Neil Newman, son of actor Paul Newman, found in her late father’s office, when searching for a pencil, two treasures worth millions: a pair of Rolex Daytona watches that Newman had worn in his later years.
“They were there, with his driver’s license,” Ibn Newman said. “They were just in a box on your desk.”
Chronograph pair It is set to cause a stir in the watch world when it goes up for auction in June. The auction will be conducted by Sotheby’s – a London-based auction company.
Sotheby’s has estimated $500,000 to $1 million per hour, although experts say each hour is likely to fetch upwards of $1 million.
The actor was fond of the Rolex brand, which is considered to be “the most accurate in the world.” Newman said his father had a “strange habit” of betting guests by a quarter of an hour that his Rolex kept time better than anything he had on his wrist.
The pieces recently sold at auctions show that the Watch World holds particular esteem for the actor’s pieces. In 2020, Phillips Auctions sold the Rolex 6263, which his wife gave to Newman, with “Drive Slow, Joanne” written on it, for approximately $5.5 million. Newman’s sale of the Rolex Daytona Reference 6239 for $17.8 million three years ago remains the high point for his timepieces.
