Rolex Daytona Ref. 16528 - 'Inverted 6' Dial Unpolished

The Rolex Daytona model, since its initial release, has been at the forefront of the market as the most desirable chronograph in production. Prior to the introduction of the automatic-winding Daytonas in 1988, all previous Rolex chronographs had been manually-wound. Rolex decided to outsource their movement for the Ref. 16xxx series of watches, looking for the best movement available. and settled on the best that was available at the time: the famous 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 Wilsdorf group. 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 example, cased in solid 18k yellow gold, dates to circa 1991 and comes to us with an absolutely fantastic case, showing just light wear from age and use with no signs of having been polished or refinished in any way. The solid yellow gold bezel shows matching light wear and no damage or excessive wear of any kind. The matching Oyster bracelet also shows uniform light wear throughout and features an early blade clasp, vs the 'fliplock' clasp that came a bit later. Inside, the glossy black 'Inverted 6' dial is virtually flawless, with evenly patinated applied Tritium-filled indices, gently patinated sub-registers, and that modified El Primero automatic-winding movement. It even retains its factory caseback sticker!

These neo-vintage pieces still present exceptional value in todays market and are becoming a modern classic in a big way.