Rolex 'Zenith' Daytona Ref. 16520 - Mint Unpolished, with Boxes & Papers

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.

The Present Example

This Daytona is one of the more desirable variants with a black dial, but the star of the show is it’s condition and kit. Presented in mint, unpolished condition, this Daytona is truly unpolished with almost every stitch of paperwork from new and still retains it’s original caseback sticker! As one would expect from a watch like this, the dial is in flawless condition with no signs of wear at all. The watch is still fitted to its factory Oyster Bracelet that exhibits only slight signs of handling wear. Being an ‘A’ serial model as well, this is one of the last Zenith Daytona’s to be produced by Rolex before they transitioned to an in-house automatic chronograph movement. The Rolex Daytona is often a milestone watch for many collectors - and of course is given out as a trophy at many prestigious events - so what better way to celebrate than with an example of Rolex’s iconic racing chronograph than with this time capsule of an example from an important part of the model’s history!

*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.