Important Collectors' Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong, Jun 27, 2009

LOT 410

Ref. 16520 Color Change Rolex, "Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified, Cosmograph, Daytona", Ref. 16520, S series. Made in 1994, sold on July 13, 1994. Very fine and rare, self-winding, water-resistant, stainless steel wristwatch with round button chronograph, registers, tachometer and a stainless steel Rolex Oysterlock bracelet. Accompanied by a chronometer certificate and instruction booklet. To be sold without reserve

HKD 85,000 - 130,000

USD 12,000 - 18,000 / EUR 8,500 - 13,000

Sold: HKD 150,000

C. Three-body, polished and brushed, screw-down case back, chronograph buttons and Triplock winding crown, tachometer graduation on the polished bezel to 400 units per hour, sapphire crystal. D. Bi-color black and reddish silver with applied luminous steel indexes, subsidiary dials for the seconds, the 12-hour and 30-minute registers. Luminous steel baton hands. M. Cal. 4030, rhodium-plated, oeil de perdrix decoration, 31 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to temperatures and 5 positions, shock absorber, selfcompensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, Microstella regulating screws. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 40 mm. Thickness 13 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent

Case: 3-9

Good

Scratched

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

Ref. 16520
This reference 16520 was one of the first modern Rolex watches to show some color change around the sub-dials. Debate remains around the real reasons of this "color-change", ranging from defective materials originally used by Rolex to exposure to ultra-violet light. With the ever-increasing trend of tropical dials in the current market, this "anomaly" quickly became a classic among collectors, the dials showing various degrees of shift depending on exposure.