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Lot Essay
On July 16, 1969, at the Kennedy Space Center launch of the Apollo 11 first moon landing spacecraft, Mr. Robert Lightner was one of the few people that were allowed anywhere close to this historical site. Mr. Lightner was conducting a scientific project requested by the former director of the Kennedy Space Center and first director of NASA's Launch Operations Center, Dr. Kurt Debus. NASA contracted Mr. Lightner to engineer the Apollo logging system to record all the communications channels plus support equipment and to deliver this system to be installed by General Electric. The system was delivered successfully and was used on the first Apollo mission and all to follow. The only individuals allowed this close to the iconic event were the fire rescue team and the astronauts. In Mr. Lightner's own words, "...my insides shook hard!"
In addition to accompanying Mr. Lightner to the Apollo 11 launch, the present watch was worn by Mr. Lightner many times to the pit and paddock areas of Daytona races, often coming within 10 feet of racer Paul Newman in the pit area when he drove a Ford GT to win the GT class in the 24-hour Daytona race in 1995 when he was 70 years old, a feat no-one had previously accomplished at this age.
Given to Mr. Lightner by his wife Rhea in 1967, the case back is engraved;
Robert W. Lightner, To Bob from Rhea, 10-23-67
Not only has the present watch been extremely close to events which have been categorized as some of the most heralded events in history, but the discovery of this watch is a very rare occurrence in its own right.
Reference 6239, the very first model of the celebrated "Daytona" series could be found in sales catalogues in Europe as of 1964, though it is thought that the model was available in the US already in 1963.
Available in stainless steel, 14k and 18k gold, reference 6239 was the firm's first chronograph with the tachometer scale engraved on the bezel and the subsidiary dials printed in a different color than the main dial for better readability. The dials of the early models, as the present example, featured only the designation "Cosmograph", referring to the outer-space travels of the early 60s. The "Daytona" was added on later series to mark Rolex's sponsorship of the renowned NASCAR stock car race.
A very early example, this watch retains the original bezel calibrated to a maximum 300 units per hour, which was shortly thereafter changed on later examples of the reference 6239 to a maximum 200 units per hour. One will also notice that the "Cosmograph" designation is slightly lower, almost 'floating' on the dial, correct for this early example, and the hands are longer and thinner, also correct for early and rare examples. Furthermore, the movement is stamped ROW, indicating it was initially intended for the American market.
It is quite remarkable that the present watch has witnessed first hand history of the two main associated events of the Rolex Daytona, space travel as well as professional racing. Offered in excellent overall condition, complete with its original bracelet and Rolex presentation box, this watch is just as iconic as the events to which it has been proudly worn.
In addition to accompanying Mr. Lightner to the Apollo 11 launch, the present watch was worn by Mr. Lightner many times to the pit and paddock areas of Daytona races, often coming within 10 feet of racer Paul Newman in the pit area when he drove a Ford GT to win the GT class in the 24-hour Daytona race in 1995 when he was 70 years old, a feat no-one had previously accomplished at this age.
Given to Mr. Lightner by his wife Rhea in 1967, the case back is engraved;
Robert W. Lightner, To Bob from Rhea, 10-23-67
Not only has the present watch been extremely close to events which have been categorized as some of the most heralded events in history, but the discovery of this watch is a very rare occurrence in its own right.
Reference 6239, the very first model of the celebrated "Daytona" series could be found in sales catalogues in Europe as of 1964, though it is thought that the model was available in the US already in 1963.
Available in stainless steel, 14k and 18k gold, reference 6239 was the firm's first chronograph with the tachometer scale engraved on the bezel and the subsidiary dials printed in a different color than the main dial for better readability. The dials of the early models, as the present example, featured only the designation "Cosmograph", referring to the outer-space travels of the early 60s. The "Daytona" was added on later series to mark Rolex's sponsorship of the renowned NASCAR stock car race.
A very early example, this watch retains the original bezel calibrated to a maximum 300 units per hour, which was shortly thereafter changed on later examples of the reference 6239 to a maximum 200 units per hour. One will also notice that the "Cosmograph" designation is slightly lower, almost 'floating' on the dial, correct for this early example, and the hands are longer and thinner, also correct for early and rare examples. Furthermore, the movement is stamped ROW, indicating it was initially intended for the American market.
It is quite remarkable that the present watch has witnessed first hand history of the two main associated events of the Rolex Daytona, space travel as well as professional racing. Offered in excellent overall condition, complete with its original bracelet and Rolex presentation box, this watch is just as iconic as the events to which it has been proudly worn.