How to use Rolex Daytona Cosmograph chronograph - winding, setting time, and chronograph function

This is how to operate a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph chronograph. I show you how to wind it, how to set time, and how to use the chronograph. The watch shown is a ref 16523 from 1999 powered by an automatic Rolex cal 4030, which is derived from the famous Zenith El Primero movement.


The Rolex Daytona is as iconic and desirable as the Submariner, and just as stunning on the wrist. To use it it's fairly simple: unscrew the crown to wind and set the time, and be sure to screw back on when done. To use the chronograph, you have to unscrew the pushers (they're screwed on for water resistance), after which you can easily push. Top pusher at 2h is chrono start/stop, and the bottom pusher at 4h is chrono reset.



Rolex launched the first Daytona in 1955, the ref 6234. This one still had regular pushers. In the 1960's, the screw-in pushers got introduced. For the first 30+ years, all Daytona's were manual wind chronographs, powered by a Valjoux 72 variant. In 1988, Rolex finally introduced the automatic Daytona, powered by a Rolex cal 4030, which is a heavily modified Zenith El Primero movement. Since then, Rolex started designing its own in-house automatic chronograph movement, the cal 4130, which was launched in 2000 (and is in all Daytona's made since).



This how-to applies to all daytona models, although for the one with regular pushers obviously you don't need to unscrew anything.



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