Rolex Daytona · Reference 116520
Rolex Daytona 116520
Known as The steel Daytona, the first in-house Daytona, the last steel-bezel Daytona
The 116520 is the reference that put Rolex's own chronograph movement inside the steel Cosmograph Daytona. From 1988 to 2000 the steel Daytona ran a Zenith El Primero base (the 16520). In 2000 Rolex replaced it with the 116520 and the caliber 4130, the first Daytona movement Rolex designed and built entirely in house. It stayed in the catalog for sixteen years, from 2000 to 2016, until the ceramic-bezel 116500LN took over. That makes the 116520 the last steel Daytona with an engraved metal tachymeter bezel, and for a lot of collectors that is the whole point. It is a 40mm Oystersteel three-register chronograph on an Oyster bracelet, offered with a black dial or a white dial, and it is one of the watches that walks through our door on 47th Street more than almost any other steel sports Rolex.
Produced: 2000 to 2016
In stock at Ultimate Diamond
3 pieces on the counter right now.
Specifications
- Reference
- 116520
- Dial References
- 116520-0015 (black dial), 116520-0016 (white dial)
- Case
- 40mm Oystersteel (904L-grade stainless steel)
- Case Thickness
- approximately 12.5mm
- Lug Width
- 20mm
- Movement
- Rolex Caliber 4130, self-winding mechanical chronograph, Rolex's first fully in-house Daytona movement
- Movement Details
- Column-wheel chronograph with vertical clutch, 44 jewels, Parachrom hairspring (from 2005), approximately 72-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds at 6 o'clock, chronograph (central seconds, 30-minute counter at 3, 12-hour counter at 9)
- Bezel
- Engraved steel tachymeter bezel graduated to 400 units per hour, fixed
- Crystal
- Scratch-resistant sapphire, no Cyclops (Daytona has no date)
- Crown
- Triplock screw-down winding crown, screw-down chronograph pushers
- Water Resistance
- 100 meters (330 feet)
- Dial Options
- Black dial with silver sub-dials, or white dial with black sub-dials
- Lume
- Luminova / Super-LumiNova on early production (roughly 2000 to 2012), Chromalight blue lume on later production (roughly 2013 to 2016)
- Bracelet
- Oyster three-link bracelet in Oystersteel with Oysterlock folding safety clasp and Easylink 5mm comfort extension
- Last Retail Price
- approximately 13,000 USD before discontinuation
Market & Value
We buy and sell the 116520 constantly, so here is where the money actually sits in 2026. Clean pre-owned examples with box and papers trade in the low-to-mid 20,000s USD, and unworn or near-unworn full sets push into the high 20,000s. That is well above the last retail of around 13,000, and it has held there because supply is fixed and demand is not going away. The black dial and the white dial trade close together, usually within a few hundred dollars of each other, which is different from the successor 116500LN where the white Panda dial carries a real premium over the black. Two things add money on the 116520. First, the so-called APH dial, a late-production printing quirk where the letters in COSMOGRAPH sit slightly spaced out, which collectors chase. Second, early Luminova examples and clean full sets from desirable years, which can reach into the low 30,000s. Condition, dial variant, lume type, year, and completeness are what move the number. A watch with a beat-up bracelet, a swapped bezel, or missing papers is a different conversation than a full set. When we make an offer, we are pricing the exact watch in front of us, not a chart average.
What to Know Before You Buy
A few things every buyer and seller should have straight on this reference. It has no date, so there is no Cyclops on the crystal and nothing to set beyond the time and the chronograph. The pushers screw down; you unscrew them to run the chronograph and screw them back to keep the 100 meters of water resistance. The caliber 4130 is genuinely one of the best chronograph movements ever made, with fewer parts than most column-wheel chronographs and a service reputation to match, so a well-kept example is a watch you can actually run. Watch for service dials and relumed dials, which hurt value, and confirm the movement, bracelet, and bezel all match the year. The transition from Luminova to Chromalight lume around 2012 to 2013 is a real dividing line for collectors, so know which one you have. And the engraved steel bezel is the signature of this reference; the moment Rolex went to Cerachrom ceramic on the 116500LN, the 116520 became the end of an era.
Rolex Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Encyclopedia
Read the full guide →Buying or selling a 116520?
Ultimate Watch buys and sells the 116520 every week from our counter at 19 West 47th Street in New York, where our family has dealt watches since 1959. If you own one and want to sell, bring it in or send us photos of the dial, caseback, clasp code, and any box and papers, and we will make you a real cash offer the same day. If you are buying, we can source black or white dial, specific year ranges, APH dials, and full sets. Call us or request an offer and we will tell you exactly what your 116520 is worth today.