Part 3 of 3: Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona 116519

With the Phillips, Winning Icons auction just around the corner on the 26th of October in New York, featuring Paul Newman’s personal 6239 Rolex Daytona, we thought it would be appropriate time to conclude the series of Paul Newman’s personal Rolex Daytonas.  Paul Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward gifted him his Reference 6239, now known as the “Paul Newman Daytona”and his Reference 6263 Daytona.  The last Daytona she gifted to him also featured a special inscription on the back.

The Reference 116519 Daytona differs from his previous two models which were stainless steel, as this one was made out of precious metal, being 18k White Gold.  Paul Newman kept the watch on its original leather strap with accompanying white gold clasp.  This model also features the first fully in-house chronograph movement from Rolex, the Caliber 4130.

 

 

Just like his previous watches, Paul Newman wore his white gold model Daytona while racing and used it to time his laps.  As you can see from the photo below, the chronograph was running and the pushers unscrewed.  Not too many people who own Daytonas would actually use the chronograph for its true intended purpose.  It was cool to see Paul Newman using his watches for actually timing laps while racing.

 

 

As with Paul Newman’s previous Daytonas gifted to him by his wife, his white gold Daytona has a personalised inscription on the back.  It reads: DRIVE VERY SLOWLY JOANNE, a evolution of the previous message on his Ref 6263 which read DRIVE SLOWLY.

 

 

Like the Reference 6263 and Reference 16520 Daytonas, the white gold Daytona is also still in the possession of the Newman family today.

The Reference 6239 owned by Paul Newman, created the legend that is the “Paul Newman Daytona” and there is talk that it will be a record breaker.   In terms of condition it can be argued that Reference 6263, Reference 16520 and the Reference 116519 are in overall better nick than the 6239 “Paul Newman, Paul Newman Daytona”.  The PNPN shows some damage to the dial and the case back which has signs of rust.   We also have not seen a shot of the movement of the “Paul Newman Daytona” so the condition of it is also unknown.

It is interesting to note that if the other two Daytonas with the inscriptions on the back owned by Newman ever come up for sale, collectors will still have a chance to own a “Paul Newman Daytona”, so whatever the final hammer price of the 6239 is, this should be taken into consideration.

Our thanks to Charles Tearle for providing the case back shot of Paul Newman’s personal 116519 Daytona.