There is currently one Rolex that is both iconic and overhyped. In regular production yet completely unobtainable. Standard in function yet held in high regard, and named for a blue-collar race track yet owned by the very wealthy. This week, we’re going to tell you the story of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona.
A 2021 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in White Gold
What is a Rolex Daytona?
The Daytona, as it is most widely known, is a Chronograph, or Stopwatch. It has the ability to time up to 12 hours on the dial, using the central seconds hand, Subdial at 6 o’clock position for the minutes, and a Subdial at 9 o’clock for the hours.
Platinum Rolex Daytona with Blue Dial and Brown Ceramic Bezel
Why is the Rolex Daytona Famous?
This is actually a very strange question to explore. The Daytona is most famous now for being popular, and for a short while being the most expensive wristwatch to ever sell at auction. That watch is known as The Paul Newman Daytona, was a gift to the actor Paul Newman from his wife, and sold for $17.8mn at Phillip’s in 2017. That really is a lot of money.
It’s strange this watch is famous because at first, it wasn’t popular at all. Rolex have never been leaders in the development of Chronographs. They developed them alongside the rest of the industry at the end of the 1930s, sold them in World War 2 in the 1940s, and then introduced new models slowly but surely as they tried out different designs and features. At that time, they were focused on their other watches, many of which are still very popular today.
While Rolex were interested in making stopwatches and associating their watches with Motor Racing, this wasn’t their largest area of focus. When the Cosmograph was launched in the early 1960s, at first it was going to be called the “Le Mans”, after the famous racetrack in France. For unknown reasons, this was replaced by the name Daytona, a race track in Florida in the United States. The name Cosmograph was first used to talk about a Moonphase watch. However also for unknown reasons, the name was given to the Chronographs, presumably to try and make them stand out from the competition, and the name stuck. The full name today is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona
The only known Rolex ad using the name “Le Mans”, courtesy of www.rolexmagazine.com
Solid Gold Rolex Daytona with Gold Dial and Black Subdials
As Rolex developed various models, they changed the design notably. From an old fashioned busy looking dial to a wide, clean looking dial, the watch evolved into what today we would say is a very 1960s/1970s looking timepiece. The two main design elements are the spacious dial with three subdials, and the bezel, or outer ring with the Tachymeter scale.
Rolex Daytona 6293 from 1964 – image from Sotheby’s
Paul Newman and the Rolex Daytona
Paul Newman was a handsome and successful Hollywood actor who won two Oscars. He made two films about Motor Racing and enjoyed them so much he took the sport up as a hobby in the 1970s, and was involved in it for the rest of his life. There is no evidence that he had any formal relationship with Rolex, but he wore the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona from around 1969 onwards. In particular, he wore one with a rare dial. It has a Black face, a white surround to the dial and a red seconds track. The watch case was made of steel. It is very funky as you can see here.
Paul Newman Daytona – image courtesy of www.rolexmagazine.com
Strangely, it appears a Rolex-sponsored publication of a book about Paul Newman was the catalyst for the popularity of these watches. Here is the front cover, courtesy of Rolexmagazine.com. You can clearly see the watch that became so famous. It is then thought that Italian Collectors famous for giving unusual vintage watches names and hyping them up, started to get enthusiastic about these Rolexes.
