Its time to move on from the outdated classification for the Rolex Paul Newman Panda dial Screw Down Daytonas.
MK1 MK1.5 MK1.75 MK2 make no sense at all and is very confusing.
MK1 MK2 MK3 MK4 is easier to understand and makes more sense.
This classification should now be adopted by all the major auction house and rolex vintage watch dealers worldwide.
The MK1 Rolex Paul Newman Daytonas are the most sought after models and the 1st batch were released around circa 1969 with serial numbers 2085xxx.
The MK3 on the other hand in terms of numbers, is the rarest of all them all.
The launch of the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona circa 1960 was a disaster in commercial terms. Rolex authorised agents found them very difficult to sell, were often sold at massive discounts and some agents even refused to display them and were kept locked away in stock rooms.
It was not the first automatic chronograph and lacked a Rolex movement for almost 40 years, but today the Cosmograph Daytona is the jewel in Rolex’s crown, and in no small part that’s because of one man – Paul Newman and the Italian watch lovers.
Paul Newman's role in the 1969 film Winning, playing race car driver Frank Capua, gave birth to his passion for racing. Taking place at the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway, the movie launched an ancillary auto-racing career. Applying the same methodical discipline that allowed him to hone his acting skills, he trained relentlessly and became very skilled behind the wheel of a car.
Three years later in 1972, at age 46, he began a second career as a racecar driver and won his first Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race driving a Lotus Elan that same year. His tenaciousness won him four national titles, professional racing victories including a second place finish at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a team first place finish – at age 70 – at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona race. He would go on to form and manage multiple racing teams at the highest levels of racing, employing famed drivers such as Al Unser and Mario Andretti. All told, his teams won eight national titles and 108 individual victories – a remarkable achievement. In his own words to the New York Times in 2002, "I'm not a very graceful person. I was a sloppy skier, a sloppy tennis player, a sloppy football player. The only thing I found grace in was racing a car."
The rise of the ‘Newman Daytona’ to iconic status is a fascinating story in its own right. At one of these race meeting, Paul Newman was photographed wearing a Rolex Daytona with an exotic dial (as they were officially named by Rolex) and this photograph appeared on the front cover of a popular italian magazine. And all hell broke loose. Phone lines were on fire to local and international Rolex agents, and withen months every single Rolex Daytona world wide were sold out. Waiting list was the new norm and so was born The Paul Newman Rolex Daytona.
Paid Brand Ambassadors are big business, and it’s hard to open a glossy lifestyle magazine without observing a Film ‘Star’ moodily staring back, awkwardly clasping a watch they’ve been paid to shill but probably don’t wear themselves, as they wonder what to spend their fat endorsement cheque on.
Paul Newman was different, the real deal: Hollywood Royalty, wearing a Daytona just because he liked it, and a race car driver using the watch at the track where it truly belonged. And Rolex didn’t pay a single cent for perhaps the greatest Ambassador they’ve ever had.
The Rolex Paul Newman Sotto ref 6263.
The "Oyster Sotto" or "Oyster Below" dial is also commonly known as the "RCO" as it features the words "Rolex", "Cosmograph", and then "Oyster" aligned vertically on the black dial. The layout was black/white/black/white and heavily influenced by the Art Deco movement.
The Paul Newman Oyster Sotto Daytona is unquestionably one of the ultimate goals for the Daytona collector. Amongst the extremely small number of such pieces produced, the watches with a Mark 1 dial are undeniably the rarest of the rare, near-unattainable trophies of the Rolex world.
Less than 20 examples are known in total with the Oyster “Sotto” designation whereby the “Oyster” designation is found below the word “Cosmograph” instead of above it. The Oyster “Sotto” dials were only fitted to a very, very few of the first reference 6263 water-resistant Oyster Cosmographs. The Paul Newman dial itself was discontinued relatively shortly after the introduction of reference 6263, so only low serial number watches were fitted with this style of dial presumably at the request of either clients or certain retailers.
Furthermore, some of these very special “first of the few” have dials with a distinctly different font type that can be classed as a “Mark 1” dial as they only appear on those watches with the very lowest serial numbers. Of all the Paul Newman Oyster Sotto watches publically known, only a few examples are publically known with Mark 1 dials. These watches were all manufactured in 1969 and, as would be expected, have serial numbers in extremely close proximity to each other in the 2’0855xx range, all are fitted with 6239 casebacks stamped C.R.S for the maker C.R. Spillmann S.A. and have caliber 727 movements.
MK1 Paul Newman Sotto Dial.
Only found on watches made in 1969 within the 2’0855xx serial number range, it is distinguishable by the very different font type for the “R” of Rolex which is wider and “fatter”, the “G” in Cosmograph has a serif and shorter inward return and the “H” is more pronouncedly asymmetric.
MK2 Sotto Dial.
Found on watches from the 2’1 million serial number range onwards, it is distinguishable by the very close legs of the “R” of Rolex with very pronounced serifs, the “G” of Cosmograph without serif and long return almost touching the inner curve, wider and more even “H”.
The “Sotto” Dial History.
The dials that have become legendary as the “Oyster Sotto” were originally intended for the non-waterproof references such as 6262 and 6264 which are signed “Rolex Cosmograph Daytona” only. When the new water-resistant “Oyster” case was introduced for the reference 6263 around 1969 it is clear that certain customers must have specifically requested that their watch should have an exotic dial of the type now known by collectors as the “Paul Newman”. Of course no such dials existed yet specifically for the water-resistant Oyster model and therefore a small number of the already printed current non-Oyster dials were adapted with the addition of the word “Oyster” in plain font. As the dials were already pre-printed there was no option but to place the word “Oyster” below the words “Rolex Cosmograph”. And thus an anomaly was created that exists in so few examples that it has become a pinnacle of desirability among Rolex Daytonas.
Provenance: Rolex Catalogue Circa 1967
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Irony is often the protagonist in vintage watch collecting, where rarity is one of the main features that influence the desirability of a timepiece. A model too far ahead of its time may not be appreciated by the public when first commercially available. As a result there is a dramatic reduction in the models produced and thus an increase in its desirability years later, when its true beauty is eventually recognised.
Classification of Rolex Daytona Screw Down Pushers.
Classification of Rolex Daytona Bezels.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss selling your watch. kkchoraria@yahoo.co.uk or +44 7957485799