Rolex Daytona Cosmograph (Paul Newman)

[PhilboSE]

I know nothing about watches, but I recently attended a local auction for DPS (Dead Person's S**t) where one of the titular watches came up as a lot. It was slightly unusual because most of the items in the auction were the kind of things you get from probate/house clearances after the family and the trade have cherry picked all the decent stuff. Anyway, there it was, sticking out a bit with its £8000-£9000 estimate (given that most pieces were estimated to go for under £100).

Here's a pic of the item in question:



On the day, it made £31,000. With buyer's premium and the VAT on that, it comes to over £38,000.

Now in my experience the valuers are pretty good with their estimates. Looking up the info on these Paul Newman variants, this example doesn't look like it's a particularly classic example of it's type.

Did the market get carried away (this must have been specialists bidding, us locals tend to bottle at anything over £200!) or was the original estimate way off?

[PhilboSE]

Here's a bigger picture.

Interesting if these are so well known that the estimate was so wrong, but to be fair they see a lot more crappy china and faded watercolours than they do (very) expensive watches.

[PhilboSE]

RichB said:

Can't see any red on that dial. Why do the ygo for so much, surely not just because Paul Newman wore one?

From what I've read since the auction, that's exactly why. The only difference between this model and the standard model on which it is based is the dial design. The Art Deco style of the Paul Newman model was not so popular at the time (in terms of sales), so this makes this model much rarer. Then Paul Newman was pictured a few times wearing one prominently and over time it has become escalated for collectors.

[PhilboSE]

For whatever reason, this lot is back up at auction again tomorrow, guide £8000-£10000.

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogu...

It's now described as "Rolex Daytona wristwatch with a Paul Newman dial, case marked, serial number 724325" so I don't know if the previous sale fell through because maybe it wasn't a Paul Newman when it left the factory?

Nothing to do with me, just in case you guys who know about these things are interested.

[PhilboSE]

dom9 said:

I'd say that was what happened - "Not as described" or even "fake".

However, at <10k, that could be a good buy if you could locate the original type parts and sell on the PN bits!

It's a reputable enough auction house so no way would they relist it in the way they have if it was fake. My best guess would be some non-originality, probably the PN dial itself.

[PhilboSE]

Well, looks like we were wrong, it made £49,000 hammer so it will have cost someone £60,760 after fees.

[PhilboSE]

I expect no-one cares at this point, but just to get closure on this, the item is back up for auction. This time with some rather more honest details:

An 18ct gold Rolex Cosmograph 'Daytona' gentleman's wristwatch, case serial no. 724325, 1½'' diameter, NOTE: The watch is fitted with a Paul Newman dial, the back of which is stamped 'Singer'. This appears to have been restored along with the second hand. The 'Singer' dial would suggest a date of 1960s but the case no. a later date. The watch is sold as seen, please contact the Auction House for further details.

Obviously the last "winner" knew enough to dig into it a bit more and throw it back at the auctioneer as not described. The estimate is now £8,000-£10,000, goodness knows what it's actually worth.