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Lot Essay
With stunning good looks, the yellow gold ‘Zenith’ Daytona fitted with the super-rare metallic blue so-called ‘Chairman’ or ‘Big Blue’ dial is one of the most highly prized colour combinations among early automatic Daytonas.
Only a handful of these sunray blue dials were ever created by Rolex’s dial maker Singer around 1989/90 as the start of an order that, due to lack of perceived commercial demand, was never fulfilled. The gold reference 16528 was never available to buy from Rolex retail outlets with this blue dial. However, it is thought that the few dials that Singer manufactured were fitted to gold reference 16528s in 1991 and presented to high-rank Rolex senior management and hence gained the nickname ‘Chairman’. These ultra-exclusive ‘luxury’ Daytonas with their richly beautiful and highly desired colour palette of yellow gold and deep blue are now amongst the most desirable automatic Daytonas available to collectors.
The automatic Cosmograph Daytona was launched in 1988 and breathed new life into the model commercially for Rolex. 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 the steel 16520. Other versions became available in different metals such as the white gold 16519 and the present 16528. The model was available only with a solid metal tachymeter bezel and the crystals are sapphire crystal. 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’.
Only a handful of these sunray blue dials were ever created by Rolex’s dial maker Singer around 1989/90 as the start of an order that, due to lack of perceived commercial demand, was never fulfilled. The gold reference 16528 was never available to buy from Rolex retail outlets with this blue dial. However, it is thought that the few dials that Singer manufactured were fitted to gold reference 16528s in 1991 and presented to high-rank Rolex senior management and hence gained the nickname ‘Chairman’. These ultra-exclusive ‘luxury’ Daytonas with their richly beautiful and highly desired colour palette of yellow gold and deep blue are now amongst the most desirable automatic Daytonas available to collectors.
The automatic Cosmograph Daytona was launched in 1988 and breathed new life into the model commercially for Rolex. 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 the steel 16520. Other versions became available in different metals such as the white gold 16519 and the present 16528. The model was available only with a solid metal tachymeter bezel and the crystals are sapphire crystal. 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’.