Rolex Daytona-Black or White in SS?

[Nycturbovr6]

I love the white dial!

[SSCosmo]

I picked white over the black dial because i found it more legible, and because most Rolexes I see out in the wild have black dials.

[SC11]

I went white dial, You can't go wrong with either!

Not my pic found it online but reps to whoever took it.

[Singslinger]

White would be my choice - easier to see the time with my ageing eyesight!

[GolfPunk]

I bought a white dial and I actually went out of my way to source a new black dial as I think the black dial is far far better looking.

I've kept the white dial though to swap if I want to in the future.

[Gargamel]

I found the white dial a bit dull except in direct sunlight.
White can be a bit boring, they should have made it creamy or with a sunray dial as they do with many others.

So I went black

[travisb]

I'd get the one that looks best to you and not base it on other dial colors in your collection. Both look great to me. I went with black.

[Muzz]

IMO there is no wrong choice. Both watches are really nice.

[Racerdj]

From what you have said, the white dial will completely work. And I might add, you will welcome the change. Be sure to try one on if you are not completely sure.

[zama]

White may be the choice on your existing watches, mine is black and I love it but is a second hand TT which is SS money but a bit more colour.

[iclick]

I chose a white dial after owning two GMTs and one Sub over the decades. I found the Daytona hard to read, but soon thereafter bought a white-dial panda Tudor BB chrono (79170), which is no more legible. About three weeks ago I added a black-dial panda Tudor BB chrono (79180) to the collection, and it is even harder to read than the other two chronos, but not by a significant margin. On any of the chronos sometimes the polished hands reflect no light, thus making them dark, or vice versa--and this affects black and white dials in opposite ways. Thus, I think it's largely a wash on the readability aspect. Had Rolex chosen ergonomics over cosmetic appeal they would've installed white hands on black-dial watches and vice versa.

After living with these three chronos for a while I've adjusted to them, and find that reading them is a matter of using the "tilt." Quite often the contrast of hands and main dial and clutter of subdials requires a tilt of the watch to get the contrast right, especially in low light. With that behavioral change I have adjusted to the chronos, and I wear the two Tudors frequently now, as I like their wrist presence. The Daytona stays in the safe most of the time because I'm afraid I'll scratch the PCLs or the polished surface of the watch itself. I like it, but this will be my last PCL watch. If I bought another it would likely be a Zenith with no PCLs and less polish on the case.

In the photo below note that the area behind the camera was dark and the hands of the white-dial watches reflect no light, which read well while the black-dial watch on the right does not. If there was bright light behind me the situation would be reversed. By contrast the GMT is visible in any situation.

The bottom line on the readability of chronos is that if you are coming from a very clean and visible dial/hand combo like a GMT or Sub, you'll need to give yourself time to adjust to the "tilt."

[GolfPunk]

Black all day for me but you decide:

[AK797]

I like the idea of a white dial, esp in a sea of black Rolexes, but the extra sizzle of the black dial would force my choice.

[SC11]

Originally Posted by GolfPunk

Black all day for me but you decide:

Great comparison pic but goes to show horses for courses as I prefer the white.

Sod it buy both problem solved

[GsurgBM]

White may be more readable. Black looks more stunning. IF you really want to read it and have bad eyes, go white. If your eyes are reasonable and you want to best looking of the two, its black hands down.

[GsurgBM]

Black