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Lot Essay
With original Rolex fitted presentation box and tag
At the beginning of the Daytona remarkable "career", Rolex performed a series of experiments on the dial layout, before settling on a canon in the middle of the 70s. The positioning of the "Daytona" designation was repeatedly changed, the wording and order of the other writings saw many incarnations, the bezel calibration was refined over time. The famed Paul Newman dial itself is somewhat experimental, available on request only until the mid-1970s. It is not surprising that some of these trial models are among the rarest and desired Daytona timepieces on the market.
The present pre-Daytona model, however, is fitted with a dial considered by many as one of the most surprising and striking ever. In this case, Rolex decided to remove all designations from the dial with the exception of the firm's signature. The result is breathtaking in its simplicity: the lone Rolex signature floats on the black background, a solitary monolithic reminder of the pedigree of the chronograph.
Another unusual characteristic of this pre-Daytona, is the presence of the tachymetre scale on the bezel. Usually, this kind of bezel is seen only from reference 6239 on: the proper Daytona models, which are actually characterized by the scale on the bezel. This feature has however made its appearence also on late production, extremely rare transitional 6238s, and indeed this watch was produced at the same time reference 6239 was launched.
Not only this watch sports one of the rarest dial configurations and the transitional bezel, but it further impresses the collector thanks to its original state, even after its half century of age.
At the beginning of the Daytona remarkable "career", Rolex performed a series of experiments on the dial layout, before settling on a canon in the middle of the 70s. The positioning of the "Daytona" designation was repeatedly changed, the wording and order of the other writings saw many incarnations, the bezel calibration was refined over time. The famed Paul Newman dial itself is somewhat experimental, available on request only until the mid-1970s. It is not surprising that some of these trial models are among the rarest and desired Daytona timepieces on the market.
The present pre-Daytona model, however, is fitted with a dial considered by many as one of the most surprising and striking ever. In this case, Rolex decided to remove all designations from the dial with the exception of the firm's signature. The result is breathtaking in its simplicity: the lone Rolex signature floats on the black background, a solitary monolithic reminder of the pedigree of the chronograph.
Another unusual characteristic of this pre-Daytona, is the presence of the tachymetre scale on the bezel. Usually, this kind of bezel is seen only from reference 6239 on: the proper Daytona models, which are actually characterized by the scale on the bezel. This feature has however made its appearence also on late production, extremely rare transitional 6238s, and indeed this watch was produced at the same time reference 6239 was launched.
Not only this watch sports one of the rarest dial configurations and the transitional bezel, but it further impresses the collector thanks to its original state, even after its half century of age.