The Rolex Daytona ref. 6241 was initially introduced in 1966 with a production spanning just three years ending at 1969. It is estimated that only 3,000 examples of the reference were produced during the period with only a small handful of them being fitted with the exotic “Paul Newman” dial made by Singer.
Featuring pump style pushers, the ref. 6241 features basically an identical dial with the ref. 6239 “Paul Newman”, however fitted with a black acrylic bezel insert making the watch look slightly larger than its metallic bezel counterpart. Furthermore, examples from after 1967 featured the newly upgrade cal. 722-1.
The present example from circa 1968 with a 1.76 million serial number in between the lugs belongs to one of the earliest transitional examples from cal. 722 to 722-1. Enhancing its tremendous vintage appeal, the dial on the present example is eccentric. Naturally aged, the brown “tropical” subsidiary registers have developed uniformly to a dark shade of brown, whilst the white exotic graphics remain perfect indicating that the graphics have not been touched or reapplied. Adding on to the attraction, the luminous material on the dial remains intact with signs of ageing, though it remains reactive under UV light.
Founded 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.
