Sigma Dial 6265 Rolex Daytona

Silver print, sigma, and steel bezel is a great recipe for a subtle four-digit Daytona. This is one of the great mid-70s minimal 6265 looks. In vintage Rolex, it’s usually not as much about the dial as it is condition and life it has lived. This one has all of the above. It’s not the rarest, not a PN, not even a Big Red. But it’s excellent because it isn’t. A sigma dial has always been one of the quieter 6265s or 6263s and one of the more quietly excellent.

The 6265 was produced over 15 years across a widely-estimated 24000 examples. However, because it went through a few decades of being nearly value-less, many didn’t survive. You’ll find dials that say Daytona in red above 6, others don’t. Some dials have sigmas, some don’t. Sigma dials were an initiative by APRIOR (Trademarked 1971) to mark precious metal use in dial furniture which didn’t survive. It’s kind of incredible that everyone, from Patek to Rolex got on board and then quickly moved along. Looks great though. I know many collectors love a bright splash of red on a Daytona or Sub. In collectable terms, this is like vanilla ice cream. But vanilla ice cream is actually pretty great if it’s made well. Similarly, I find myself not caring and only being able to see condition. And that’s where this one shines. Where many have replaced pushers, there’s nothing like that here.

The discrepancy in values created by the larger production volume of 6263 and 6265 is wild. It’s about 4x the estimated production of 626 & 6264, only rivaled by the first Daytona ref. 6239 that was in the AD for some time (63-69). At the time the 6239 was made, it was new, desirable, and selling well. Hence the large production. By the time the manual Oyster Daytona was in shops, it was already a touch antiquated. That let to slower sales that early models year-on-year, but the amount of time it survived un-updated meant quite a few were still made. That’s a good thing for us in posterity, as this has created one of the most minimal yet beautiful and accessible four-digit Daytonas. If there is such a thing.

This example shines in condition. The silver print is highly clear, all tritium pips are present, the subdials hand no damage, the pushers are true P301, and the case shines. There's not much more I can say. Oh, it's a folded link bracelet as well. All is well here. It comes from a well-regarded Dutch retailer.