There is a je ne sais quoi with bejeweled Rolex wristwatches that makes the pulse of collectors beat faster. Is it the mix of a sporty case with delicate jewels or the sheer elegance, sophistication and glamour of the ensemble, or all of the above and much more?

The present reference 16528 with its beautiful pave dial with ruby indexes exudes finesse like no other. Bejeweled Rolex Daytonas have been known since the 80s, when Rolex first experimented with an extremely limited number of manually-wound bejeweled pieces - references 6269 and 6270.

With the advent of the 90s and the introduction of the automatic Daytona, the marque evolved toward innovative and more exotic designs and once again created - in extremely limited quantities - gem set models like the present ref 16528.

Subsidiary counters, which are usually golden on pavée dials, are in this instance silvered. The reason for this is that the owner of this watch requested and obtained a dial upgrade for his 16528. As it turns out, dials mounted at a later time by Rolex feature silver subdials rather than golden. However, the silver actually gives the dial a more balanced appearance, fitting beautifully with the diamonds with a touch of flamboyance thanks to the red of the rubies.