Lemon Dial Paul Newman 6264/8 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, desired by collectors. This is particularly the case for the Paul Newman. This pair of Cosmograph referencess 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 15 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. There are 14-15 of Lemon 6264 depending on who you ask. They’re all in a certain serial range, here 283574XX. This wasn’t a limited production watch, remember this was just a Rolex in 1970, albiet gold. By the time this watch was made (1969), the automatic chronograph dominated already. Things have changed, and we now recognize they barely made any. Gold PN 6264 is effectively nonexistent.

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 it. This example, for example, was owned by a prominent Dutch football played who, even in the 1990s, was well attuned to this market which was then developing in exotic dials and went gold. Most potential buyers here know each other. A Lemon 6264 represents not just financial ability, but determination and true expertise. The end of pump pushers, with a dial and metal to die for, this Lemon is more like Limoncello.

This example is rather incredible. Not just the dial, which is remarkable in its beauty, but the case. It's quite attractive in all dimensions. Then there's the fact that it's delivered with both the standard rivet Oyster and brick bracelet. The Mark 1 bezel is perfect, and it's amongst the greatest I've seen.