Paul Newman's Rolex Daytona Just Broke The Record As The World's Most Expensive Watch

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Rolex Daytona

Step into any reputable watch boutique to enquire about a stainless steel Rolex Daytona and you’ll most likely be met with endearing bouts of laughter. You know, the type that says, “nice try pal – you get an ‘A’ for effort”.

This is the kind of pedigree that the Rolex Daytona name holds today – and the one that started it all, Paul Newman’s very own Paul Newman Daytona hailing from the 1960s just sold at a New York auction for an obscene amount.

More specifically the vintage Rolex has become the most expensive watch to ever be sold at an auction, trading hands for US$17,752,500 (including buyer’s premium).

The news broke via Hodinkee who compared the monumental sale to the most expensive wristwatch ever sold at the time in the stainless steel Patek Philippe 1518 (a smidge over US$11,000,000). Whilst the Paul Newman timepiece boasts a serious cool factor which has won it accolades and a massive fan base over the decades, seeing the chronograph take on the distinguished might of a Patek Philippe timepiece is no easy feat.

What we can conclude from this is that the wristwatch has become today’s symbol of modern art and there will no doubt be more records broken down the line for pieces like this.