The 'Paul Newman' variation of the Rolex Daytona dial has become somewhat of a legend within Fine Watchmaking. The autumn, for the first time ever, THE Paul Newman Daytona, worn by the man himself will be going under the hammer at auction. After such a successful Geneva Watch Auction, who knows what price it could collect?

1. THE ‘PAUL NEWMAN’
DAYTONA:
A LEGEND ABOUT TO
BECOME HISTORY
31st May - 13th June

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION.........................................03
SNAPSHOT OF THE PERIOD
TrendingTopics...........................................05
Volume of Conversations......................07
ANALYZING THE SOCIAL BUZZ
Among Influencers...................................10
Beyond Influencers....................................12
THE BACKGROUND...................................13
BEHIND THE TREND.................................16
READ THE TREND.....................................21
THE METHOD...............................................22
THE FOUNDATION’S MISSION...........23

3. INTRODUCTION
This series of trend reports are a collaboration
between London-based agency RE-UP and
the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie. They
will look back over the past two weeks and
discover what’s been ‘trending’ online.
We aim to discover which watches, stories
and industrial developments in the world of
horology gain the most amount of coverage
on the digital sphere - uncovering why these
trends are important.

4. SNAPSHOT
OF THE PERIOD

5. TRENDING TOPICS AND STORIES
FROM 31ST MAY TO 13TH JUNE
Percentage of conversation about Fine Watchmaking* brands penetrated by the topic, on a sample of 1,000 articles
*Fine Watchmaking defined by the parameters set by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in their White Paper report
THE Paul Newman Daytona, worn by the
man himself will go to the auction this
Autumn
Dive watches were spoken about a lot online in
the past couple of weeks
The A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Chronograph was
released in early June
Yellow gold is coming back in fashion
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore 50th
Anniversary
7.51%
2.22%
1.91%
1.80%
1.64%

6. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

7. VOLUME OF CONVERSATIONS
ON HIGH-END WATCHES

8. ANALYSING THE SOCIAL
BUZZ OF THE ‘PAUL
NEWMAN’ DAYTONA

9. @phillipswatches

10. Among Influencers
7.19%
Penetration of conversations
by the expression ‘Paul
Newman’ in Swiss watch
related conversations
0.52%
Penetration of all
conversations by the
expression ‘Paul Newman’
358.33%
Increase of ‘Paul Newman’
mentions against the previous
two weeks

11. @jwlife37

12. Beyond Influencers
5176
All online mentions of
‘Paul Newman’
113.97%
Increase of ‘Paul Newman’
mentions against the previous
two weeks
9.87%
Of mentions of ‘‘Paul Newman’’
in relation to ‘Swiss Watches’

13. THE BACKGROUND
A ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona owned by the man himself will
be going up for auction with Phillips this Autumn. This is
the first time a version of the legendary watch worn by
the legendary race driver it is named after, has come up
at a public auction.
The Rolex Daytona isn’t actually all that different from the
‘Paul Newman’ Daytona, the difference lies on the dial,
which has more ‘art-deco’ features, and of course, the
price.

15. For years however, the traditional Daytona style was
preferred by Rolex lovers with the ‘Paul Newman’ style
demoted to shelves for often years. However something
changed all of that and the price rise of the ‘Paul
Newman’ style is exponential.
The watch is undeniably a history maker and one of the
most recognisable timepieces of all time. The fact that
a version is now for sale that was worn by the man who
made the timepiece famous, surely means a high price
will be fetched. Especially coming off the back of the
Geneva watch auction and the ongoing trend of vintage
timepieces.

16. PRICE OF A 6239 ‘PAUL NEWMAN’
DAYTONA AT A PUBLIC AUCTION
2008
2013
1992
1998
Source: Hodinkee.com
2003
$0
$60k
$20k
$80k
$40k
$9,257
(Antiquorum, April 11, 1992)
$17,296
(Christie’s, London,
March 18, 1998)
$39,434
(Antiquorum, October 11, 2003)
$66,000
(Antiquorum, October 17, 2008) $75,000
(Christie’s, New York,
June 11, 2013)

17. BEHIND
THE TREND

18. Few things have an effect on the price of a timepiece as
much as celebrity ownership. Beyond this however, the
‘Paul Newman’ Daytona going up for sale is a big piece of
history for Rolex.
Buying such a watch is a way of trapping history into an
object. The phenomenon of this version of the Daytona is
also unlike anything that Fine Watchmaking has ever seen,
and the reasons for both its popularity and value are still
murky.

19. “A man who didn’t speak much English tapped me
on the shoulder and said: ‘Paul Newman watch,
Paul Newman watch.’ I thought, What the heck?
How does this guy know I’ve got Paul Newman’s
watch? He obviously was a watch enthusiast and
saw that I had the Daytona model, that kind of
clued me in, so I did a little research”
- Paul Cox, owner of the watch, discussing how he discovered
its wealth with the WSJ.

20. Some believe the exotic dial gained popularity from
Italian collectors when Paul Newman was seen on the
cover of a magazine wearing the reference. These
collectors then predicted the price would rise, so began
buying the timepiece. Because of this unusual hype
around it, the watch began to rise in price and grow in
popularity thus causing a predestination paradox.
Whatever the reason for its popularity, the timepiece
has already secured its place in History; the watch has
locked on to many current Fine Watchmaking trends,
such as the ever strong vintage watches. It has also
acquired the massive status of being a once celebrity
owned watch.

21. @ brandonfrazin1680

22. A final interesting observation is that the late Paul
Newman’s voice has just been used in the recently
released Cars 3, thanks to reused voiceovers from
previous films. It seems the legacy of the legendary
racing driver lives on in a number of forms, not least his
link with this history-making timepiece.

23. Celebrity owned watches that
shone at the auction house
Check out some of the most famous
celebrity owned watches and the
prices they fetched at the auction
house.
Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona
under the hammer
Some more background knowledge
on one of the most famous watches
of all time.
READ THE TREND

24. THE METHOD
We use two key social listening tools to gather the raw
data we have analysed for this report.
The first, an in-house bespoke database of 2000+
influencers and online sources within luxury and
watches - with the ability to gather insight into six
month’s worth of online buzz.
The second, a social (and media) listening tool that
looks at multiple keywords. This allows us to measure
and examine all online conversations over a set period.

25. THE
FOUNDATION’S
MISSION

26. The mechanical watch is a wonderful instrument and
the guardian of craftsmanship, creativity
and of course, time.
Our objective here at the Fondation de la Haute
Horlogerie, is to take our wealth of expertise into
the world through our four missions: to inform, train,
recognise and organise.
Since 2005, we have promoted values of excellence and
tradition within an organisation that has the support of
many Fine Watchmaking brands.

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