1972 Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 with MK2 'Paul Newman' Exotic ‘Panda’ dial

With Paul Newman’s Paul Newman breaking auction records selling just over a staggering 17.5 million CHF, the value of manual wind vintage Daytonas has remained consistent throughout the last decade, even during bear markets. A watch that was rejected by many after its debut and over the following years is now the most solid asset of the Swiss manufacturer, especially those with remarkably well-preserved ‘Exotic’ dials, which, by far, remain the preferred ones for collectors.

 

To understand its relevance, we must note that there is known to be around 12,500 Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 produced in steel. About only 3-5% of these were originally equipped with ‘Exotic’ dials or, what we call them now, ‘Paul Newman’ dials. These dials were produced by Singer, and they weren’t very popular back at the time. Obviously, this exact unpopularity is what makes them so special and sought after nowadays.

 

There are 4 known dial variants of the 6263 ‘Paul Newman’ dial: MK1, MK1.5, MK1.75 and MK2. To simplify, the MK1.5 and MK1.75, which were discovered not long ago, are put together with the MK1 when talking production numbers. This said, there were approximately only 80 MK1s and 100 MK2s known to have been ever produced.

 

The Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 ‘Paul Newman’ is one of the, if not the, most important wristwatches of the past decades.

Consigned to us by the family of the original owner, who recently rediscovered this long-forgotten masterpiece, we would like to humbly present and offer for sale here today, for the first time in its life, this astonishing and fresh to market Rolex Daytona Ref. 6263 with MK2 ‘Paul Newman’ Exotic 'Panda' dial from 1972.

 

The MK 2 ‘Exotic’ or ‘Paul Newman’ panda dial, partially hid under the well-scratched original acrylic crystal, remains in completely flawless condition. The granular surface has aged to a lovely creamy or ‘panna’ patina hue and remains as clean as it gets, showing no visible wear, as if from a time capsule it came. No chips, no stains. Nothing. Anything you see is on the crystal. The black sub registers also remain completely clean, without any visible spots or stains. The printings are preserved clean and clear, with no missing parts. The lume plots, which lay beside the hour markers, remain fully intact and clean, featuring a beautiful vivid patina hue that matches that on the original handset. They react as they should to UV light exposure. The sub register hands preserve their original paint, with no parts missing. This is, without doubt, one of the best-preserved Paul Newman dials we have ever come across. If you have followed auction results, you are already aware of how important a well-preserved dial is to set these pieces apart from each other when it comes to value and collectability.

 

The stainless-steel case is also well preserved, remaining sharp and featuring thick lugs, with no hard signs of polishing. It shows normal wear signs. The upper screw-down pusher has been replaced for a later MK2 version. The lower one, on the other hand, is the original MK1 pusher. The case back remains in the same condition, letting visible normal wear, and it is correctly engraved with 6263 and CRS on the inside. The original and correct MK1 acrylic bezel remains also in great shape, showing normal signs of wear.

 

The original acrylic crystal remains scratched, but the bast majority of these signs could be easily polished away. However, to preserve its full originality, we preferred to keep it as it is and leave that decision to the lucky new owner.

 

It is suited on its original Rolex Oyster 7835 folded-link stainless steel bracelet with 257 end links which were a common alternative for Daytonas. The clasp is dated 4/71, matching with the production period. It shows normal wear and stretch for its age.

 

The manually wound Rolex cal. 727 is running strong, with all functions working perfectly, although service history is unknown.

 

While these important timepieces often appear in auction houses, most of them being auctioned again and again over the years, getting saturated by the market, often even reappearing with replaced parts from one year to the other, this is indeed presented as maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be first to get hands on a fresh-to-market example brought to you from the wild, directly from the original owner, while still preserved in remarkably well condition.

 

Plenty of High-Definition content is available under request, including macro shots and UV videos.