ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL
ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL
ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL
ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL
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ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL

DAYTONA MODEL, “FLOATING” AND RETAILED BY TIFFANY & CO., REF. 16520

Details
ROLEX. A VERY RARE STAINLESS STEEL AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND “FLOATING” DIAL
DAYTONA MODEL, “FLOATING” AND RETAILED BY TIFFANY & CO., REF. 16520
Movement: Automatic
Dial: “Floating” Cosmograph, signed by Tiffany & Co.
Case: 39 mm.
With: Stainless steel Rolex Oyster bracelet, overall length approximately 185 mm., product literature, presentation box and outer packaging
Remark: “MK 1” dial, extremely rare with Tiffany & Co.
Note: L series. Serial numbers are available upon request

Brought to you by

Alexandre Bigler
Alexandre Bigler SVP, Head of Watches, Asia Pacific

Lot Essay

This example of the iconic ‘Zenith’ Daytona reference 16520 ‘floating Cosmograph’ immediately captures the attention in being double signed for Tiffany & Co., New York’s legendary jewellery house. Only a tiny percentage of reference 16520 were ever double-signed by Tiffany & Co. and today they are one of the most exclusive variations of the model.

The importance of the automatic Cosmograph Daytona cannot be underestimated, now over 30 years since its introduction, the automatic Daytona has itself become hugely desirable and sought after by collectors. The first reference of the new automatic was 16520, available in steel, all gold (reference 16528) and steel and gold (reference 16523), it featured a larger 40 mm. case that was for the first time made with crown guards. The model was available only with a solid metal tachymeter bezel and the crystals are sapphire crystal in place of acrylic for added scratch resistance. Interestingly, the movement was not an in-house Rolex movement but a heavily modified (with over 200 modifications) Zenith El Primero caliber 4030 which was the only one to meet Rolex’s exacting standards. Hence the model has become known generally as the ‘Zenith Daytona’. For the production of the reference 16520, certain dial design details changed, such as the use of a glossy finish and applied metal hour markers. As for the majority of Rolex models, the dials were slightly changed and improved over time, this has led to some rare variations being noticed by collectors that are now highly desirable. The most dramatic being the colour change subsidiary dials which can vary from light to dark brown and were caused by the degradation of the organic ‘Zapon’ coating on some dials made in 1994 and 1995. The famous ‘inverted 6’ dials from around 1993 are defined by the digit ‘6’ at 6 o’clock of the 12-hour subsidiary dial having the appearance of being upside down and therefore resembling a ‘9’ and the ‘Floating Cosmograph’ from the early production years are just some of the varieties available to the collector today.

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