Rolex Daytona 'Zenith' 16520 - A TRUE CLASSIC
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Zenith” 16520
One of the few examples where “in-house” movements are not the main attraction.
This is a quick tour around the first automatic Daytona produced by Rolex.
Until the release of the 16520, the Daytona was a manually wound 37mm chronograph powered by a Valjoux movement.
At the time, the four digit Daytona was not a popular beast and suffered from low sales and public disinterest, partially because it was primitive compared to its peers. Essentially, it was a 25 year exercise in failure by the Crown.
That changed on a dime in 1988 when Rolex completely redesigned the Daytona and launched the 16520 which featured a 40mm case, crown guards, a sapphire crystal and automatic movement.
This evolution was effectively the blue touch-paper that launched the Daytona into the stratosphere as one of the worlds most sought after watches.
“Back then” Swiss brands used to work and play together nicely. They would problem solve together, share movements, you name it.
The quartz crisis had forced them to cooperate in order to survive the onslaught of battery power. There was none of the protectionism that we see today and as a result, team work made the dream work for a long time until the industry was stable enough to stop sharing its toys.
The Zenith El-Primero (Spanish for “The First”) was the first automatic chronograph movement and had been designed and launched in 1969.
It was nixed during the 70s amidst the quartz crisis upheaval, but was, and still is, considered to be a legendary movement.
When Zenith re-started production of the El Primero in the late 70s, Ebel purchased their entire stock of the calibre and pumped a ton of cash in Zeniths direction which helped the company recover and enjoy its success.
It was this cash injection that allowed Zenith to answer when Rolex called.
Rolex teamed up with Zenith in 1986 and had spent two years fettling and adapting the famous “El Primero” movement until it was fit for the new king of chronographs.
The date function had been removed, there was a new escapement and balance wheel and the frequency had been dropped from 36,000 vph to 28,800 vph.
With all of the customisation, only around 50% of the original El Primero movement remained, so its not like this was a simple exercise in a pre-existing movement into the new case. There was some sweat involved.
Once Rolex had finished the modifications to their satisfaction, and had the movement COSC certified, they badged it as calibre 4030 and the Daytona “Zenith” was ready to meet the public.
The Zenith Daytona was in production for 12 years, from 1988 to 2000 (Late R to early P serial range) before Rolex updated the line with their in-house chronograph movement, calibre 4130.
They only have 5 digit reference numbers.
Much like the current models, there were two dial dial options for the steel models - black or white.
Without further fuss, we’ll go for a poke around both the Zenith Daytona (black) and its successor, the 116520 (white) and show you the subtle differences between them.
The first thing to note when viewing them side-by side, is how visually similar they are.
Rolex were on to a winner with the 40mm case design, so didn’t particularly tamper with the shape, though they did remove the brushed lugs in favour of a fully polished case when the Daytona updated from the 5 to 6 digit reference.
The quickest and easiest way to spot the Zenith apart from the lugs is by checking the configuration and placement of the sub-dials, and the length of the indexes.
The Zenith Daytona has its small seconds counter on the left at 9.
In subsequent references including the ceramics, the small seconds are placed at the bottom of the dial by 6.
This configuration is the immediate giveaway when playing spot the difference.
The indexes are also different on the Zenith. They are longer and slimmer, whereas on the 116500 they’ve been shortened and widened, and subsequently hold more luminova for enhanced legibility in low light.
Another quick tell is the bracelet - The Zenith Daytona has a hollow link bracelet with a stamped clasp that echoes the bracelet “oyster link” design, in the same vein as the Submariners and GMT’s of 5 digit the era.
The 116520 Daytona benefits from a bracelet upgrade in the form of a solid link oyster with a redesigned milled clasp with an “easy link” extension.
The Zenith Daytona has an enduring popularity with collectors, and subsequently achieves much higher prices, because it is widely considered to be the watch that turned the fortunes of the Daytona from the weirdo that nobody wanted, to an icon with waiting lists round the block.
Its the one that changed everything, and for many collectors offers the perfect “blend” of vintage looks in a modern form.
Many Zenith Daytonas have tritium lume (which was used by The Crown until it was banned in 1998) so benefit from the creamy patina which is coveted by vintage lovers.
Some black dialled Zenith Daytonas have what is known as a “Patrizzi” dial (named by the fella who worked it out).
The Patrizzi effect is the result of “Zapon” varnish being used on the dials between 1994 and 1995. This particular lacquer didn’t provide enough protection to the dial, and as time passed, the silver subdial rings began to turn brown as a result of UV exposure.
As we know with Rolex, dial errors regularly up the price of various watches and Patrizzi dials are no exception in their ability to hugely inflate the price of a Zenith.
This brings me rather neatly to our white dialled 116520, which was really only drafted in to play spot the Zenith, but does, however, have a very interesting little dial quirk of its own.
This particular model is known as the “APH” dial Daytona.
If you zoom in and look closely this is due to a print error of a small space between the Chronogr - and the APH in the Chronograph text. It’s an interesting quirk, and proof that some humanity and capacity for error lurks behind the crown.
I suppose given that this is a partial comparison review, it would be polite at least to do a “which is best”, but the short answer here is “neither” because they both offer very tasty slices of the same sandwich but for different reasons.
The top pick of the pair absolutely depends on what you, as an individual wearer are looking for.
That said, how about we do a little bit of Ross and Rachel and end with a personal opinion pro’s and con’s list.
Zenith Daytona Pro’s
The O.G model that “made” the Daytona
Vintage appeal
El Primero movement
Brushed lugs
Tritium hands and indexes
Patrizzi potential if you get the necessary model year
More “prized” by collectors
Cons
Hollow link bracelet and stamped clasp.
Daytona 116520 Pro’s
Rolex cal 4130 - my favourite chrono movement of all time (plus 70h power reserve)
Solid bracelet and easy-link extension
Less expensive than a “Zenith” and excellent examples are easily available
Cons
Polished lugs
Superluminova or chromalight instead of my favoured tritium.
Which one would I go for?
The Zenith.
While it comes up shorter technically compared to its more modern counterparts, it has a charm that I find very hard to turn down.