Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 12, 1996

LOT 256

Rolex Oyster Cosmograph "Daytona", so-called "Paul Newman", Ref. 6265, produced from 1961 to 1976, the first "Paul Newman" in 1970, with gold bezel. Very fine and rare, waterproof, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch with screwed round button chronograph, registers and tachometer, with 18K yellow gold Oyster bracelet.

CHF 42,000 - 46,000

Sold: CHF 54,050

C. massive, polished, satined, screwed back, buttons and crown, tachometer graduation on the bezel to 200 units per hour. D. bicolour champagne and black with applied gold indexes + auxiliary dials for the seconds, the 12 hours and 30 minutes registers. "Baton" tritium gold hands. M. 13"' rhodiumed, 17 jewels, lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 3 positions, antishock system, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. Dial, case and movement signed. In very good condition. Diam. 37 mm.


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Notes

ROLEX "DAYTONA" COSMOGRAPH SO-CALLED "PAUL NEWMAN" This particular model of the Rolex "Daytona" Cosmograph was initially called "Exotic" because of its dial. In the 1980's, the so-called "Paul Newman", a variant on account of the particular "square" points making out the intermediate hour, minute and seconds divisions on the main and subsidiary dials. The nickname emanates from the fact that Paul Newman is seen wearing just such a watch during the film of the "Carrera Mexicana". White squares characterise the steel-cased watches and black squares the gold dial model. The "Paul Newman" variants are indeed the earliest models and much more rare than the standard Cosmograph dials and consequently sought after by collectors. Production of the "Paul Newman" dial stopped in 1976, the same year that the first screwed button "Oyster" were launched. This type of watch is probably one of the rarest to have been produced with "Exotic" dial and screwed buttons, production of which was probably of short duration, only one or two months in 1976.