Daytona: from mechanical movement to automatic movement
Posted by Shopify API posted on February 17, 2025
Birth of caliber 11
"Year 69, year é ...", no! We will not plague Gainsbourg! But it is true that 1969, beyond the social and cultural changes so well known, marks a turning point in the history of watchmaking. It was at this time that the automatic movement for chronograph appeared. A long -term search that mobilized the resources of no less than four factories: Heuer, Breitling, Büren and Hamilton. These combined efforts gave birth to caliber 11 which equipped the Monaco of Heuer, the first automatic chronograph in Microrotor. In parallel, Zenith presents the 1er March of the same year, the first automatic chronograph at Central Rotor.
The origin of daytona
For Rolex it was a more complex progress. The adventure of Rolex chronographs began with antimagnetics, which appeared in the late 1930s, a period of research for factories. They are mechanical with manual and not waterproof reassembly. The reference 6238 ends this first step and opens the way to the production of the first Daytona in 1963. This forerunner reference is called "pre-daytona".
Rolex is launching the production of its emblematic chronograph, the Daytona, named after the famous racing circuit of Daytona Beach in Florida, with the first reference on 6239. They are provided with a mechanical movement manual Valjoux 72B. The models follow one another such as the 6263 produced from 1969 to 1988. On our model you can note that to allow better readability, the factory respects a contrast between the dial, in this case black, and the meters, here silver. The dial is said to be "Big Red" due to the red writing overcoming the counter at 6 am.
Rolex. Daytona Ref. 6239 "Blue Daytona"
Rolex. Daytona Ref. 6263 "Big Red"
The first automatic movements for Daytona
Always looking for an automatic movement, the crown manufacturer called on Zenith. Thus, it was not until the reference 16520, born in 1988, that the Daytona adopted an automatic movement "Zenith El Primero". This one is 36,000 oscillations per hour, double the caliber 11, thus giving it remarkable regularity and accuracy. Of course, this movement was necessarily readjusted to Daytona (without date).
The story ends when Rolex, for the first time, develops an automatic movement entirely carried out and signed Rolex for its Daytona: the caliber 4130, result of more than 10 years of experiments. This is the birth of the 116520 reference presented for the first time at the Basel World Fair in 2000.
1969-2019… 50 years that the automatic movement for chronograph was born. We couldn't miss it and not tell you about it!
Daytona: from mechanical movement to automatic movement
Birth of caliber 11
"Year 69, year é ...", no! We will not plague Gainsbourg! But it is true that 1969, beyond the social and cultural changes so well known, marks a turning point in the history of watchmaking. It was at this time that the automatic movement for chronograph appeared. A long -term search that mobilized the resources of no less than four factories: Heuer, Breitling, Büren and Hamilton. These combined efforts gave birth to caliber 11 which equipped the Monaco of Heuer, the first automatic chronograph in Microrotor. In parallel, Zenith presents the 1er March of the same year, the first automatic chronograph at Central Rotor.
The origin of daytona
For Rolex it was a more complex progress. The adventure of Rolex chronographs began with antimagnetics, which appeared in the late 1930s, a period of research for factories. They are mechanical with manual and not waterproof reassembly. The reference 6238 ends this first step and opens the way to the production of the first Daytona in 1963. This forerunner reference is called "pre-daytona".
Rolex is launching the production of its emblematic chronograph, the Daytona, named after the famous racing circuit of Daytona Beach in Florida, with the first reference on 6239. They are provided with a mechanical movement manual Valjoux 72B. The models follow one another such as the 6263 produced from 1969 to 1988. On our model you can note that to allow better readability, the factory respects a contrast between the dial, in this case black, and the meters, here silver. The dial is said to be "Big Red" due to the red writing overcoming the counter at 6 am.
The first automatic movements for Daytona
Always looking for an automatic movement, the crown manufacturer called on Zenith. Thus, it was not until the reference 16520, born in 1988, that the Daytona adopted an automatic movement "Zenith El Primero". This one is 36,000 oscillations per hour, double the caliber 11, thus giving it remarkable regularity and accuracy. Of course, this movement was necessarily readjusted to Daytona (without date).
The story ends when Rolex, for the first time, develops an automatic movement entirely carried out and signed Rolex for its Daytona: the caliber 4130, result of more than 10 years of experiments. This is the birth of the 116520 reference presented for the first time at the Basel World Fair in 2000.
1969-2019… 50 years that the automatic movement for chronograph was born. We couldn't miss it and not tell you about it!