Two of Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytonas Head to Auction
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It’s been six years since a Rolex Daytona owned and worn by the late blue-eyed Hollywood legend and race car driver Paul Newman sold at Phillips for an eye-watering $17.8 million. That watch, a stainless steel model 6239 with exotic dial (also known as the Paul Newman dial) that his wife, Joanne Woodward, bought for him in the late 1960s, is arguably the most famous watch in modern history. (She famously had “Drive Carefully, Me” engraved on the caseback.) Now, two more of Newman’s own Daytonas are headed to the block for Sotheby’s Important Watches auction on June 9.
These two Daytonas, though bereft of Paul Newman dials, are stunners and because they’re more modern versions of Rolex’s extraordinarily desirable chronograph, bidders won’t have to worry so much about damaging them. They were built not just for timing race cars, but, thanks to the screw-down crown and pushers, can be worn underwater to depths of up to 100 meters.
Lot 27 is a stainless steel 16520 with a Zenith El Primero movement, white dial, tritium lume dating to 1993. The second timepiece and Newman’s last Daytona, lot 30, is a 2006 white gold reference 116519 with a black dial, leather strap, and Super-LumiNova hands and indices. Sotheby’s expects both chronographs to fetch in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $1 million, but when with Newman provenance, bidding wars are to be expected.
“Paul Newman is a name in the world of horology that has withstood the test of time,” said Sotheby’s watch specialist Leigh Safar in a statement. “Newman cemented his legacy with watch collectors through his influence on Rolex’s most sought after model.” Bid carefully, Me!
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