What is a Paul Newman?

You would often hear this, a Paul Newman Rolex. What exactly is this and why is it so famous?

Read on.

Famous people like actors and athletes are often associated with brands and products and this is especially true for Rolex watches. The Hollywood actor Paul Newman (Jan-26-1925 to Sep-26-2008) is closely associated with the Daytona, a chronograph made by Rolex and it must be the 1960s model.

Paul Newman (wearing his Rolex) and Joanne Woodward at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Story has it that in 1963, his wife Joanne Woodward would visit Tiffany’s to purchase this model, a Ref.6239 for her husband and on the back cover of the watch, she had it engraved “DRIVE CAREFULLY ME”. This watch featured a beige panda dial with three registers in black and white markings, with a black ring and red minute/seconds divisions. The watch was in stainless steel and had a steel bezel engraved with tachymetre scale, pump pushers and signed screw-lock crown. It measured a mere 37mm and has a manual winding movement made by Valjoux, calibre 72.

Paul Newman’s own Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Reference 6239 (photos by Henry Leutwyler for WSJ Magazine)

This watch was sold by Phillips auction house in 2017 for a whopping US$17.8million dollars including commission. It shook the world by storm, a record price for a wrist watch and for the next few weeks, it was the headlines for many news agencies across the world both printed and online. This was not any ordinary Rolex Paul Newman but the original Paul Newman Rolex watch. The rest is history.