A true “mint condition” timepiece, the present “Floating Cosmograph” Daytona was originally sold in Japan - as highlighted by the full set of Rolex Japan documents accompanying it. The condition of preservation of this timepieces cannot be overstated: all details of both case and dial are in absolute pristine condition. The sticker to the back is flawless, the luminous accents perfect, the dial pristine.

In celebration of the Daytona’s 25th anniversary, Rolex released its first self-winding chronograph model, the reference 16520, at Baselworld 1988. Technically impressive, it was powered by the automatic Zenith El Primero calibre, which was substantially modified by Rolex. Over the years, this milestone timepiece has become a collectors’ favorite, with grail examples such as the early and rare “R” series chronographs like the present watch.

Indeed, while reference 16520’s popularity has increased dramatically in the past years, few automatic Cosmograph Daytonas are as beloved as the first-generation models ‘R Series’. As opposed to later examples, the Cosmograph script is set further apart from the first four lines of text, as if floating away toward the middle of the dial. Another charactieristic of early dials is the “inverted 6” on the 6 o’clock subsidiary register, highly appreciated by collectors today and which will be employed until the early 1990s. Floating dials lasted for a very short time before being updated to “4 liner” dials, which eliminate the “officially certified” line. Intriguingly, Rolex very soon went back on this decision and reinstated the full 5-line script, albeit this time the 5th line would be solid with the rest.

The reference 16520 was also the first Daytona to be fitted with a sapphire crystal, and with a larger case diameter measuring 40 mm. Originally equipped with the rare 200 graduation bezel, later examples would have a bezel calibrated to 400 units.