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The Asprey Rolex Daytona at Sotheby’s: What Was Known About the 2023 Auction

Sotheby’s 2023 auction featured a circa-2021 Asprey-associated Daytona Ref. 116500LN, but the cited coverage leaves its dial’s originality and final result unresolved.
Estimate3–4 min Catalogued SpecialistWatchRanker Team
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The headline lot in Sotheby’s December 2023 Fine Watches online auction was a circa-2021 Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500LN associated with Asprey. Time+Tide reported an estimate of US$70,000–US$100,000 and a purple-lilac dial with Asprey co-branding, but did not establish whether the dial was factory-original or report a final sale result. The auction was historical: bidding was scheduled to close on December 12, 2023.

What was the Asprey Rolex Daytona in Sotheby’s 2023 auction?

Time+Tide’s December 9, 2023 coverage focused on lot 248, described as a circa-2021 Rolex Daytona Ref. 116500LN. The article reported that 25 examples were made in 2021 and that this watch had a purple or lilac dial bearing Asprey co-branding. Zach Blass, the article’s author, said he saw the watch in person at Sotheby’s. Read the original Time+Tide coverage.

Sotheby’s estimate, as reported by Time+Tide, was US$70,000–US$100,000. An estimate is not a sale price, and the cited coverage does not establish whether the lot sold or what it realized.

Was the purple Asprey dial factory-original?

The available account does not settle the dial’s origin. Time+Tide noted that the purple-lilac color and Asprey signature might have been added by a customiser after the watch left Rolex. The article also said the watch’s components were made by Rolex and that the dial’s reverse bore Rolex stamping and hallmarks. Those observations do not establish when the dial’s color or Asprey branding was applied, so the dial should not be described as factory-original on that evidence alone.

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For collectors assessing a co-branded or unusual-dial Daytona, the relevant questions are distinct: what parts are Rolex-made, whether the dial’s configuration is documented as factory-original, and whether retailer or ownership records support the watch’s history. A Rolex mark or hallmark by itself does not answer the second question.

Did the 2023 Sotheby’s Daytona sell?

The sources cited here do not confirm a sale or a realized price for lot 248. The US$70,000–US$100,000 figure was its reported estimate, not a confirmed result. Sotheby’s subsequently reported a striking price for a different Asprey-linked Daytona, but that later auction cannot be used as the 2023 lot’s result.

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How the Asprey Daytona differs from later and earlier auction references

Watch What the source establishes How it relates to the 2023 lot
Ref. 116500LN, lot 248, circa 2021 Time+Tide reported 25 examples made in 2021, a purple-lilac Asprey-branded dial, and an estimate of US$70,000–US$100,000. The dial’s originality and the lot’s result are not established in the cited coverage. The subject of the December 2023 article.
Ref. 116520, circa 2005 Sotheby’s described a separate black-dial Khanjar Daytona as retailed by Asprey. The cited example is an Omani-emblem watch with automatic caliber 4130. A different reference and watch; it provides retailer and Omani-watch context, not evidence about the 116500LN dial’s origin. Sotheby’s Omani Rolex context.
Ref. 6270, “The King” Sotheby’s reported that this separate Daytona sold for $5,230,100 in October 2025. Sotheby’s described it as commissioned by Sultan Qaboos and retailed through Asprey, with eight known examples. A later, distinct reference and sale. Its reported result is not the 2023 lot 248 result. Sotheby’s account of “The King”.

The distinction matters because “Asprey” can refer to different kinds of association: a retailer’s role in a watch’s history, an emblem or signature on a dial, or a documented commission. Those are not interchangeable claims. Sotheby’s broader discussion of rare auction watches points to rarity, provenance and historical significance as factors in high results; a shared retailer name alone does not make two Daytona references equivalent.

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What else was highlighted in the 2023 auction?

Time+Tide also covered two Patek Philippe Advanced Research watches in the sale. Both were platinum limited editions of 300, but they represent different references and complications.

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Lot Watch Details reported by Time+Tide
239 Patek Philippe Ref. 5550P-001, circa 2012 Perpetual calendar, luminous hands and indices, and an Oscillomax ensemble. In the comparison with the preceding configuration described in the article, the power reserve increased from 48 to 70 hours.
240 Patek Philippe Ref. 5450P-001, circa 2009 Salmon dial with lume and an annual calendar; identified in the article as the first Advanced Research model cased in platinum.

The production limit and technical comparison above are those reported in the 2023 article, which attributes the 5550P power-reserve details to Sotheby’s. They are separate auction highlights, not evidence about the Daytona.

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