114
Rolex
Ref. 16520, caseback stamped 16500
Cosmograph Daytona "prototype dial"
A surprising and important stainless steel automatic chronograph wristwatch with prototype dial and bracelet
Full-Cataloguing
- Chronograph
- The watch bears an incredible prototype dial in the style of manual Daytonas and fully printed graphics (no applied markers)
- Prominently illustrated in the book “Collection Monegasque”
Rolex is well known for producing multiple iterations of a dial design before settling on a definitive version. Sometimes such iterations actually make it into production models (think of floating dials, underline dials, 4-line dials etc.), but in the majority of cases such dial iterations do not go beyond the prototype level and never make it into official production.
The latter is the case for the present dial. Obviously inspired by earlier models, the design of this dial is light years away from what is found in normal production of the Zenith Daytona. It is an exercise in design purity: the subsidiary counters are painted solid in contrast with the dial (instead of bearing the chapter rings as normally seen on this model), the surface exhibits a soleil finish, and the hour markers are printed rather than applied. This latter detail is incredibly appealing, as no Daytona model serially produced—in all of Rolex history—has ever featured painted hour markers, making this dial one of the most surprising ones to ever be graced by the Crown logo.
The genesis of such prototype dials has been relatively well documented, as on incredibly rare occasions they do appear on the market (one example above all: the “Big Blue” 16528).
Singer was the company responsible for the production of Rolex dials at the time. They would each year offer a number of new dial designs to Rolex; a few of them would be chosen for further study and development.
“First submission” dials would come in a binder and bore no feet (as they were intended as purely aesthetic examples, not to be mounted on watches). In the case of a dial chosen for further development, a version bearing metal feet would be produced to be fitted into a watch—making it a “true” prototype dial rather than a simple aesthetic mockup. In this instance, we are indeed in the presence of such a rare specimen, greatly increasing the collectability and appeal of the piece.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.