The timepiece was so “rare,” so “famous” and so “legendary,” that watch collectors and dealers tired of adjectives and turned to full-throated phrases.

“The watch that started it all,” one called it.

“The true ‘Adam and Eve’ of the watch-collecting world,” another said.

The watch that “created the entire vintage watch market we know today,” added a third.

And although that language might at first have seemed hyperbolic, on Thursday, Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona proved its worth.

The watch sold for about $17.8 million (buyer’s premium included) in what auction house officials said was a world record for a wristwatch sold at auction.