ROLEX | 'PAUL NEWMAN' DAYTONA, REF 6239, STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET CIRCA 1969

The iconic ‘Daytona’ was introduced in the United States in 1963, and available in the US and Europe until 1969. The reference was the first to have the ‘Cosmograph’ dial designation and was produced with several dial configurations. Some with or without ‘Daytona’ print, whilst others were offered with an ‘exotic’ dial, manufactured by Singer and with either a 2-colored dial in white or black or a 3-colored dial in white or black with red accents.

This exotic dial later became known as 'Paul Newman' dial, after the actor. It is characterized by its square markers in the chronograph scale and subsidiary dials, as well as the alternating patterning of the coloration. At the time, these exotic dialed variants proved unpopular, and so they were sold in significantly fewer numbers than those with non-exotic dials.