Finding my 'grail watch' has been far more of a personal journey of self discovery and experience rather than just going through a number of brand catalogues and finding ‘the one’. The other twist of expensive irony is that the definition of ‘grail watch’ changes as one matures as a collector. I’ve been lucky enough to have owned a number of brands over the last 4 years including; TAG Heuer, Franck Muller, JLC, Panerai, IWC and Audemars Piguet. With the exception of Rolex and Patek Philippe most of the other brands lost their appeal within months. The journey has been further complicated by my self-imposed rule of having to sell watch to buy another. I find that once my collection gets to 8-10 watches it becomes unmanageable, I DO like to actually wear and enjoy my watches.
So why a Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ dial Daytona? That is a difficult one to answer. I guess it was a combination of chance, luck and circumstance that got me here. Chance in the sense that I always admired the dial from afar. After I got the 6263 and the book ‘Rolex Daytona a legend is born’, my subliminal reverence for this watch really began. My trip to London allowed me to see one of these marvels first hand. The combination of the domed plexi-glass, the depth and contrast of the dial is truly majestic.
Original photo of my watch, artistic design courtesy of CROCO from the Rolex Forum.
The luck factor came in as I only wanted the original and best. Hence only a reference 6239 or 6241 would do. These are the only Paul Newman Daytona’s that actually came with these dials (and photos in Rolex catalogues) on all other references these dials were an added option. It also had to be original, absolutely no question about provenance or dispute about the dial.
Circumstance allowed me to finally convince someone to part with theirs.
I've had the Paul Newman Daytona for a few weeks and I still can't contain my joy and excitement. Each person has their own definition of a 'grail watch', to me it must posses the following characteristics:
- has instant attraction to the point that you have to get one
- gives you an undescribable and enchanting feeling
- was very hard to find
- was bought from a colleague that found it very difficult to part with
- needed careful study
- makes you smile everyday
and most importantly makes you lose interest in the majority of other watches.
Here are some initial pictures. You will notice that the tritium has darkened but I like to keep it in this original condition. The pics just don't do this watch any justice.
On the wrist.
Have a look at the 722-1 caliber, isn’t it just divine.
Making this fairy tale possible was a lot of research, patience, persistence and sacrifice. But isn’t that what a grail quest is meant to be all about. I just look at this watch and go WOW!
