A Guide to Rolex Daytona Reference 116520

November 13th, 2020

The Daytona is a revolutionary and cornerstone collection of Rolex, and Reference 116520 is one of the most desirable watches in the world.

The Daytona that is today synonymous with the brand itself did not sport an in-house movement for many years of its production history. With the Daytona Reference 116520, the in-house movement in this mainstay lineup made its debut.

Produced between 2000 and 2016, the watch was not aesthetically different from its earlier stainless steel siblings. However, Rolex upgraded the Daytona collection with the launch of the Reference 116520.

Let’s today explore the significant aesthetic and functional updates that the Rolex Daytona 116520 received, besides a new in-house Calibre.

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The Case

The Rolex Daytona 116520 comes with a stainless steel case of 40mm and crown-guards protecting the Triplock winding crown. However, the most notable update made to this model is different finishes on the lugs.

• The previous generation Daytona versions featured lugs with satin-finished top surfaces and high-polished glossy sides.
• On the contrary, Rolex offered high-polished lugs to the Daytona 116520.

Apart from this, the watch retained the similar sapphire crystal, screw-down pushers and solid case-back.

The Dial

Rolex made the biggest noticeable update to the dial of the Reference 116520. The stainless steel watches of both generations featured white or black dials.

However, while the Daytona 116520 housed the Rolex’s Calibre 4130, the position of the running seconds sub-dial was changed. For instance –

• On Zenith Daytona, Rolex fitted the running seconds sub-dial at the 9 o’clock side.
• But the Daytona 116520 features it at the 6 o’clock side.
• Moreover, the watch features the two registers at 9 o’clock, and 3 o’clock sides a little bit higher on the dial.

And unlike the earlier 5-digit line of Daytona, the hands are set a little bit above their proportional markers. Other notable upgrades include thicker hour markers and hands, and also more luminescent element.

The Bezel

The Rolex Daytona 116520 comes with an almost similar bezel like its previous generation siblings. Made of stainless steel, the bezel features an engraved tachymeter scale. However, the Reference 116520 flaunts a slightly thicker and bolder printed font on the bezel.

The Bracelet

Rolex even upgraded the bracelet of the Daytona 116520. The previous generation Daytonas as well as, this version comes with stainless steel Oyster bracelets. However, the difference is here –

• The older generation Daytona models sported hollow centre-links and hollow end-links Oyster bracelet.
• On the contrary, Rolex equipped the Daytona Reference 116520 with solid centre-links and end-links Oyster bracelet.

Moreover, this Daytona comes with a multi-component designed Oysterclasp, offering a more secure and refined latching mechanism.

Additionally, the bracelet features the brand’s patented Easylink extension system, allowing easy adjustment with no use of tools.

The Movement

And the most significant upgrade Rolex made to the Daytona collection was fitting the new Daytona Reference 116520 with an in-house chronograph movement.

• The Calibre 4130 is known to feature the Rolex’s patented hairspring, a vertical clutch and a column wheel.
• However, the interesting fact is that the architecture of the Calibre 4130 helps in saving space along with improving the movement’s overall durability.

Thus, Rolex could use a bigger mainspring that eventually helped in achieving an enhanced power reserve up to 72hours and accuracy of -2/+2 seconds/day.

The Calibre 4130 is yet regarded as one of the best chronograph movements ever produced by Rolex.

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