Posts Tagged ‘Daytona’
Tropical 6262 Rolex Daytona
If there is a god, I like to imagine that tropical dials are his way of saying, ‘wear your damn watches’. The sun is a ball of nuclear chaos 8.3 light minutes away from Earth. But its effects are not always this attractive. Consider for example the female residents of Florida between the ages of…
Read More116520 ‘Panna Dial’ Rolex Daytona
This is the next Patrizzi. It’s not often I get to say that, so let me elaborate. Osvaldo Patrizzi was first to clock a change in some 16520 Zenith Daytona dials, where subdial rings would turn a taupe golden tan with sun exposure. Watch collectors adore a good defect. We also adore a cream or…
Read MoreTropical 6262 Rolex Daytona
Tropical dials have a tendency to polarize watch collectors like few other topics. Godiva 1665 DRSDs, caramel 321 Speedmasters, and latte Cosmographs all have one thing in common: encompassing adoration or outright hatred. Think Patek’s green 5711 caused division? Bring a hazel-tan 3700 to your nearest watch group. I’ll warn you now, I tend to…
Read More‘Desert Eagle’ 6263 Rolex Daytona
Imagine being invited into Jean-Frederic Dufour’s palatial office, sitting in some absurdly sumptuous modern leather chair, and asking him if he might be able to remove the name ‘Rolex’ from his dial for you. Just a few pieces, of course. You think asking an AD for ceramic Daytona is implausible? I suspect Mr. Dufour would…
Read MorePorcelain ‘Floating Cosmograph’ 16528 Rolex Daytona
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the 16520 (or 16528 here in yellow gold). The Cosmograph had become undesirable and a stagnant seller by the year 1988. For context, there are stories from that era of customers asking to buy special production Day-Dates, but having to purchase Daytonas to sweeten the AD’s books.…
Read More‘Beach’ 116519 Rolex Daytona
The opulence and excess that was profuse to the early 2000s has a place. And that place is nowhere but the dial of a 116519. For all their reputation as a notoriously conservative watchmaker, when Rolex let their hair down they really know how to let their hair down. This has been demonstrated many times,…
Read MoreMk2 ‘4-Liner’ 16520 Rolex Daytona
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the 16520. The Cosmograph had become undesirable and a stagnant seller by the year 1988. For context, there are stories from that era of customers asking to buy special production Day-Dates, but having to purchase Daytonas to sweeten the AD’s books. What the Daytona required was radical…
Read More116509 Sodalite Rolex Daytona
Rolex have been doing unique dial or metal Daytonas for as long as Cosmographs have been not in the cosmos. However, in 2000, the manufacture released their very first in-house automatic Daytona utilizing the calibre 4130. Shortly thereafter, as something of a coming out party, the precious metals alternatives went a bit mad. The white…
Read More6240 Rolex ‘Large-Daytona’
We’re back in the realm of Wilsdorf details again, but for good reason. I’ve covered a majority of the Cosmograph and Daytona’s evolution through the market’s flux. The 6240 is a rare bird I have never had the pleasure to cover. I would venture to suppose it is, arguably, the most important Cosmograph reference no…
Read More16520 ‘Patrizzi’ Rolex Daytona
If you are beyond sick of the modern collecting Daytona hype (right there with you), don’t be so fast to turn away. In fact, I’m about to offer a viable, collectible, possibly even better-valued alternative. The now so-called neo-vintage range of 16520 and 116520 Daytonas are, to some extent, the last iterations with significant variations…
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