The Rolex Paul Newman Daytona replica watch : a failed start ends in a triumphant finish.
The particular aesthetics of Rolex’s exotic dial may not have been well-liked when it first made its debut, but you can’t deny its vintage sporty appeal today. You can most often find the Rolex Daytona Paul Newman in steel, but it’s also available in yellow gold (in much smaller quantities).
The Rolex Paul Newman Daytona is without a doubt the most sought-after family of vintage Rolex watches in today’s market. An always-popular lot when up for auction, watch collectors from around the globe will frantically try to outbid each other to get their hands on a Rolex Daytona Paul Newman.
But this wasn’t always the case.
In fact, when Rolex first released the “exotic dial”—later known as the “Paul Newman” dial—for the Cosmograph Daytona line in the 1960s, it was deemed a failure with hardly any public interest for these distinct watch faces.
Two examples of the Swiss Fake Rolex Daytona ref. 6239: the left is a “regular-dialed” version and the right is the “exotic dial” version.
So how did a dial that started off so poorly claim its now legendary status among watch collectors? It’s all thanks to the man himself.
Paul Newman started wearing a Rolex Daytona with an exotic dial in the early 1970s, about the same time he transitioned to professional racecar driving.
A renowned actor who raced cars while wearing a Rolex Daytona was the perfect match—after all, the Cosmograph Daytona was initially created for the world of motorsports. That pairing, coupled with a famous photograph of Paul Newman wearing his Daytona ref. 6239 with an exotic dial, set the stage for Italian auction houses to nickname the exotic dial Daytona as the Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman”. The rest, as they say, is history.
There are some very distinct design hallmarks that distinguish a Paul Newman Rolex from a standard vintage Daytona. First, to be considered a Best quality Rolex Paul Newman Daytona replica , the watch must be one of six reference numbers: 6239, 6241, 6262, 6263, 6264, or 6265. Second, the watch must bear the characteristics of a Paul Newman Daytona: the markers with square-shaped ends; the Art Deco font of the numerals; the fine lines that meet in the middle of the dials; and the 15, 30, 45, and 60 numerals on the 9 o’clock subdial rather than a 20/40/60 numeral configuration.
Always a highlight at watch auctions, there’s never a shortage of bidders for a Daytona Paul Newman and they are some of the most expensive Rolex watches to date. The previous record for the most expensive Daytona sold at auction was a Daytona Paul Newman from 1969 that sold for $1.1 million during Christie’s Geneva watch auction in 2013. That record was shattered in 2016 by the Rolex Daytona Paul Newman Oyster Sotto ref. 6239 that sold at Phillip’s stainless steel chronograph auction for an incredible $1.95 million. That result was right behind the most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction—the $2.45 million Rolex Split-Seconds Chronograph ref. 4113 sold during the same event.
Celebrity-endorsed, historic, record-breaking, and above all, highly attractive, the Rolex Daytona Paul Newman has earned its iconic status as the ultimate vintage chronograph.