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Lot Essay
The present timepiece is offered by its original owner, who purchased it at renowned Italian retailer Orologeria Pisa, as indicated on the Guarantee. Its prestigious retailer and single owner provenance are however only part of its charm and undeniable collectability.
The connoisseur will immediately notice the stunning, deep and extremely even tropicalization of the chapter rings, which shifted with time to a deep tobacco hue from the original white. A rare and much appreciated phenomenon, tropicalization consists in the dial or parts of it (like in this case the chapter rings) changing color over time due to chemical reactions between the paint and atmospheric factors (oxygen, UV light, etc.). Interestingly, with automatic Daytonas this process may be present (but it not always is) only on watches manufactured more or less between 1993 and 1997 (usually S, T or W serial numbers), most probably because of the paint used over those years. On the other hand, any manually wound Daytona may present tropicalization, thus the logical conclusion is that automatic Daytonas with tropical dial are much rarer than manual ones.
Not only the tropicalization process may or may not occur, but when it occurs, there is no guarantee about the final outcome. It may happen more or less evenly on some parts of the dial rather than other, and the color shift can be more or less intense. Sometimes spotted tropicalization occurs, with darker areas merging into brighter ones. A tropical dial of such intensity and consistency as the one found on the present timepiece is to be considered a prime example of this unusual and sought-after characteristic.
Finally, such an appealing dial is fitted into an extremely well preserved watch. Worn with utmost care just a handful of times, never polished and still retaining the green sticker to the back: it is obvious that to the forward-looking collector who purchased this wristwatch, condition was a major concern. When luck graced the timepiece with such a stunning tropicalization, the final result is this outstanding watch.
The connoisseur will immediately notice the stunning, deep and extremely even tropicalization of the chapter rings, which shifted with time to a deep tobacco hue from the original white. A rare and much appreciated phenomenon, tropicalization consists in the dial or parts of it (like in this case the chapter rings) changing color over time due to chemical reactions between the paint and atmospheric factors (oxygen, UV light, etc.). Interestingly, with automatic Daytonas this process may be present (but it not always is) only on watches manufactured more or less between 1993 and 1997 (usually S, T or W serial numbers), most probably because of the paint used over those years. On the other hand, any manually wound Daytona may present tropicalization, thus the logical conclusion is that automatic Daytonas with tropical dial are much rarer than manual ones.
Not only the tropicalization process may or may not occur, but when it occurs, there is no guarantee about the final outcome. It may happen more or less evenly on some parts of the dial rather than other, and the color shift can be more or less intense. Sometimes spotted tropicalization occurs, with darker areas merging into brighter ones. A tropical dial of such intensity and consistency as the one found on the present timepiece is to be considered a prime example of this unusual and sought-after characteristic.
Finally, such an appealing dial is fitted into an extremely well preserved watch. Worn with utmost care just a handful of times, never polished and still retaining the green sticker to the back: it is obvious that to the forward-looking collector who purchased this wristwatch, condition was a major concern. When luck graced the timepiece with such a stunning tropicalization, the final result is this outstanding watch.