Rolex Daytona Ref. 16523 - 'Zenith Daytona'

Straight Facts

The Rolex Daytona has long been one of the most desirable chronographs in production, which is funny for a model that was initially off to a slow sales start! While early Daytona models were always undergoing changes to reference numbers and dial configurations - the one thing they had in common was their manually wound movements. Every Daytona variant was based on the iconic Valjoux 72 chronograph, until 1988. That was when Rolex borrowed another iconic calibre to upgrade the model from manually wound to automatic. That movement? The Zenith El Primero.

Rolex decided to outsource for their movement in this reference using the Zenith 400 movement originally manufactured for the Zenith “El-Primero.” They used this movement as the basis and then fortified it, performing approximately 200 modifications to the base movement to meet the expectations prestigious of the brand. This created the workhorse Rolex 4030 movement that was put in production for an era of 12 years. In this reference, Rolex also incorporated the more resilient sapphire crystals, a contributing factor to the increased depth rating guaranteed at 100m or 330ft.

This 16523 example dates to 1993 and is an 18K Yellow Gold & Steel model. These two-tone Daytona’s came with a variety of dial options and this one is a beautiful crisp white with elegant yellow gold surrounds that mimic the Yellow Gold Tachymeter Bezel. The bezel itself is in excellent condition with the inlaid enameling all present and still perfectly readable which is not the norm for these earlier metal bezel Daytonas. The dial is in immaculate condition as well, and has an equally well preserved case that likely benefitted from a careful polish at some point in time. Still fitted to its factory Oyster Bracelet in matching 18K Yellow Gold & Steel, this is an excellent value for those seeking the heritage of the Zenith Daytona, but at a more attainable pricepoint.

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.