‘Lemon Paul Newman’ 6264 Rolex Daytona

Lemon normally describes a defect, yet in Paul Newmans it’s anything but, it’s seven figures to start. The 6262 and 6264 will be known to collectors as the transition reference Daytonas; either is relatively uncommon in its own right. The pair of Cosmographs introduced the Valjoux 727 and its higher beat rate, the last of the pump-pushers before Rolex began screw-down-only. In that regard, it’s the end of a legacy of Rolex chronographs. But this isn’t just a 6264 Paul Newman, it’s a Lemon, an almost non-existent mythical configuration of Paul Newman dial of which fewer than a dozen are known. It’s the rarer, inverted JPS. To all intents and purposes, they may as well have made one. 

It all starts with a lemon grené dial, just a shade off creme and matte, paired with white Art Deco subdial numerals on black registers; this duo a dead giveaway to those with a trained eye. The JPS is arguably more famed, but lemon dials 6264s are lesser seen, fewer than a dozen known to the market. In 6263 there are just 3, a few in 6241 (no one seems quite certain). Gold PN 6264s are hen’s teeth in totality, with total estimates of known examples in the 10-15 range depending on who you ask. And then those are split between JPS and Lemon. This isn’t a limited production watch, remember this was just a Rolex in 1970. Things have changed, and we now recognize they barely made any. Lemon or JPS is preference, but gold PN pump pusher is rarified air to start.

A certain Lemon made headlines for all the wrong reasons last year. Prior, values had been on a slow ascension from 500K as recent as 5 years ago more recently around 1M with some outlier exceptions as always. The collecting world at this very top of Rolex is determined but remarkably thin. The ladder is so fraught and difficult to climb both financially and in terms of landmine examples that almost no one ever reaches its Zenith. Most potential buyers here know each other. A Lemon 6264 represents not just financial ability, but determination and true expertise. This was probably the height of collectability for pump-pusher Daytona before Paul Newman’s actual Paul Newman showed up and in my head it still is.

This example sports a relatively stout case although it has seen a relatively light polish I am quite certain. The dial itself is lovely with even texture, a very very light browning in the subdials, and print that all appears correct. There are small losses on the 3 pip. It does appear to my eye at a casual pass from images to be one of the stronger Lemons to recently surface.