The Rolex Daytona owned by Paul Newman was reference 6239.
Reference 6239 belongs to the original manually wound Daytona series, produced from about 1963 into the late 1960s. It used a Valjoux Calibre 72-based movement and had plain pushers rather than the screw-down “Oyster” pushers introduced with later versions. Its stainless-steel bezel was engraved with a tachymeter scale.
Newman’s watch became famous because it carried an “exotic” dial, a style collectors later nicknamed the “Paul Newman” dial. These dials used contrasting sub-dials, block markers and distinctive crosshairs. The nickname does not identify one unique reference: similar dials appeared on several four-digit Daytonas, including references 6241, 6263 and 6265.
The specific reference 6239 associated with Newman was given to James Cox in 1984 and sold by Phillips in New York on 26 October 2017. Its final price was $17,752,500, making it one of the most celebrated vintage-watch auction sales.