
Daytona 116508 (yellow gold, caliber 4130, 2016–2023)
Daytona 116520 (steel, caliber 4130, 2000–2016)
Daytona 116528 (2000–2016)
Daytona 116518 (2000–2015)
Daytona 16519 (white-gold Zenith, 1989–2000)

Everose-gold 116505 with black dial
Everose 116505 auction example