The Patrizzi Dial or the "Compax Marrone"
by Ed Delgado
Some of the black dialed daytonas had been getting quite popular and their popularity reached an all time high when an Italian collector Osvaldo Patrizzi sold his Rolex collection in 2006. His collection included a 16520 black dialed daytona which had a brown discoloration in the subchapter rings. This discoloration was seen in some versions of the mark IV dials and were subsequently called "Patrizzi Daytonas." The watch attracted a lot of attention and sold for more than twice the cost of most normal daytonas.
There is some discussion about the black dialed S, N, T and W serial Daytonas which from a manufacturing defect the color of the subdials faded to brown or chocolate colors. Its postulated that this color shift has happened due to ultraviolet ligth exposure and the materials used by Rolex at time.
Photo by Andrea
