TICK TOC THE FORGOTTEN LE MANS

A ROLEX (NEARLY) LOST TO HISTORY.

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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.