** This lot might need a passeport and/or licence of exportationfor which will apply on your behalf to the French Ministry of Culture. Note, it may take 1 to 3 month(s) to obtain this license or passport. Antiquorum cannot be held responsible for any delays in the application process.

Throughout the years, the watch collectors stetted different features considered more or less valuable. The present example is such a rare configuration of some of the most sought after features, that some might consider it as the Holy Grail : first a Rolex Daytona, then an exotic dial and finally the retailer signature.

The signature Daytona appeared on the famous Rolex chronograph, around 1965, definitively linking the watch to the Daytona Beach car races. Produced between 1966 and 1969, the reference 6241 is recognizable with the smooth pushers and the beautiful black epoxy bezel graduated 50-200 units per hour. Experts agree that approximately 2’300 copies were produced in stainless steel – approximately 750 in gold – and, although it has never been confirmed, for every one exotic dial, roughly twenty-four Daytona dials were produced.

These exotic dial allows a better and quicker reading, with a two-color dial, or like here a three-color dial, in black and white with a red tachymeter scale, and indexes in the registers which are boldly square and Arabic numerals. They are nicknamed “Paul Newman” after the famous eponymous Hollywood actor who use to wear a Rolex Daytona ref. 6239 with an exotic dial. One can be certain that only a very small number of those ref. 6241 with “Paul Newman” are still in existence today.

Last but not least, the dial is signed by the prestigious US jewelry retailer, Tiffany & Co. Rolex and Tiffany initiated their partnership in the late 1950’s. This deal allowed Tiffany & Co. to print its name on the dials of the Rolex watches sold in its boutiques. In the 1990’s, due to a change in policy for the watches services, the cooperation between the two ended. Therefore, this double signature not only adds to the rarity of the timepiece, but also serves as an interesting chronological marker in the history of watchmaking.