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Lot Essay
One of the great rarities among automatic Daytonas, the beauty and desirability of the white gold reference 16519 with salmon dial is hard to beat. The salmon dial is without doubt one of the rarest of all of the so-called ‘Zenith’ Daytonas and presents a strikingly attractive colour combination with the white gold case. The standard production model for reference 16519 features a mother of pearl dial, however, a tiny number of the reference, including the present watch, were fitted with salmon dials, indeed, to the best of our knowledge, only two examples have ever appeared at international auction. With ever increasing interest from collectors and researchers into the history of the automatic Cosmograph Daytona, the salmon dial reference 16519 is one of the ultimate prizes for the collector.
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 16520. The present white gold version was given the reference 16519 and was usually fitted with a mother of pearl dial. 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’.
Several theories abound for the existence of the salmon dial, including suggestions that it was a prototype for a proposed dial colour that never entered production or that is was a ‘special’ for VIP clients. Whatever the original purpose of the salmon dial Daytonas, their production has undoubtedly provided collectors with a watch of amazing beauty and exclusivity.
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 16520. The present white gold version was given the reference 16519 and was usually fitted with a mother of pearl dial. 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’.
Several theories abound for the existence of the salmon dial, including suggestions that it was a prototype for a proposed dial colour that never entered production or that is was a ‘special’ for VIP clients. Whatever the original purpose of the salmon dial Daytonas, their production has undoubtedly provided collectors with a watch of amazing beauty and exclusivity.