It isn’t every day that a celebrity’s watch goes up for auction. More importantly, it isn’t every day that a watch belonging to a winner like Paul Newman – beloved actor and racecar driver extraordinaire – goes up for auction. Add to that the fact that this Paul Newman Rolex Daytona watch has — for decades — sent collectors running after a few certain models – thereby driving auction prices to extremes – and you have the makings of a record-breaking sale. To that point, the highly publicized watch, just sold at Phillip’s inaugural New York auction, “Winning Icons – Legendary Watches of the 20th Century” for $15.5 million and with the buyer’s premium, the final number is $17,752,500. This is a record-setting sale.

Phillips Auction

Since the watch was announced as part of the Phillips sale back in June, it had become one of the most anticipated watch sales of the year. Never mind the fact that other Rolex watches are selling at the auction right now, or that there are some rare and highly coveted TAG Heuer, Audemars Piguet, Zenith and Cartier watches on the “Winning Icons” block. The hype is all about this vintage Rolex that was given to Paul Newman by his wife Joanne Woodward back in 1968 during the filming of Winning. The Reference 6239 Daytona is an understated piece with an exotic dial. Crafted in stainless steel, it features a cream-colored dial with black subdials and the word “Daytona” written in red. Its three colors makes it unusual.

R. Naas

The back of the watch is engraved: “Drive Carefully Me.” It was an endearing sentiment from Woodward to Newman, who wore the watch (purchased new for about $300) faithfully for about a decade and a half. Years later, Newman gave the watch to James Cox, the boyfriend of Newman’s daughter Nell in 1984, when he learned Cox did not own a watch.

The opening bid for the watch was at $1 million with the second bid coming in at $10 million within seconds. It then began climbing in $500,ooo increments via phone bids, on line bids and room bids. The bid was up to $14 million and almost as the hammer went down, a few more bids kicked in. It was a slow finish as it came down to two bidders at the end. While the bid was expected to take 30 minutes, but the jump to $10 million cut the bidding to just about 12 minutes.

Phillips

Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo has indicated that it is the long-standing associate of Paul Newman and his Rolex Cosmograph Daytona that has led to the Rolex Daytona being one of the world’s most sought-after mechanical watches of all time.

Previous world records have been achieved for similar Daytona models, often referred to as Paul Newman Daytona watches because of similar colors and styling. One watch, “The Legend,” sold for $3.7 million in May by Phillips, and the “Paul Newman” Oyster Sotto” sold last year for $2 million. Estimates for the sale of this watch were ranging as high as $17 million — and my bet was on that $17 million number.

Phillips

It should be noted that there is a charitable component to the sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Nell Newman Foundation and a portion of the sale also going to benefit Newman’s Own Foundation.

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