RolexDaytona

Offered by a private collector who bought the watch from the original owner, this Rolex “Zenith” Daytona ref. 16520 is accompanied by its box, warranty “punch papers” sleeve, booklets, calendar card, swing tag, spare links and a guarantee card from a watch dealer dated to 2013. The watch shows signs of wear on the case and bracelet including a small blemish on the lug hood on the 6 o’clock side, and on the bezel at 4 o’clock. Its condition appears to be within the bounds of the seller’s ‘A’ grading. 

The “A Serial” Daytona offered here is a significant transitional Daytona, featuring for the first time an SEL (solid end link) bracelet, and a Luminova dial. This model was only available for around 12 months.

The Rolex Daytona ref. 16520 marked a major milestone in the history of the model line. Popularly known now as the “Zenith Daytona”, it was the first self-winding Daytona reference. Rolex turned to the Zenith El Primero Calibre 400 - widely considered the best self-winding chronograph movement available on the market at the time.

In fact, Rolex heavily modified the El Primero movement, making some 200 changes to further improve reliability and ease of maintenance. This resulted in just 50% of the original movement remaining. The scarcity of Zenith El Primero movements, along with the amount of work required to enhance them to Rolex's specifications, resulted in limited availability of this series of Daytonas from the start.

With its 40mm Oystersteel case, the 16520 ushered in many of the features that have shaped the modern Daytona. The lacquered silver-white dial has applied white gold hour markers inlaid with luminous material. And the sub-dials have a thin outer track of an opposing colour, each surrounded with white gold chapter rings.

All watches offered for sale are searched and cleared against The Watch Register database and a certificate is available to the winning bidder upon request.

The description of this auction lot is, to the best of the seller's knowledge, accurate and not misleading. Watch Collecting requests a range of detail about the lot from the seller, and performs a level of due diligence. However, bidders must satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of the description, and conduct any research they feel is necessary before committing to a bid. Please see our Terms and Conditions for full details.