Inside Rolex Four Seasons: the Gemstones, the Hardstone Dials, and What the Auction Market Has Paid Before

Rolex Four Seasons is the brand’s first charitable auction, held by Phillips in London on Monday 28 September 2026 across four separate lots. The pieces are four gem-set Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytonas, each one of a kind and never to be repeated, each inspired by a single season and all running the Calibre 4131. Proceeds from Rolex Four Seasons go to the Federer Foundation and Re:wild.

The Four Watches: Case, Dial and Gem-Setting

Season by season, here is what each piece is made of:

Material and gem details from the Rolex announcement and specialist watch press, checked 17 September 2026

Each watch also carries 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards, with hour markers set in stones matching the season — except Winter, where the markers are diamonds.

How many gemstones are set across all four watches?

Counting only the figures published per watch: 36 trapeze-cut stones on each bezel plus 54 brilliant-cut diamonds on the lugs and crown guards gives 90 stones per watch, or 360 across the set. Bezel gemstone weight alone comes to roughly 19.78 carats for the four watches combined, before counting hour markers or lug diamonds.

Calculated by the Luxe Addict team from the per-watch stone counts and carat weights published at launch

Why This Is Unlike Any Previous Rolex at Auction

Rolex builds almost everything in series and very rarely confirms in public that any single watch is unique. The rare Rolexes that reach auction are usually old pieces that became scarce by accident rather than by design.

Two things break that pattern here. First, Rolex itself states that each watch exists only once and will not be repeated. Second, the brand is consigning the watches directly, to its own first charitable sale, with Roger Federer and Leonardo DiCaprio — both brand ambassadors — attached to the project.

Where do the proceeds go?

To two organisations. The Federer Foundation, founded by Roger Federer, supports early-years and basic education for children in southern Africa and Switzerland. Re:wild, co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, works on protecting and restoring wild places. Because the watches sell as four separate lots, the combined total depends on how all four perform on the night.

What the Market Has Paid for a Gem-Set Daytona

Neither Rolex nor Phillips has published estimates. Past Daytona results give some sense of direction:

The first three follow Sotheby’s ranking of the most expensive Daytonas; the last is the all-time record for any Rolex at auction

What stands out is that the top three are all either gem-set or fitted with a hardstone dial, and two of the three are platinum cases with stone dials — almost exactly the specification of this set’s Winter piece, down to the platinum case, the hardstone dial and the lapis lazuli subdials.

Paul Newman’s own watch, which still holds the all-time Rolex record, won on provenance rather than gemstones — it carries none. The Four Seasons watches are worth watching because they combine both: the brand’s gem-setting work, and names attached to the project.

Has Phillips published estimates yet?

Not per lot. Some international press has reported the set being valued at around four million Swiss francs during early buyer outreach, but that figure comes from press reporting rather than an official Phillips estimate. Anyone following closely should wait for the official catalogue ahead of the sale.

Three Things to Keep in Mind

• Four separate lots, not one set — there can be up to four different winners, and the seasons may go in very different directions.

• No official estimates yet — the numbers circulating are not from Phillips. The catalogue will be the reliable source.

• The hammer price becomes the only reference this model will ever have — with no second example, there is no secondary market to re-price it over time, unlike a series production reference.
  
  

Do these use the same movement as a standard Daytona?

All four run the Calibre 4131, the chronograph movement already used in the current Cosmograph Daytona. What sets this quartet apart is case work, hardstone dials and gem-setting rather than any new mechanical development — consistent with how Rolex keeps its jewellery craft and its movement engineering as separate disciplines.

What Rolex Four Seasons Signals

This is not simply four rare objects going to market. It is a brand that normally avoids the word "unique" confirming uniqueness in its own words. Auction history says gem-set and hardstone-dial Daytonas are what the market pays most for, and all four of these fit that description, with provenance and a charitable destination on top. Either way, 28 September is a date worth noting, whether you are bidding or just watching the numbers.

While the result is pending, read The Candy Dial Luxury Pastel Watches for Elite Collectors for more coloured dials, or Luxury Watch Boutiques 2026: Official Store Locations if you would rather try one on in person.