It’s no secret that over the past two decades, one watch has dominated both the hearts of thousands of collectors, and the watch market as a whole. The Daytona began production in 1963 and has been worn by childhood heros the world over ever since. Though even within what is such a beloved model as a whole, some specific references begin to rocket ahead of the rest. And over the past 5 years we have seen the absolutely meteoric rise of one such reference, the 16520.

The ref. 16520, or the “Zenith” Daytona, so named for it’s use of the famous Zenith El Primero caliber, was introduced in 1988. This one has a serial number starting with U, dating it to 1997, the very last year of the use of tritium as the luminescent agent on the dial. While being a slightly larger diameter than its forefathers, it also was the first time a Daytona was ever powered by an automatic movement. A massive leap in the evolution of one of the most iconic watches ever created.

Featuring an updated 39mm case, for the first time with crown guards, and also with screw down pushers. This model also used a sapphire crystal for the very first time on a Daytona. The bezel of the 16520 is a stainless steel tachymeter, ushering in nearly 30 years of the same. The Daytona wouldn’t see another black bezel, like on the 6263, until the release of the ref. 116500 in 2016. The dial is a beautiful enamel white, with three awesome contrasting black subdial rings. The bracelet is also the correct and original 78390 with 503B end pieces.

The further value to collectors (or investors) is that this example includes the original inner and outer box with dealer sticker indicating the model and specific serial number, the Rolex Oyster and Rolex Daytona booklets, the chronometer hang tag and the serial numbered matching hang tag. Further it includes Rolex service papers indicating Rolex service which consisted of  replacement of crystal , steel tachometer bezel, tube and crown, detailing of the case and bracelet, and which furthermore authenticate the watch as being genuine. A collector almost couldn’t ask for more! Offered with our 1 year warranty of accurate timekeeping and operation.