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On the Daytona "Zenith", the dials were now lacquered and glossy. They also featured applied metal hour markers inlaid with luminous material. And the sub-dials had a thin outer track of an opposing color, each ringed with a metallic edge. Protecting this new dial was a sapphire crystal, used for the first time on a Rolex Daytona.
The Valjoux calibre 72 chronograph movement customized by Rolex got the name calibre 72B, later calibre 722, before the upgraded calibre 727 took its place around 1970. Towards mid to late 80’s though, there was a clear trend towards self-winding watches. The thing was that creating a self-winding chronograph movement from scratch is no easy feat. Rolex needed a solution and it came in the form of the Zenith "El Primero" calibre 400, considered the best self-winding chronograph movement available on the market, becoming the clear choice for Rolex who only partnered with the best.
However, Rolex didn’t went through a direct transplant of the "El Primero" calibre into the Daytona and called it a day. Instead, extensive modifications were undertaken to align the new movement with Rolex’s requirements. This evolved movement went by the name calibre 4030. It became the forerunner to the first self-winding chronograph movement produced in-house by Rolex: the mighty calibre 4130 that still powers today’s modern ceramic Daytona models.
Alongside the self-winding movement, Rolex featured several aesthetic updates on the Daytona "Zenith". Most significant was the increase in case size. Whilst previous models had the smaller size of 37mm, the new reference 16520 was a more masculine and sturdy in 40mm, bringing the Daytona in-line with the other professional watches in the Rolex line-up such as the Submariner and the GMT-Master.
The Oyster case is equipped with screwed pushers, completely waterproofed.