





106
Rolex
Ref. 6262
Cosmograph Daytona "Paul Newman"
A rare and highly attractive stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with white grené dial and bracelet
Full-Cataloguing
Featuring a beautiful white dial with black registers and a red outer minute track, the present watch has been preserved in astounding condition. The white grené dial has turned slightly ivory with age, giving the watch so much character. The white deco-style graphics within the black subsidiary registers feature strong serifs, and contrast wonderfully with its dark surround. All luminous dots are present and furthermore consistent in tone, having aged to a warm ivory color.
All details are correct, including the "T Swiss T" designation on the bottom of the dial, which is slightly slanted and slopes up and down. While this small detail varies in size from model to model, many "Paul Newmans" from the period feature the designation. Indeed, collectors and scholars have nicknamed this feature the "sing song". Even the bracelet is original, stamped for the first quarter of 1971. Most intriguing is the engraving on the case back reading "To Cary Dad + Phyllis Love 5.31.74", suggesting the watch was originally purchased to commemorate a special moment in the original owner's life.
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.
One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.