Rolex 78390 Bracelet

Because the Daytona 16520 was built on a no-holes case, its Oyster bracelet had to change with it. Oysters Jubilee manufactures the Rolex 78390 bracelet as a NEW aftermarket replacement for that reference, precision machined to 20mm hollow-midlink specifications documented for 1988 through 2000 production. Every 78390 body and every 503B end link leaves our machines new. One watch reference, one end link code, and a fitment question that resolves in a single step.

Why Daytona 16520 owners choose Oysters Jubilee for 78390 bracelets

One watch. One end link code. The 78390 bracelet ought to be the simplest reference decision in vintage Rolex collecting, and on the secondary market it is not: stretched hollow midlinks, 503B end links pulled off an adjacent case, and listings that use 78390 and 78360 interchangeably. We manufacture the 78390 directly, and three specifications are fixed on every unit.

Precision manufacturing to the 16520 no-holes specification

Twenty millimetres, hollow midlink, stainless steel. Three constraints define the 78390, and we machine to all three across the 1988 through 2000 specification window. We precision machine the 78390 body and the 503B hollow end link on tooling dedicated to the no-holes lug profile of the Daytona 16520. Batch-to-batch consistency matters more on a single-reference bracelet than on any wider-fitting Oyster reference, because there is no second case to fall back on.

Compatibility coverage across the Daytona 16520

The 78390 is a single-reference bracelet, and that narrowness is a feature. Where a broader Oyster reference asks a buyer to work through a table of end link codes to find their case, the hollow 78390 Oyster bracelet answers the question once: Daytona 16520, produced 1988 to 2000, end link 503B. Our compatibility chart records a 78390A against the same reference, and no other Rolex or Tudor watch family enters the picture.

Restoration-grade fit on no-holes 20mm Daytona cases

Since the 16520 carries no drilled lug holes, spring bar work happens blind and the hollow end link has to locate itself against a closed lug. We dimension the 78390 to that closed-lug geometry rather than adapting a drilled-lug profile to suit it. A restoration-grade 20mm 78390 bracelet meets the 16520 case without a step, which on a no-holes Daytona is the only fitment test that counts.

What is the Rolex 78390 bracelet?

Construction places the 78390 firmly in the hollow generation. Its midlinks are hollow rather than folded or riveted, which puts the reference two stages on from the riveted Oyster bracelets of the 1950s and 1960s and one stage on from the folded Oyster references that preceded it on the Daytona line. The 78390 was the standard Daytona 16520 fitment from 1988 to 2000.

The 78390 has no folded predecessor. Where the 78350 traces directly back to a folded 7835, our compatibility chart records no folded 7839, because the Daytona 16520 arrived long after folded construction had left the Daytona line. What the chart does record is an alternate configuration: the 78360 body with 503 end links, documented against the same 16520 case.

78390 compatibility — watch models and end links

The single Rolex reference the 78390 fits

The chart lists one Rolex application for the 78390:

• Daytona 16520 (1988–2000) — end link 503B, no-holes case, 20mm lug width

Two further entries sit against that same 16520 case and are worth knowing before you order:

• 78390A — the variant recorded on the same chart row as the 78390
• 78360 with 503 end links — the documented alternate configuration

Tudor fitment beyond the 78390 — where 20mm Tudor collectors should look

Tudor never received this bracelet. The Tudor chart records no application for the 78390, and we do not position the reference as a Tudor part. Collectors working on 20mm Tudor cases from the same hollow period should look instead to the 93150 with 380B end links for the Submariner 79090 and 79190, or the 78360 with 589 for the Chronograph 79180 and for 79160 production from 1993 onward.

Look up your Tudor reference on the Tudor Compatibility Chart

How to identify the correct 78390 end link

One check settles the 16520, rather than a decision tree. The case reference sits engraved between the lugs at twelve o'clock, and once it reads 16520 the end link code is 503B. What trips buyers is not the code but the bracelet reference beside it: a 78360 body with 503 end links is documented against the same Daytona case, and 503 is not 503B.

78390 end link options — 503B

Singular is the whole story here. The 78390 carries one hollow end link code, 503B, cut for the no-holes lug profile of the Daytona 16520. There is no second configuration to weigh and no drilled-lug variant inside this range. Solid end links belong to production periods after this one and fall outside what we manufacture.

Confirm the 503B pairing on the Rolex Compatibility Chart

Installation and related 78390 components

Why a no-holes 16520 case needs a watchmaker

A no-holes case raises the stakes on installation. Without drilled lugs there is no way to push a spring bar out from the outside, so the work happens against the case flank with a fork tool and the finish stays exposed throughout. A watchmaker fitting hollow end links daily will get the 78390 on without a mark. A first attempt on a 16520 often will not.

Complete your 78390 restoration — bundles and components

Three parts finish a 78390 rebuild: the hollow midlink body, the 503B end links, and sizing links cut to the same 20mm profile. We machine all three to period-correct specifications, so nothing in the finished 16520 assembly works to a different tolerance than anything else on the watch.

Order the 78390 with 503B end links for the Daytona 16520

Hollow midlink body and matched 503B end links, paired before shipping and dimensioned for the no-holes 16520 case.

Order the 78390 with 503B end links

Order the 78390 hollow-link body for an existing 503B set

Where the 503B end links on the 16520 are still sound, the body alone rebuilds the bracelet and leaves the case untouched.

Order the 78390 hollow-link bracelet body

Browse every Daytona 16520 bracelet and end link we manufacture

Bodies, hollow end links and sizing links for the 16520 are catalogued together for cross-referencing against your case reference.

Browse Daytona 16520 bracelets and end links

Choosing the right 78390 for your restoration

Standard 78390 versus alternate 78360 — the end link configuration decision

Standard or alternate is the whole 78390 question. Our chart names the 78390 with 503B as the standard configuration for the Daytona 16520, and the 78360 with 503 end links as the documented alternate for the same case. Both are 20mm hollow midlink Oyster bracelets. What separates them is the end link code the 16520 is already set up to receive.

Check which end link sits on the watch now. If it reads 503B, the 78390 body is the direct replacement. If it reads 503, the 78360 body is the matching route, and changing bracelet reference means changing end link code with it. An aftermarket 78390 bracelet ordered against a confirmed 503B arrives ready to size onto the 16520.

Settle 503 against 503B on the Rolex Compatibility Chart