Rare Rolex Sells for Record $1.5 Million

An extremely rare Rolex Daytona Paul Newman ref. 6264 "John Player Special" watch has sold for a record for £1,215,000 (or $1,545,723) at Sotheby's. This sets a new record price for a watch sold in an online auction.

Many watch aficionados consider the Rolex John Player Special as one of the rarest and most desirable Rolex Daytona iterations. It gets its name from the '70s-era John Player livery found on Lotus Formula One team cars. The ref. 6264 configuration is the effect of a number of converging degrees of rarity, and only a handful are known to exist.

While several stainless steel versions of this watch have been made, according to Sotheby's, only ten are known to be set in 18-karat gold. This is matched with another extremely rare feature, a Paul Newman dial in black.

The watch sold in Sotheby's single-lot online auction, which ran for one week from July 24 to 31. It attracted 17 bids on the way to its record-breaking final price.

Not only is this the heftiest sum paid for a watch in an online auction, this marks the new record price for a Daytona John Player Special sold, and it also sets the record for a wristwatch auctioned in the United Kingdom.