151
Rolex
Ref. 6239
Cosmograph Daytona
An extremely rare and early stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with bracelet and "floating" Daytona signature
完整圖錄內容
That first full year of production, 1964, Rolex sponsored both the French Le Mans and the American Daytona motor sport endurance races. The Cosmograph was initially marketed as the ‘Le Mans’, but Rolex quickly settled on the American ‘Daytona’ product name, which would soon begin appearing on dials. The earliest dials with the ‘Daytona’ designation are rare and highly coveted, as they are typically printed in a smaller script, centered below the ‘Cosmograph’ designation closer to the middle of the dial. This disjointed appearance has given way to the term “floating” or “suspended” as a descriptor for these dials.
The present watch, with the serial 1’090’462, is one of the earliest examples of any Cosmograph reference to appear publicly with the Daytona logo and the earliest example to appear with black dial and silver subsidiary dials. Its manually-wound Valjoux caliber 72B is marked ‘ROW’ indicating export to the United States, and is fitted with a stainless steel Rolex Jubilee bracelet also stamped ‘United States’.
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.