Rolex Daytona was born in 1963, that is, in 1963, Daytona's English first appeared on the dial of a watch. Rolex Daytona’s first model was the 6239. A major feature of the Daytona 6239 is that the speed measuring outer ring appeared on the Rolex chronograph for the first time. More here.

Chronograph button lock: 1970

Although on the earliest Rolex Daytona 6240, the chronograph button lock has appeared. But after a brief appearance, it was cancelled on Daytona 6241. Daytona is fully equipped with a chronograph button lock, which was used in the 1970 Daytona 6263. The timing button adds a lock handle, which further increases the water resistance of the watch. When using the timing button, first unscrew it to unlock, and then screw it back to lock it after use. Since 6263, the chronograph button lock has become the standard feature of Rolex Daytona, and it has been used to this day. Become an iconic feature of Daytona.

Oyster case: 1970

The Oyster case is a core technology of Rolex. The screw-in bottom cover and screw-in crown of the Oyster case are the guarantee for Rolex to be waterproof, dustproof, and durable. In 1970, Rolex began to equip Daytona with Oyster case. 6263 was the first Daytona to use Oyster case. As you can see, the word OYSTER appears on the Oyster case under the word ROLEX on the disk of the 6263, which was not available on the previous Daytona. The 6263 equipped with the Oyster case and the chronograph button lock handle has enhanced water resistance. From the 6263 in 1970 to the 116500 Daytona today, it has always maintained a water resistance of 100 meters.

Crown shoulder guard, black chronograph bezel: 1988

In 1988, Daytona 16520 was a major change made by Rolex to Daytona, which established the appearance of modern Daytona. Daytona 16520, the size has risen from 37 mm to 40 mm, and is equipped with crown guards for the first time. For sports watches, the crown shoulder guard is still very useful. If there is no shoulder guard, knock to the crown, the crown is easily deformed. In the past, Daytona's small counters were either all black or all white. Rolex Dayton took the 16520 on the dial, adding a black outer ring to the chronograph for the first time. Let the small time counter have a black and white color contrast. Nowadays, the so-called "Panda Di" plate was born, and it continues to this day.

In addition, it is worth noting that the Rolex 16520 has resumed the use of steel bezels. At the same time, Daytona 16520 is the first Rolex chronograph to use an automatic chronograph movement (Before 16520, Daytona was manual, mainly used out Valjoux72 series manual chronograph movement). Rolex modified the Zenith El Primero automatic chronograph movement, adjusted the 36000 beats/hour to 28800 beats/hour, and renumbered it as the 4030 movement, which was used on the Daytona 16520. Until 2000, Rolex launched the 4130 self-produced movement, equipped with Daytona 116520.

Ceramic bezel: 2016

In 2016, the latest generation of Daytona 116500 on sale was launched. On 116500, Daytona was replaced with a ceramic bezel for the first time. Completed the last major upgrade so far. Compared with the acrylic bezel, aluminum ring, and steel ring that Daytona used before, the ceramic ring is scratch-resistant and wear-resistant, always bright and new, the bezel will not fade, and the bezel scale will not fall off. At the same time, the ceramic ring can be made in color. For example, the platinum shell Daytona is matched with a brown ceramic ring, which enhances the appearance.