Rolex Daytona 6263 'Paul Newman MK I'

The condition, the configuration and not least of all; the importance.

If there’s any single watch that’s a symbol for the vintage watch craze of the recent few years, it is without a doubt the iconic ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona.

The Rolex Daytona was a tough sell for the first three decades of its existence. There are different factors that played into the model’s lackluster sales, but the fact that it housed a non-automatic movement that Rolex did not produce in-house surely played an important role. As a result, these models languished in dealer displays for years. But even among the Daytonas there was a hierarchy, with most customers preferring the toned-down versions to the colorful ‘Paul Newman’ dial variation (officially called the 'exotic dial' by Rolex).

As these vintage Daytonas gained popularity among ever-stylish Italian collectors and dealers in the late 1980s and 1990s, the ‘Paul Newman’ dial stood out, especially, because of its funky looks and its connection to the legendary actor who was known for wearing a Daytona with an exotic dial. As relatively few of these models had sold prior, they were quite rare as well. In other words, the perfect recipe for a vintage icon.

Nowadays, the ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona is the quintessential collectible vintage Rolex, with rare sub-variations (such as the ‘Oyster Sotto’ ‘Paul Newman’) fetching well over a million dollars at auction. When Paul Newman’s own long-lost watch surfaced in 2017 at a Phillips auction, it set the watch world ablaze and the watch eventually sold for a whopping US$ 17,752,500. Thankfully, there are still affordable ‘Paul Newman’ Daytonas to be had. Well, relatively speaking at least.

The ref. 6263 -introduced in the late 60's- is perhaps the most desirable and visually pleasing steel Paul Newman Daytona due to its screw down pushers and the iconic black acrylic bezel inlay that provides a wonderful contrast against the dual-color ‘Paul Newman’ dial

The iconic ‘Paul Newman’ dial on this watch is executed in the ‘panda’ configuration with a white background and black sub-registers. A few characteristics make the dial configuration so loved among collectors, including the contrasting recessed outer seconds track, the square applied hour markers, and the iconic sub-registers with Art Deco font and square hash marks. This dial is the very first execution, a so-called Mark 1 dial, recognizable due to its ‘old-style’ Rolex logo, big 'R' in Rolex, and non-serif ‘Oyster’ and ‘Cosmograph’ text. It even has the rare and correct millerighe pushers.

This exceedingly collectible 6263 dates back to 1969 and its condition is what multiplies the rarity and desire. The 37 mm stainless steel case is remarkably sharp and features thick lugs. Comes with its original 19mm folded stainless steel Oyster bracelet with the correct Daytona-specific endlinks. The dial has no marks or discolouration whatsoever and the tritium plots -nicely aged to a creamy colour- are all present.