In production from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, the acrylic bezel reference 6263 was the final evolution of the manually wound Daytona. It incorporates all the details that make the Daytona a masterpiece of design and, most significantly, featured upgraded, modern screw-down pushers. While the “Big Red” variant is perhaps the most well-known, earlier examples featured no red writing on the dial.

Instead, a few of the earliest references of the 6263 and 6265 bear a strange symbol flanking the “T Swiss T” signature at six o’clock – the Greek symbol “Sigma”. They are thus referred to as “Sigma” dials, denoting that the handset and baton indexes were made of gold rather than steel.

Most exceptional about the present lot is not the rare and elegant dial variant or the classic and treasured design. It is being consigned by the daughter of the original owner, whose mother received the watch in the mid-1970s and subsequently used it during her early career as an obstetrician and Cessna pilot. There are comparatively very few female pilots in 2023, so one can imagine how scarce they were in 1974. Coming from a family of pilots, she used her Daytona to make calculations in the air. Images of her holding her daughter or perched on the wing of her Cessna are as empowering as they are emotional, and her Daytona accompanied her at every step.

CONSIGNED BY FAMILY OF THE ORIGINAL OWNER