Lot 190

Rolex

Pre-Daytona

A highly attractive, important vintage chronograph wristwatch with tachy scale and original box

Sold

During a revision carried out by Rolex in Geneva in 2009 the colour of the hand's luminous mass was adjusted to match the original luminous mass on the dial.
The Rolex reference 6238 has always been an underestimated watch, even though it had the privilege of being seen on the wrist of James Bond in "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service". Rolex produced a total of circa 3,600 examples of reference 6238 until the 1960s - compared to today's models of similar importance, this is a relatively small number. Most of these timepieces have a steel case with only a few gold examples, which were produced in 14k gold for the American market or 18K gold for the European market. Most collectors call this reference the "Pre-Daytona", the forerunner of the Daytona. The watch marks the beginning of a new, modern style in the early 1960s and a new look for the brand that should continue almost unaltered through the next 30 years. The dial illustrates this development very clearly - the three-colour style of the previous models (reference 6034 and 6234) is gone and replaced by a standard finish in silver or black. The tachy scale sits directly on the edge of the dial, one step before removing it from the dial completely and placing it on the outer bezel - which was the genesis of the Daytona.