90th Auction

2014/11/15

Lot 274

Rolex "Cosmograph Oyster Paul Newman" - so called "Oyster Sotto", Case No. 2197881, Ref. 6263, Cal. 727, 37 mm, circa 1970
A gentleman's remarkable, very rare wristwatch - on December 24, 1971 sold in Switzerland; in 1982 the watch was given a general overhaul by Rolex in Geneva - with original invoice and service paper of Rolex
Case: steel, screw back with reference 6239, screwed chronograph pushers, screwed "Triplock" winding crown, steel "Oyster" bracelet 2/71 with endlinks numbered 71 N. Dial: black, applied luminous indexes, 30 min. and 12h counter, silvered and engine- turned subsidiary dials, outer red seconds track, luminous baton hands. Movm.: 2/3 plate movement, rhodium-plated, ground, 3 adj., 17 jewels, Glucydur screw balance, Incabloc shock protection for balance.
- Doubtlessly not only the most prized and valuable version of the Paul Newman Rolex Daytona, but also the rarest model of all
- Featuring the distinctive "Oyster Sotto" dial arrangement that makes the watch stand out among all Paul Newman dials
- Originally sold in Switzerland, the watch is still in marvellous condition and even retains the rare bracelet endlinks with the number 71 N
Rolex "Cosmograph Oyster Daytona" - so called "Paul Newman"
When the Rolex company introduced the screw-down pushers, it lent their watches an immediate advantage over those of its competitors. The screw-down pushers could not be manipulated accidentally and thus gave the watch a reinforced waterproofness, while, however, the chronograph functions could not be used under water. The new design was instantly accepted by the lovers of Rolex chronographs and the models fitted with it proved to be extremely successful.
The Daytona models began to be true collector’s items around 1988, when the automatic movements were launched and some Rolex enthusiasts turned to the old-fashioned manually wound timekeepers. What is more, the supply of the El Primero caliber manufactured by Zenith was very slow and market demand had been underestimated - so buyers suddenly faced extremely long delivery times for their watches.
Of course it was the manual models that became the true collector’s pieces; a wonderful example is the Paul Newman in its various versions. The most sought after model was that with a black background and screw-down pushers; hardly more than a dozen of these watches ever appeared during public and private sales, so that they are without doubt the highlight of any important collection of Daytonas anywhere in the world.
This watch is technically similar to the latest versions of the Daytona with push-down buttons but features the typcial reference 6263 "Oyster" designation, where the dial reads "Rolex / Cosmograph / Oyster" instead of the normal "Rolex / Oyster / Cosmograph" arrangement. The white Paul Newman dials also shows the usual "Oyster" designation. The bracelet endlinks bear the number 71 N.
The dial also stands out among the other Paul Newman dials because a distinctive font has been used for the designation; the R is of a larger size and the serifs are more prominent than usual (except for a small number of rare dials made for references 6262 and 6264).
The few black Paul Newman 6263 models that came on the market until now all have very low serial numbers and so does this striking timepiece - which seems to indicate that the design was solely used for a few selected models and that some of them were the early 6263 references.
Thus it stands to reason to say that this exquisite piece reflects the characteristics that were typical of the very first series: fitted with a caliber 727, the case back bears the mark 6239, and bezel and main case body are evolved from previous models; rare bracelet endlinks numbered 71 N.

Sold

estimated
250.000500.000 €
Price realized
372.000 €