With its striking, contrasted dial and famous case silhouette, there is no other watch quite like the Rolex Daytona. This model, the ref. 116520, was launched by the brand in 2000, at the time replacing the 1988 introduced 16520 and importantly presenting to the Daytona lineage Rolex’s first fully in-house chronograph movement.

In the metal, the watch is really striking and immediately recognizable as the Crown’s renowned chronograph –its 40mm steel case, screw-down pushers, crown, and bezel provide a distinctive canvas for the unmistakable dial configuration they surround.

On the dial, the contrasted look between metals, black and white, all work together to present the recognizable chronograph aesthetic, its date-less display supremely well-balanced and symmetrical, with a small red “Daytona” script serving as the watch’s signature. Applied hour markers and a 12 o’clock Rolex crown punctuates the style, while a pair of lume-accented baton hands steadily indicate the time.

Most notably, the 116520 introduced to the Daytona family the widely-praised Rolex caliber 4130 to power its timekeeping, replacing the caliber 4030, based upon Zenith’s famed El Primero caliber with significant modifications. The caliber 4130 has from its launch become the brand’s standard chronograph mechanism, even into the ceramic-bezel contemporary ref. 116500, complete with superlative chronometer timekeeping and a 72-hour power reserve