ROLEX 16528

rolex_daytona16528_bonanno_0101_mod3

In this article we will describe one of the last Daytona gold produced before using a mechanism made entirely by the parent company.

For many years now Rolex is a company at the top of the watchmaking industry, and its products give every user great satisfaction: some buy for passion, some for investment...some for both reasons.

It all began in 1908, when Hans Wilsdorf wanted his timepieces to bear a short name that was easy to remember and pronounce in all languages, and that could be inserted harmoniously on the dials and movements.

About the choice of name, he recounted:

"I tried to combine all the letters of the alphabet, in every possible way. I thus had at my disposal a few hundred names, but none of them appealed to me. Until one morning, as I was traveling on the upper deck of a horse-drawn omnibus along Cheapside Street in the City of London, a little spirit whispered in my ear: Rolex".

The parent company has always tried to offer the highest quality, using the best the market could offer. We are talking, for example, about the 16520, the first automatic chronograph. The company chose as its caliber (mechanism) the " Zenith 400 El Primero," with 36000 vibrations and a frequency of 5 HZ, and uses a special dry lubricant based on Molybdenum Bisulfide applied by a vaporization process, which required specific equipment and maintenance about every two years. He then decided to deeply elaborate the basic caliber Zenith El Primero, making as many as 200 modifications so that it could live up to its own quality standards.

The first necessary work was done to reduce the number of alternations (from 36000 to 28000) and decrease the frequency from 5 to 4 HZ. They mounted a larger balance wheel on the movement that oscillated at a lower frequency, common to all calibres Rolex of that period, thus simplifying and improving its reliability.

The balance wheel Rolex has four glucydur spokes with a balance spring Breguet and micro-star adjustment system. The lubricants used for the caliber 4030 were the traditional fluid ones, such modifications allow Rolex to recommend an overhaul every 4 years, almost twice as long as the original caliber. What is the consequence? The provision of mechanisms Zenith for the Rolex, in connection with the increased demand for Zenith Daytona, makes this watch a rare object and, as mentioned above for many of the house's products, a true work of art of great value.

Unique because of its special features and extremely rare because of its demand, in a short time it makes the market value skyrocket to figures far higher than its original value. This has now been the case for many years, making it a guarantee of stability, a beautiful object as well as one of the best investments the market can offer.

We at Bonanno Jewelry have a large collection of Vintage watches.

We appraise and buy your watch

The most exclusive catalog of vintage watches

Visit Now

The Rome boutique

Via della Croce, 13