Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Oct 04, 2009

LOT 398

Floating Cosmograph", Ref. 16528 First Series. Rolex, ?Oyster Perpetual, Superlative Chronometer, Officially Certified, Cosmograph, Daytona?, case No. L243620, Ref. 16528. Made circa 1988. Very fine and very rare, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K yellow gold wristwatch with round button chronograph, registers, tachometer, porcelain dial and an 18K yellow gold Oyster bracelet.

CHF 28,000 - 38,000

USD 26,000 - 36,000 / EUR 19,000 - 25,000

C. Three-body, polished and brushed, screwed-down case back, buttons and crown, Triplock winding crown protected by the crown guard, tachometer graduation on the gold bezel to 200 units per hour, sapphire crystal. D. Porcelain white with applied luminous gold indexes, subsidiary dials for the seconds, the 12-hour and 30- minute registers. Luminous yellow gold baton hands. M. Cal. 4030, rhodium-plated, oeil-de-perdrix decoration, 31 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions and temperature, self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance spring, Microstella regulating screws. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 40 mm. Thickness 13 mm. Approx. overall length 175 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Around 1988, Rolex decided to discontinue the classic Daytona manual wind model. They replaced it with a brand model that featured a new automatic movement. At the time, Rolex was not producing an in-house automatic chronograph movement so they used the very reliable Zenith based movement (Caliber 4030). In the first models they introduced, the new Daytonas featured a specific dial design that would be quickly discontinued (after approximately two years). They are instantly recognizable by the word Cosmograph, which is clearly detached from the rest of the writing. This dial version became known to collectors as the "floating Cosmograph".
This watch has several features available only in the reference 1652?s produced from circa 1988 to 1990: - Porcelain Dial - "Floating? Cosmograph - Chronograph hour dial number 6 inverted - Bezel with tachometer scale graduated to 200 UPH Sess II