Reference:116528: Difference between revisions

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The serial story is simple: letter-prefix through mid-2010, random after that. The documented P- and Y-serial auction examples are enough to anchor first-year and early-run production.

Sotheby's 2021 Important Watches lot 2150 is the useful hard anchor here: a white-dial 116528 with case number P421022, guarantee, instruction manual, and box, catalogued as circa 2000. That matters because it puts the full-yellow-gold reference in the first cal. 4130 production year rather than treating it as a later precious-metal follow-on.

The lume transitions mid-life. Early 116528 production carries Luminova; Super-Luminova replaces it within the first few years; Chromalight arrives later in the run. The exact cutover years are debated, and published sources do not converge on specific dates. Every 116528 sits on the post-tritium side of the 1998–2000 cutover that ended radioactive lume on Rolex Sport models.

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Every 116528 runs caliber 4130, the same movement that powers the 116520 and 116523. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling (the clutch engages vertically from above, eliminating the start-judder visible on a lateral clutch), column-wheel switching rather than cam, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph, COSC certification, and a Parachrom blue hairspring on later production. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement, and the mainspring can be replaced without uncasing the watch.

The 4130 is also a much simpler service object than the 4030 it replaced. Caliber Corner records 201 total components, a 30.5mm overall diameter, 6.5mm height, bidirectional winding through reversers, and a ball-bearing rotor using seven ceramic balls. Its no-date architecture leaves the crown with a single time-setting position, which is one reason the 116528 avoids the date-position handling found on modified base movements.

The headline detail is shared across the generation: cal 4130 is Rolex's first wholly in-house chronograph. Thirty-seven years of bought-in chronograph bases — the Valjoux 72 family from 1963, the Zenith El Primero base from 1988 — ended when the 4130 launched in 2000. The 116528 sits at the start of that transition. For the full caliber lineage and the 4030-to-4130 architecture comparison, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].

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The 116528 dial catalogue runs broader than the steel 116520's — the gold case invites colour and texture combinations the steel reference does not carry. The configurations below are what the published record documents across the production run. Market frequency varies sharply from common to scarce.

Keep the factory-dial map separate from the off-catalog gem-set Daytona map. A standard-reference 116528 can carry unusual dials, but the heavy gem-set Daytona branches often receive their own reference numbers. Sotheby's catalogues the yellow-gold Rainbow Daytona as reference 116598RBOW, with a diamond and multi-coloured sapphire-set case and cal. 4130, not as a 116528.

{| class="wikitable"

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The 116528's best-known provenance is Eric Clapton's example, sold in 2017. That sale matters because it sets the celebrity premium against the ordinary market for the reference.

Revolution's 2017 report gives the cleaner market read: the watch was a 2014 18ct yellow gold 116528 with an additional rubber strap, the unworn gold bracelet, box, papers, and Clapton provenance. It sold at Bishop & Miller on 1 April 2017 for £28,000 hammer, £34,000 with premium, against a £30,000-50,000 estimate, then was withdrawn from a later Bonhams sale while further provenance material was being sought. His name lifted a normally commercial modern gold Daytona by a measurable but limited amount.

@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
 The serial story is simple: letter-prefix through mid-2010, random after that. The documented P- and Y-serial auction examples are enough to anchor first-year and early-run production.
+Sotheby's 2021 Important Watches lot 2150 is the useful hard anchor here: a white-dial 116528 with case number P421022, guarantee, instruction manual, and box, catalogued as circa 2000. That matters because it puts the full-yellow-gold reference in the first cal. 4130 production year rather than treating it as a later precious-metal follow-on.
 The lume transitions mid-life. Early 116528 production carries Luminova; Super-Luminova replaces it within the first few years; Chromalight arrives later in the run. The exact cutover years are debated, and published sources do not converge on specific dates. Every 116528 sits on the post-tritium side of the 1998–2000 cutover that ended radioactive lume on Rolex Sport models.
@@ Line 101: / Line 103: @@
 Every 116528 runs caliber 4130, the same movement that powers the 116520 and 116523. Vertical-clutch chronograph coupling (the clutch engages vertically from above, eliminating the start-judder visible on a lateral clutch), column-wheel switching rather than cam, 72-hour power reserve, 44 jewels, 28,800 vph, COSC certification, and a Parachrom blue hairspring on later production. Hour and minute counters share a single side of the movement, and the mainspring can be replaced without uncasing the watch.
+The 4130 is also a much simpler service object than the 4030 it replaced. Caliber Corner records 201 total components, a 30.5mm overall diameter, 6.5mm height, bidirectional winding through reversers, and a ball-bearing rotor using seven ceramic balls. Its no-date architecture leaves the crown with a single time-setting position, which is one reason the 116528 avoids the date-position handling found on modified base movements.
 The headline detail is shared across the generation: cal 4130 is Rolex's first wholly in-house chronograph. Thirty-seven years of bought-in chronograph bases — the Valjoux 72 family from 1963, the Zenith El Primero base from 1988 — ended when the 4130 launched in 2000. The 116528 sits at the start of that transition. For the full caliber lineage and the 4030-to-4130 architecture comparison, see [[Reference:Movements#cal-4130]].
@@ Line 122: / Line 126: @@
 The 116528 dial catalogue runs broader than the steel 116520's — the gold case invites colour and texture combinations the steel reference does not carry. The configurations below are what the published record documents across the production run. Market frequency varies sharply from common to scarce.
+Keep the factory-dial map separate from the off-catalog gem-set Daytona map. A standard-reference 116528 can carry unusual dials, but the heavy gem-set Daytona branches often receive their own reference numbers. Sotheby's catalogues the yellow-gold Rainbow Daytona as reference 116598RBOW, with a diamond and multi-coloured sapphire-set case and cal. 4130, not as a 116528.
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 197: / Line 203: @@
 The 116528's best-known provenance is Eric Clapton's example, sold in 2017. That sale matters because it sets the celebrity premium against the ordinary market for the reference.
+Revolution's 2017 report gives the cleaner market read: the watch was a 2014 18ct yellow gold 116528 with an additional rubber strap, the unworn gold bracelet, box, papers, and Clapton provenance. It sold at Bishop & Miller on 1 April 2017 for £28,000 hammer, £34,000 with premium, against a £30,000-50,000 estimate, then was withdrawn from a later Bonhams sale while further provenance material was being sought. His name lifted a normally commercial modern gold Daytona by a measurable but limited amount.
 <span id="tiffany-co.-and-other-double-signed-examples"></span>