TICK TOC THE FORGOTTEN LE MANS

A ROLEX (NEARLY) LOST TO HISTORY.

BEFORE CHRISTENING ITS  iconic racing watch the Daytona, Rolex entertained several other names. Originally, the watch had “Chronograph” stamped on the dial, plainly describing its function as a subsecond timekeeper of great accuracy.

Then, in a flurry of space-race whimsy, Rolex revived its Cosmograph portmanteau, originally attached to moon-phase watches from the Fifties, in 1963. But shortly thereafter, Rolex landed on something that stuck. The name Daytona proudly graced the dial of nearly every Rolex chronograph moving forward, a nod to that temple of American endurance racing. But there was another wrinkle in the Daytona’s murky early nomenclature.