Dr. N.
A challenge that has always warmed the hearts of luxury watchmaking enthusiasts is that between Rolex Daytona andOmega Speedmaster. Since their appearance on the market in the XNUMXs, both of these watches have represented, for their respective maison, the top quality of its own manufacture, and still continue to be the most desired watches of these two prestigious brands.
Rolex Daytona and Omega Speedmaster: a historical rivalry
The Rolex Daytona and the Omega Speedmaster both were born in the XNUMXs, as manually wound chronographs with plexi glass. Their unifying feature is robustness and resistance to external stresses: both are in fact considered sports chronographs. This common vocation to sportsmanship also had consequences on the naming of these two important chronographs. L'Omega Speedmasterin fact, it was born with the intention of addressing the automotive public, even if its fame will derive above all from participation in the space race. The Rolex Daytonasimilarly, it takes its name from the American track of the same name.
Success initially smiles more toOmega Speedmaster that the Rolex Daytona. With the Apollo missions, in fact, the Speedmaster acquires worldwide fame: the fact that it was chosen after strict tests by NASA gives it an aura of robustness that makes it desired by many enthusiasts. The Rolex Daytona it had also participated in the NASA endurance tests without equaling its rival Omega: of this attempted space adventure the Rolex will still keep the memory in its middle name, Cosmograph.
A famous photo of Buzz Aldrin with theOmega Speedmaster on Apollo 11
Overtaking Rolex: the arrival of the Zenith movement
In 1988, Rolex entrusts the task of reviving the fortunes of his chronograph to the adoption of a self-winding movement. Not just any movement, but what is still considered one of the best automatic chronograph movements in the world: that of the Zenith El Primero. rolex it modifies the movement in order to adapt it to one's needs, for example by reducing the hourly alternations and introducing a larger balance wheel. The result is extremely positive: the Rolex Daytona 16520 and his successors received such a consensus that even his predecessors with manual winding, in particular the so-called "Paul Newman", a Rolex Daytona with a dial in a particular color worn by the famous actor and produced in small numbers, which today is sold at auctions at dizzying figures.
Also Omega he does not stand by to watch: his Speedmaster is continuously updated by introducing sapphire crystal and automatic winding. Unlike Rolex, However, Omega chooses to keep in production models similar to those that participated in the Apollo missions in the sixties, with manual winding movement and plexi glass. Indeed, it is recent news that Omega decided to resume production of the original caliber, the 321, the one that made it famous Speedmaster. Obviously, manually wound.
Which one to choose between Speedmaster and Daytona?
Today one Rolex Daytona it is certainly among the most desired sports chronographs. Market prices reflect this status: as you can see on our site, the price of the Rolex Daytona easily exceeds twenty thousand euros.
I prices of the Omega Speedmaster they vary according to the version and whether they belong to special editions, but generally it is less than eight thousand euros.
In addition to the price difference, resellability must be taken into consideration: a Rolex Daytona used it retains its value better than its counterpart Omega Speedmaster.
The quality is high either way, so whatever your choice, you will certainly fall on your feet!
And you, which one do you prefer between Omega Speedmaster e Rolex Daytona? Tell us in the comments!
