Rolex

Born in 1963, the Rolex Daytona was initially intended to be called ‘Le Mans’. The racetrack-focused chronograph relied in its early days on a manual winding Valjoux calibre and was offered with a variety of highly collectible dials, such as the Paul Newman dial, a collector’s favourite.

The reference 16520 superseded references 6263 and 6265 in 1988 and was a revolution in the Daytona history. It was the first reference fitted with an automatic calibre, which was the famous Zenith El Primero movement, renamed cal. 4030 for the occasion. For reliability and ease-of-service purposes, Rolex replaced more than half of the components and decreased the beating rate from a fast 36,000 beats per hour to a more conventional 28’800. The reference 16520 had a larger, more modern 40 mm diameter.

Over the course of its 12-year production, the 16520 can be divided in five consecutive series based on the evolution of its dial.

It was available in stainless-steel, yellow or white gold as well as a in two-tone configuration. In 1999, as Zenith was acquired by the luxury group LVMH, Rolex developed their in-house interpretation of a modern column-wheel chronograph, the calibre 4130. The Daytona 16520 was therefore discontinued this year and replaced with the reference 116520 in 2000.

The present stainless-steel reference 16520 dates from 1997 and displays the correct Mark IV tritium-filled white dial. The signature 5 text lines are slightly higher than the previous dial versions, while the sub-dial font is bolder with a more squared design. This generation of dials is the last one to bear tritium markers and the T Swiss T designation at 6 o'clock before Rolex introduced the luminova dials to the reference only a few months later.