Rolex Daytona 6262 Paul Newman

You can tell how long someone's been into luxury watches by the status of their grail watch. The grail watch is the timepiece you lust after, the one that makes you look at your existing collection and think 'OK, it's nice, but I'd swap the lot for…' At the start of your luxury watch-collecting career, your grail watch is probably something classic, but new. Your first 'real' watch. Maybe it's a Rolex , or an Omega. Perhaps you can't wait to get your hands on a Royal Oak. Whatever you zero in on, it's the one that takes you from watch owner to watch lover.
Then you find out about the . And everything changes.
The Paul Newman Daytonas are legendary among luxury watch collectors. They're spoken of in hushed tones by Rolex aficionados. If you ever see one, you'll remember it forever. If you actually get to touch one, you won't wash your hand for a month. And if you own one? You've arrived. Owners of genuine Paul Newman Rolexes are serious people, who spend years tracking down timepieces that are rarer than hen's teeth.
It's this rarity that makes the Paul Newman Daytonas so valuable, so desirable, so downright awesome. Collect luxury watches for long enough, and you'll run into a ton of antique Submariners. You might find a couple of James Bond Submariners, or decent first-batch Milgausses. But you could chase after dozens of the correct Rolex references and still never find a genuine Paul Newman.
That's because the 'Paul Newman' isn't a named Rolex model. It's not even a variant. It has no special reference number by which it can be identified. It follows no traceable pattern of build or design. It's simply a standard Rolex Daytona, made at any point between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s. And the only difference, the thing that makes it a Paul Newman, is the dial.
Paul Newman Daytonas have non-standard dials. They're often bi- or tri-coloured. They feature racy fonts and atypical minute tracks. When they were released, they were largely ignored. The Rolex-buying public wasn't interested in a Daytona with a black and white dial, or a funky font on the chrono counters. Well, most of the Rolex-buying public, that is. One incredibly famous movie star definitely did like the out-of-the-ordinary dials, because he turned up wearing one (ref 6239) in a photo. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Thanks to that limited fan-response, Rolex didn't carry on churning out the off-kilter dials. Existing Paul Newman Daytonas sat in display cases at Rolex dealers, in limited and unpurchased numbers, quietly increasing in value. They became the perfect storm for a luxury watch collector: rare Rolexes that could be found in mint condition decades down the line—not just unworn, but unsold.
You'll notice I've been talking about 'Paul Newman Daytonas'. Not the singular, but the plural. Because, to confuse the issue still further, multiple Rolexes got the Paul Newman dial treatment. Six, to be precise. The first, the 'original' Paul Newman, the one that started all the trouble, is reference 6239, as noted. But you can also find Paul Newman dials on references 6241, 6262, 6264, 6265, and 6263.
Paul Newman Daytonas are the runts of the Rolex litter. They're the sports chronographs nobody wanted. Until they came to the attention of Rolex collectors. And then, suddenly, everybody wanted one. What happened isn't exactly clear. It seems that at some point, a famous Italian luxury watch dealer got hold of a magazine showing Newman wearing a Daytona with a fancy dial, and spread the word: Rolex Daytonas with unloved faces, made between (roughly) 1965 and 1975, are the biggest antique Rolex proposition since the James Bond Sub.
It seems. Because even this story, like much of the mythology surrounding the Paul Newman Daytona, is apocryphal. Or at least wildly inaccurate. It can't be proven. Benjamin Clymer, the Hodinkee author from whose post some of this information has been sourced, says “I have never seen this magazine cover, nor spoken to a single person that has.” Another piece of information imparted by Mr Clymer: there are more fake Daytona dials in the world than there are fakes of any other watch dial. That's the power of the Paul Newman. And its curse. As the dial is the only thing that makes, say, a Rolex Daytona ref 6262 a Paul Newman (and therefore worth £250k instead of a few thousand pounds), the easiest way to fake one is by buying a non-Newman 6262 and sticking a counterfeit Newman dial in it.
The world of the Newman-hunter is a tricky one. Unless you know an awful lot about Newman dials, your only hope of getting a genuine Newman Daytona is to buy from a dealer with a 100% spotless record. In fact, even if you do know plenty about Newman dials, you're still better off buying from a dealer you trust. Because individual Newman references have more than one Newman dial variant. The 6262, for example, is known to have both a three-colour dial (black, with white chrono counters, and a red minute track), and a two-tone dial (white, with black chrono counters and minute track).
In other words: you can't just assume a Rolex Daytona 6262 Paul Newman is the genuine article just because it has one dial colour. The black one could be fake. The white one could be fake. Or vice versa.
If you do find a genuine Rolex Daytona 6262 Paul Neman, what do you get if you shell out for it? Well, for a start, one of the rarest Paul Newman references there is. It doesn't fetch the highest price of all the Paul Newmans—that honour goes to the 6263 with the black dial, of which only 20 are known to exist. But it still scarce, and a decent one can command a high price. £250k, to be precise (as mentioned above). For this not inconsiderable chunk of cash, you'll get a stainless steel case with tachymeter engraved in the bezel, a standard three-register chrono with pump pushers, and Plexiglass 'crystal'. The case, being a pre-Oyster Daytona, is not waterproof. So don't wear it in the bath.
The 6262 was in production for a single year, between 1970 and 1971. Behind the dial, it featured a Valjoux movement that had been given a power upgrade. The original Valjoux 722 calibre was replaced by calibre 727, which amped up the vibrations per hour from 18,000 to 21,600.
If you're mad enough to wear it, the Paul Newman Daytona 6262 combines ostentatious style with a not-so-ostentatious diameter. That's the beauty of Rolexes. Even modern models top out at 44 mm (Yacht Master), and most of them hover between 38 and 40 mm. The Rolex Daytona Paul Newman ref 6262 is a conservatively-minded 38.5 mm. And that means you might just get away with it not being noticed. Not likely, though, if you're in a room full of watch nerds. The watch has a three-link stainless steel bracelet, and is secured with a folding clasp.
So, what is the Paul Newman Daytona 6262? Is it an investment? A prestige piece to show off to the grandkids? Well, yes. On both counts. It's a truly remarkable Rolex, one of the select handful of mythic luxury watches that collectors hunt high and low for. It's one of the few non-Patek luxury watches that is likely to retain or increase its value. As I pointed out at the top of this article. Daytonas didn't sell well. And so, while the chances of finding one of the few 6262s for sale are slim, if you do find one you have a better-than-average prospect of it being in good nick. Keep it in good nick, and it's the kind of luxury watch you can sell if your family finds itself in need of an unexpected financial boost.
The Paul Newman Daytona is possibly one of the most attractive Rolexes ever made. Diehard Rolex fans of the Datejust variety will probably argue with me. But if you're like me, and prefer a Milgauss or an Air King to a Presidential Day-Date, the 6262 Paul Newman Daytona is right up your street. So let yourself go a little crazy. When you buy it, wear it. This is a luxury watch that deserves to be seen. Just don't let anyone touch it. vedere di piu rolex imitazione e Rolex Submariner