Signed Rolex, Cosmograph, Daytona, Paul Newman Model, Ref. 6262, Case No. 2’621’489, Circa 1971

In production for a very short time between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, reference 6262 is one of the rarest manually wound Daytona references. It is defined by its metal bezel, pump chronograph buttons (as opposed to the screw down version of its sister reference 6265) and the celebrated caliber 727, the final evolution of this family of movements: Rolex exchanged the manually wound caliber with an automatic version in the late 1980s.

The present example of this rare timepiece is distinguished by the presence of the iconic and desirable Paul Newman dial. Distinguished by a completely different design of the subdials, with square markers, and, most importantly, by the outer track in opposite color than the rest of the dial (black on white dial, in this case), the Paul Newman dial is not only extremely attractive, but recognizable and rare. Furthermore, it is very complex from a technical point of view: the three subdials and outer track are carved into the dial plate. This highly complicated manufacturing process arms the dial with a subtle depth and dimensionality which transforms the overall looks of the timepiece.

The present watch comes directly from the original owner, who purchased the watch new to aid him in his work as a videographer. He relied on the chronograph function for timing segments. Of particular curiosity is the earlier bezel calibrated to a maximum of 300 units.