Get your chance to buy yourself a 1999 Rolex Daytona. This watch comes with the full package. Complete box and papers, tags, case protector and the original sales receipt from Dutch retailer Schaap & Citroen. We had the chance to buy this from the original owner. We met each other at the dancing lessons of our toddler daughters:-)

If we are talking about icons of watchmaking one cannot forget the Rolex Daytona

More about Rolex 16520 Daytona SS Black Dial Zenith Movement U Series

This is a stainless steel Rolex Daytona Cosmograph Daytona 16520. It has an integral stainless steel bracelet with a double deployment clasp, and a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. There is a Triplock winding crown protected by shoulder crown guards, and there are screw-down round chronograph pushbuttons. It has a screw-down solid case back, and the 40mm diameter solid three-body case, integral lugs, link bracelet, and wide fixed bezel with a tachymeter scale to 400 UPH are polished/brushed.

The dial is a white field with white subsidiary registers framed by black chapter rings. It has applied luminous "boat" baton white gold hour index markers, luminous white gold baton hands, and a center sweep chronograph hand with an arrow pointer. Around the perimeter is a minute/one-fifth seconds track. There are three subsidiary dials, including a running seconds register at 9 o'clock, a 12-hour totalizer at 6 o'clock, and there is a 30-minute totalizer at 3 o'clock. It has a Certified Official Superlative Chronometer rating, and it's water resistant to 100 meters/330 feet.

This Rolex Daytona Cosmograph Daytona 16520 has a 1999 automatic self-winding Zenith El Primero caliber 4030 movement. It's rhodium-plated, with oeil-de-perdrix embellishment. It's constructed with 31 jewels, a blue Parachrom hairspring, an Incabloc shock absorber device, and a straight-line lever escapement. It includes a monometallic balance that's adjusted to temperatures and 5 positions, a self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, and Microstella regulating screws. The mechanism oscillates at a frequency of 36,000 vph (5Hz).

History of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
Launched in 1963 as a new-generation chronograph, the Cosmograph soon gained the name that became the mark of an icon: Daytona. Designed as the ultimate tool for endurance racing drivers, the Cosmograph Daytona was robust, waterproof and featured a tachymetric scale on the bezel for calculating average speed. Follow this link to learn more about the Evolution of the Oyster Daytona...

Birth of a Horological Icon Timepiece The myth around the iconic Rolex Daytona has spread around the world recent years. Always has the Daytona model been attached to motor racing, at first Rolex called their new Cosmograph the “Le Mans” and little later to “Daytona” when Rolex started to sponsor the well known U.S. speedway.

Cosmograph: a name that was to be the forerunner of great fortune. Actually, the choice of the name proved to be neither easy nor expected. Whilst Rolex on the one hand flirted with the car-racing world, on the other hand it could not remain unaware of the vast media attention, which at that time was surrounding the conquest of outer space.

In 1988, Rolex introduced the 16520 reference at the Spring Basel Watch Fair. The most obviously ‘historical’ change is the switch from the former manual winding movement to the new automatic mechanism. And, aesthetically speaking, compared to the previous models it presented a totally new look.

It immediately became a highly sought after icon with Rolex enthusiasts. In fact it was the hardest chronograph to get on the market, and retailers had year-long waiting lists. The production of this model officially ended in 2000.

History of the Zenith El Primero movement
The Zenith El Primero caliber is one of the most iconic watch movements in the history of watch making. It was the first- or one of the first automatic chronographs produced in series. During the 1960s there were three parties competing to build the first automatic chronograph. The main players were a consortium of companies with mutual interests: Heuer, Buren-Hamilton, Breitling and Dubois-Depraz. In the Far East, Seiko was working on its own version. And then there was the dark horse from Le Locle: Zenith. Whether or not the so-called Chrono-matic group — Hamilton-Buren, Breitling, Heuer, and Dubois-Dupraz — or Seiko actually beat the El Primero to market is not important. What’s important is this: the Zenith movement that resulted seven years after the journey began in 1962 is arguably still the best automatic chronograph in its price range 44 years later. So that this was not forgotten, the movement was given the name “El Primero”

This movement was so well build that even Rolex used it for its Daytona series from late 80s to early 2000. The El Primero was a watchmaking marvel of its time — and not just for one reason. For one, the watch featured a column wheel chronograph with a tri-compax layout. Most chronographs at the time (and many today) utilized a cam-actuated chronograph. There are benefits and drawbacks of using both types of chronographs, but column wheel production is more complex and labor-intensive. That Zenith chose to utilize a column wheel chronograph shows the level of end-to-end watchmaking that went into the El Primero development.

The smooth sweep of the seconds hand is much beloved by watch wearers. Today, the balance wheel in most mechanical watches beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (vph); if you look closely, that smooth seconds hand sweep is actually eight ticks per second. The El Primero, on the other hand, is what’s known as a high-beat movement, making 10 ticks per second, or 36,000 vph. Not only does this create a smoother sweep, it also allows the chronograph function to maintain accuracy down to 1/10 of a second. High-beat movements were rare in 1969, and they’re rare today. Even Rolex slowed the El Primero down to 28,800vph for the Daytona.

With more beats per hour comes increased wear and tear on the escapement. To counter this, Zenith developed special lubricants that would keep the El Primero on the wrist more often than in a watchmaker’s hands. The other critical deficiency of a “quick tick”, though, is the tendency to lose power faster than normal. Zenith made the solution look simple: they used a mainspring capable of a 50-hour power reserve. These are the sorts of decisions that have proven Zenith is unwilling to cut corners, and they’ve paid off in spades (and by spades, we mean millions of dollars and a cult following).

This particular Rolex Daytona has just undergone a full service. This work was carried out by our watchmaker using original parts.

As with all of our pre-owned watches this watch comes with a full 12 month WRIST ICONS warranty that will be invoked from the day of purchase.

Brand: Rolex
Model: Daytona
Reference: 16520
Year: 1999
caliber: 4030 (modified Zenith el Primero movement) RARE Original Rolex/Zenith Swiss Automatic Movement with a chronograph function
Case: 40 mm stainless steel
Dimensions: 36mm diameter; 10mm thickness
Crystal: Original Rolex Sapphire Crystal
Dial: Original Rolex 'SWISS MADE' Luminous Stick White Chronograph Dial
Bracelet/Strap: Original three-link Rolex stainless steel solid end link Oyster bracelet with a flip lock deployment clasp
Lug Width: 20mm
Box/Papers: yes, with original receipt
Price: 26.900,00
More info on https://www.wristicons.com/rolex-daytona-16520-1999-u-series-bandp.html