This morning, Phillips sent out a press release, with some of the biggest auction news we’ve seen, since well, Paul Newman himself was last the talk of the auction circuit back in 2017.
On December 12, Phillips will offer Paul Newman’s personal Rolex Oyster Cosmograph Daytona reference 6263, and a Heuer Monaco worn by Steve McQueen in the film Le Mans. The watches will highlight Phillips’ New York auction, “Racing Pulse”.
Let’s take a quick look at both lots.
Paul Newman’s Rolex “Big Red” Daytona reference 6263
Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona reference 6263
First up is Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona reference 6263, gifted to him by wife Joanne Woodward, engraved Drive slowly Joanne on the case back. According to Phillips, this particular Daytona is the wristwatch Newman is most often photographed wearing over more than two decades, until he gifted it to his daughter, Clea Newman Soderlund, in 2008. The watch collecting community has long been aware of this particular watch, as it was even featured on the cover of Matt Hranek’s book A Man and His Watch (though, it should be noted that at the time of publishing that book, the Daytona gracing the very cover was indeed owned by Clea, who is, notably, a woman).
According to Clea, the watch was gifted from Joanne to Paul on the occasion of the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary in 1983. Clea tells Phillips that the watch was worn by Mr. Newman nearly every day until it was gifted to her in 2008.
It should also be noted that Joanne gifted Mr. Newman the famous Paul Newman Paul Newman reference 6239 in 1968 (which Phillips sold for a then-record $17 million in 2017). While Paul Newman gets much of the credit for his impeccable style and taste — and rightfully so — especially when it comes to timepieces, it was in fact his wife who could be more properly credited with such impeccability.
This particular Daytona is offered for sale for the first time since Ms. Woodward purchased it back in the 1980s, having stayed in the Newman family since. A portion of the proceeds will benefit various charitable causes near and dear to the Newman clan, including SeriousFun Children’s Network and Safe Water Network, to organizations founded by Paul Newman himself.
As for estimate, Phillips offers only the clue “in excess of $1 million.” Last time a Paul Newman Daytona showed up at auction was also at Phillips in 2017, when Paul Newman’s own Paul Newman exotic dial (i.e. Paul Newman dial) reference 6239 sold for more than $17 million. Last year, Phillips sold a watch with similar celebrity provenance — Marlon Brando’s Rolex GMT-Master — for around $2 million. But no one means to the watch collecting community what Paul Newman does.
Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco worn in Le Mans
Alongside the Paul Newman Daytona announcement, Phillips also announced they’d be offering Steve McQueen’s Heuer Monaco, worn during the filming of Le Mans. It’s the last of two Heuer Monaco watches kept and gifted by McQueen to be gifted publicly.
Six watches were used for the filming of Le Mans, two of which were kept by Mr. McQueen (of which the present lot is one). This particular example was gifted to Haig Alltounian, McQueen’s chief mechanic for the film. It’s engraved To Haig / Le Mans 1970 on the back.
As Phillips provides in its press release, in the 2015 documentary Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans, Alltounian is interviewed and says that when McQueen presented him with the watch, he tried not to accept it, only to be told that he had to because it already had his name on it. He’s enjoyed the watch on his wrist since, and is offered from Mr. Alltounian by Phillips.
As mentioned, this is the last of the six Les Mans Monaco examples to be offered for sale. The last time one sold at auction was back in 2012. That one belonged to the prop master of Le Mans, and sold for $799,500.
Eight years later, this example’s estimate is “upon request” from Phillips. But, with this one having been held in McQueen’s hands (unlike that 2012 lot), and offered in a proper watch auction sale, it’s hard to imagine it going for less than that 2012 result.