6240 Rolex ‘Large-Daytona’

We’re back in the realm of Wilsdorf details again, but for good reason. I’ve covered a majority of the Cosmograph and Daytona’s evolution through the market’s flux. The 6240 is a rare bird I have never had the pleasure to cover. I would venture to suppose it is, arguably, the most important Cosmograph reference no one really talks about. It would not be a stretch to say that all screw-down Daytonas exist because of this reference’s lineage. Production numbers of the 6240 were exceedingly small at less than 2000 examples, as is the frequency of conversation surrounding it today. Insert the ‘I’m doing my part’ meme here, let’s help correct that oversight.

Distilling the overall importance of this reference’s contributions is simple: this was the very first screw-down pusher Daytona. Genesis. But, like all things Rolex, it’s a little more complicated than just that. In part due to the ultra-low production and in part due to Rolex’s poor record-keeping at the time, no one is certain just what is and is not a kosher dial on these. Variants include Daytona in large and small fonts, without Oyster or Daytona lines, the Rolex ‘Solo’ dial, and one or two Exotic ‘Solo’ dials. Most of those are probably right, going by consensus. One thing we know: the pushers. These early Oysters were equipped with what are known as ‘millerighe’ pushers (mille righe is Italian for thousand lines). Early pushers were nickel-plated brass, later were steel. Both can be found in the millerighe shape. A single set of these pushers as parts is pushing (sorry, had to) 20K USD today. Forget the legendary RCO Newman, this is the Oyster OG.

This example is not perfect, but strong. The dial is clear with the correct stick seconds hand, but it is missing part of the 1 lume pip. The dial is a large Daytona variant, not hugely rare but generally considered more desirable than the smaller Daytona text. I’ve covered the pushers. It comes with a correct black and white acrylic insert. There aren’t really any great angles of the lugs so it’s hard to make any rough case assessment. The 722 looks ace and its on a 7835 bracelet by option. It comes from a the inventory of Phillip’s London and their Perpetual offerings.

Find this 6240 here from Perpetaul for 150000 GBP.