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Rolex vs Audemars Piguet is a heavyweight bout; Rolex Daytona vs Royal Oak Chronograph is a championship match. With similar size, impressive reputations, impeccable craftsmanship, and thoroughbred pedigrees, these are luxury watches for the discerning collector of the classics. Watch buyers know that battle between AP and Rolex is a showdown between craft watchmaking and industrial might.
The present reference Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN is the hottest watch not named Nautilus. With a versatile 40mm Rolex 904L stainless steel case and a Rolex Cerachrom ceramic tachymeter bezel, the 116500LN is a 2016 Baselworld refinement on the Daytona that Rolex launched in 2000. Despite its age, the core model remains durable, versatile, elegant, and one of the safest stores of value for watch buyers in the current luxury watch marketplace.
A Rolex Oyster bracelet and Oyster clasp lead the list of external hardware. The clasp includes a Rolex Easylink 5mm adjustment system that is the equivalent to adding or removing one link from the bracelet. Screw down Triplock crown and chronograph pushers guard against water intrusion and endow the Daytona chronograph with 100 meter water resistance.
The Rolex Daytona dial is crafted from lacquer and white gold indices; Super Luminova ensures that both indices and matching white gold hands are easily read after dark. The Rolex in house caliber 4130 automatic movement lies beneath the date-free dial. Its 72-hour (3-day) power reserve is generous, its column wheel and vertical clutch are refined, and its COSC chronometer certification ensure precision.
Audemars Piguet launched the current Royal Oak Chronograph at SIHH 2017 on the occasion of the model line’s 20th anniversary. Twenty years of the Royal Oak Chronograph has led to a 41mm stainless steel case and integrated bracelet that retain the all-of-a-piece grace of Gerald Genta’s 1972 Royal Oak “Jumbo” while adding the utility of a stopwatch function.
The Royal Oak Grande Tapisserie hobnail dial in black and silver remains as distinctive of this model family as its nautically inspired octagonal bezel. The black dial Royal Oak chronograph includes white gold hour indices and hands with Super Luminova for visibility after dark. In contrast to the Daytona, the Royal Oak 26331ST.OO.1220ST.02 features a practical date complication.
Audemars Piguet continues to employ the F. Piguet 1185 automatic chronograph caliber under the guise of Audemars Piguet caliber 2385. This movement is an integrated high horology chronograph with both vertical clutch and column wheel. The movement, which hails from the Blancpain manufacture, is finished to a high standard and adjusted in five positions for precision. A screw down crown endows the Royal Oak 26331ST.OO.1220ST.02 with 50 meter water resistance.
The stainless steel ceramic Daytona 116500LN goes head to head against the AP Royal Oak Chronograph 26331ST today on Watchbox Versus!