Daytona Ref. 16519 “Sodalite”

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona has, since its introduction in 1963, stood at the top of the brand’s catalog for collectors. While manually-wound Daytonas will always be collectible as pure vintage iterations, the ref. 16500 series, introduced in 1988, offered the first significant update to the model. For the first time, a Rolex Daytona was offered with a self-winding or automatic caliber. Rolex outsourced the base movement production for this generation, buying stock of Zenith’s El Primero caliber and heavily reworking it to the standards of The Crown. Produced from 1988 to 2000, the “Zenith” Daytona will always hold a special place in the hearts of collectors.

It is within this “Zenith” Daytona generation that we begin to see Rolex experiment with its once-hyper-serious driver’s chronograph, taking steps to become a true luxury product. The present watch is the perfect example of this experimentation. The ref. 16519 was the first serially produced Daytona in white gold. Furthermore, this watch is fitted with a rare blue sodalite hard stone dial with diamond-set indexes. Also the first Daytona offered with a stone dial, the ref. 16519 is an emblematic and historic reference in the model’s lineage.

Sodalite is regularly found in jewelry and watches as a speckled royal blue streaked with white and clear inclusions, and occurs naturally in a wide variety of colors. That said, the stone is notoriously brittle and fragile due to its high sodium content. Rolex sodalite dials are a step above the rest, free of natural flaws or fissures, and able to be cut and polished to perfection. Compared to other Rolex stone dials such as lapis lazuli, the lightness and depth of sodalite are notable, as are the gorgeous inclusions giving each dial a unique character.