Reply With QuoteInteresting that Rolex are well ahead of inflation since then; I see in online calculators that the Seadweller would have been £2653 last year.
Just looked at Rolex Retail prices for 1986 (25 years ago) Wondered why Submariner was £1012.00 and Daytona only £882.00. I would have
expected the Daytona to be more expensive than the Submariner.At the time the GMT was £834.00 and Seadweller £1161.00 (All Stainless Steel Types)
Interesting that Rolex are well ahead of inflation since then; I see in online calculators that the Seadweller would have been £2653 last year.
Bought my GMT new in July '86 and paid £698, which was the RRP - is the price you quote here for a GMT II?Originally Posted by RO-LEX
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The '86 Daytona used a Valjoux 72 ebauche whilst the Sub was using in-house. Also, at the time the Daytonas didn't have the mystique they have today.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
The GMT Master II (16760) was £998.00...... and the GMT Master (16750) was £834.00 both were an extra £37.00 if you wanted a Jubilee Bracelet.
Prices were at 1st August 1986 . So " monogroover " just got in on time. Just shows price increases were just as bad 25 years ago . Daytona's were
cheaper than the Submariner, but time has made a 25 year old Daytona far more than Submariner, both new and old ! old ones by a massive sum
Like the early Exp 2, Daytonas were not that popular then.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
The first time I heard about the Daytona was c.1986...part of a "when I grow up, I'm getting a..." conversation.
Clearly he was an enlightened lad. I remember thinking "Why would you want that instead of a 'Presidente?'" (This being mid-80s Puerto Rico, what few Rolexes I'd seen were either Subs or Day-Dates. Oh, and I was an idiot.)
Come to think of it, 25 years on I doubt either situation has changed much.
The Daytona didn't become popular until the El Primero model, so they were struggling to sell them in '86. I've never seen an advert featuring a hand-wind Daytona, just Explorers, Subs, Day-Dates, etc.. The Daytona really was the poor choice. Zenith had been making a very good automatic chrono for 15? years by '86, so anyone buying a chronograph was not looking at Rolex. The V72 movement may be an excellent piece of kit, but a hand wind watch with a screw down crown is not very practical.
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In the late '70s I bought a Tudor Chrono because I didn't think the (Paul Newman) Daytona was big enough. The Tudor Chrono was using the larger sub-style case.
john
Costume jewellery. Ouch!!!
They went from the modified Zenith El Primero to a Valjoux 72 ebauche? Good heavens - didn't know that (thanks, John). Was there a reason that they didn't wait until they had an in-house alternative before dropping Zenith, or did Zenith force the change upon them?
Other way round - they went from the V72 to the El Primero (I thought in '88), thus began the era of the desireable Daytona. Zenith could only make so many movements, and Rolex could only get their hands on a small number of those, so the demand outstripped the supply by a considerable margin.They went from the modified Zenith El Primero to a Valjoux 72 ebauche? Good heavens - didn't know that (thanks, John). Was there a reason that they didn't wait until they had an in-house alternative before dropping Zenith, or did Zenith force the change upon them?
They still made and sold far more El Primero Daytonas than they ever had of the V72 models, so those old ones eventually became highly prized. At the time, as the prices above show, they couldn't give them away.
I think when Rolex moved to their own movement for the Daytona it was their choice, not Zenith's. They wanted to make more watches :)
Ah - that makes more sense. Must sort out my chronology at some point! I think I'm right in saying, though, that they were modified by Zenith in order to preclude Rolex marketing the Daytona with a 36,000bph movement?Other way round - they went from the V72 to the El Primero (I thought in '88), thus began the era of the desireable Daytona. Zenith could only make so many movements, and Rolex could only get their hands on a small number of those, so the demand outstripped the supply by a considerable margin.They went from the modified Zenith El Primero to a Valjoux 72 ebauche? Good heavens - didn't know that (thanks, John). Was there a reason that they didn't wait until they had an in-house alternative before dropping Zenith, or did Zenith force the change upon them?
They still made and sold far more El Primero Daytonas than they ever had of the V72 models, so those old ones eventually became highly prized. At the time, as the prices above show, they couldn't give them away.
I think when Rolex moved to their own movement for the Daytona it was their choice, not Zenith's. They wanted to make more watches :)
In 1988 the prices were Sub-1012 - Daytona - 1532
In 89 the sub went up to 1219 while the daytona stayed at 1532
In 1994 the Sub was 1870 and the Daytona 2620
It was modified by Rolex, not Zenith. Beatrate lowered, freesprung balance and several other improvements im told.Ah - that makes more sense. Must sort out my chronology at some point! I think I'm right in saying, though, that they were modified by Zenith in order to preclude Rolex marketing the Daytona with a 36,000bph movement?Other way round - they went from the V72 to the El Primero (I thought in '88), thus began the era of the desireable Daytona. Zenith could only make so many movements, and Rolex could only get their hands on a small number of those, so the demand outstripped the supply by a considerable margin.They went from the modified Zenith El Primero to a Valjoux 72 ebauche? Good heavens - didn't know that (thanks, John). Was there a reason that they didn't wait until they had an in-house alternative before dropping Zenith, or did Zenith force the change upon them?
They still made and sold far more El Primero Daytonas than they ever had of the V72 models, so those old ones eventually became highly prized. At the time, as the prices above show, they couldn't give them away.
I think when Rolex moved to their own movement for the Daytona it was their choice, not Zenith's. They wanted to make more watches :)
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