Finding a Rolex Daytona “Paul Newman” is like finding a needle in a horological haystack, but, thankfully, Sotheby’s has done the legwork for you. The auction house is offering not one but three at the Important Watches sale in Geneva this month.
The Daytona was originally launched in 1963, with the “exotic” dial introduced circa 1965. The Crown released six variations throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, switching up bezels from metal to acrylic, swapping between screw-down and pump-style pushers, and tweaking that famous face. These Daytonas were initially unpopular with Rolex clients, but that quickly changed thanks to Paul Newman. The late, great actor and race car driver was gifted a Daytona (Ref. 6239) by his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the late ‘60s, wearing it in the subsequent decades and becoming the face of the exotic dial; hence, it became known as the “Paul Newman” dial.
His iconic piece, which features a white dial with black chronograph registers, or a “panda” dial, and a steel case, bezel, and bracelet, hammered down for a record $17.8 million at Phillips in 2017, cementing the Paul Newman Daytona (PND) as the most coveted watch in the world and pushing the price of such pieces ever upward.
