‘Small Floating’ Dial 6240 Rolex Daytona

This was the start of the screw down Daytona pusher. Okay, maybe not the very start, it’s not a Solo, but reference-wise with millerighes (more on that later). This is the ref. 6240 and it would not be a stretch to say that all screw-down Daytonas exist because of this reference’s lineage. Two years after the first Daytona, Rolex decided it needed a 100m Oyster case too. Production numbers of the 6240 were exceedingly small as far as standard production Rolex goes, at fewer than 2000 examples. And between its small floating Daytona, gorgeous case, and unusual Jubilee, this one of the more beautiful examples you’re going to see this year.

Two dials are always accepted as correct for the 6240: ‘Large Daytona’ and this ‘Small Daytona’. Nearly all tend to accept that the Rolex-only ‘Solo’ Dials are correct as well, though a touch more contentious. Then you get into the hyper rare stuff like the 10-ish known RCO dials and the occasional ROC, but they’re . . .let’s say iffy. And on the very iffy side there are exotic PN solo dials, like the mythical Neanderthal auction, which seem all but entirely fabricated at this point. Let’s just say there is much grey area, which also requires you to have an informed opinion. This is a small Daytona, but floating, which means it is separated a bit further down from the rest of the text, which was definitely a thing.

That said, a proper 6240 has two things going for it always: a Mark 1 bezel and Mark 0, ‘Millerighe’ pushers. Italian for ‘thousand-line’, they are a very early nickel-plated brass pusher only seen in early cases. These pushers alone are worth tens of thousands, which should give you some indication just how much attention you should pay to the details here. This particular 6240 would have been one of the earliest screwdown pusher cases leaving the factory, dating to ’65. I know we all love the legendary RCO Newman, but this is the Oyster OG.

You’ll find non-exotic 6240s regularly hammering between 70-150K USD over the last few years. The nuances described above and condition determine most of that value. They’re very collected, but despite their rarity still nowhere near most Oyster Paul Newmans. Does that make sense? For many it probably does, the cache of Paul and history of that dial are significant. As someone who quite loves the non-PN dials, the non-PN 6240 is a Goldilocks zone in Daytona currently of being not outrageously overvalued, historically significant, and surprisingly rare. If you love Daytona, it’s got everything you love and some: I’ve said it before, but it’s the double-double animal style of Cosmographs (for our friends further afield that’s an In-N-Out Burger reference).

This example is mega. The dial is simply gorgeous, yellow tritium and clear, clean print. Its subdials have extremely light but present patina. Its signatures all check out. Further, the case is extremely defined, likely never touched, and has its sticker on back. The whole thing is mega. It comes from our well-regarded friends in Amsterdam.