A Brief Overview of the Paul Newman Daytona

Although Rolex had been manufacturing chronograph wristwatches since the 1930s, it was not until 1963 with the release of the very first Daytona, the reference 6239, that Rolex’s chronograph would start to take on its contemporary form and appearance. Production of the reference 6239 lasted throughout the rest of the 1960s, during which time a number of other Daytona references were released with overlapping production dates.

At the time of their initial release, these exotic dials were not very well received, and most customers preferred the appearance of the traditional Daytona dial. Due to their poor reception, these exotic dials were manufactured in much smaller quantities than normal Daytona dials; and although unconfirmed, it is estimated that regular Daytona dials outnumbered exotic dials in a ratio of more than twenty to one. Furthermore, many of the exotic dials that were originally produced are no longer still in existence today, as a fair number of Daytona owners had their original exotic dials replaced during a repair or subsequent servicing.

Although these exotic dials were initially rather poorly received, things began to change during the 1980s when American actor and racecar driver, Paul Newman, was photographed for an Italian magazine while wearing his own exotic dial 6239 Daytona. Subsequently, many prominent Italian watch dealers and collectors started referring to these exotic dials as “Paul Newman” dials and the nickname stuck. Over the years, the demand for these vintage Daytona chronographs with Paul Newman dials grew, prices for them rose, and it was not long before the Paul Newman Daytona had become the new Holy Grail of Rolex collecting.

Due to the variety of different Daytona references that were produced during the 1960s and early 1970s, a range of variation exists among the different Paul Newman Daytona watches. Some examples such as the reference 6239 and the reference 6262 were fitted with metallic bezels, while other references like the reference 6241 and the reference 6264 received black acrylic bezels. Furthermore, reference 6240, 6263, and 6265 Daytona watches will have screw-down chronograph pushers, while all other examples of the Paul Newman Daytona will be fitted with more traditional, pump-style pushers.

There is even a subtle range of variation that exists among Paul Newman dials themselves, depending on when the specific dial was manufactured and the reference number of the watch to which it was originally fitted. Paul Newman dials can either come in two or three colors, and are generally found in either black or white, although some 18-karat yellow gold Daytona watches received champagne-colored Paul Newman dials. Additionally, since production of Paul Newman dials spanned the introduction of screw-down chronograph pushers, reference 6263 and reference 6265 Paul Newman Daytona watches will have the additional word, “Oyster” on their dials to denote that the chronograph pushers screw down for increased water resistance.

The Paul Newman Daytona is often credited as being the watch that jump-started much of the vintage Rolex collecting market that is so alive and strong today. The history of the watch itself has a fascinating trajectory, making the leap from unwanted dial variant of a humble sports chronograph, to becoming one of the most expensive and widely-coveted watches in the entire world. The rise in value and collectability of the Paul Newman Daytona very much dovetails with that of the vintage Rolex market as a whole, and few watches embody the values and overall spirit of vintage Rolex collecting better than the Paul Newman Daytona.