The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona is a mechanical chronograph wristwatch designed to meet the needs of racing drivers by measuring elapsed time and calculating average speed.

The first series included an "exotic" variant dial known as the Rolex "Paul Newman" Daytona, named after the famed actor, who received the watch as a gift from his wife, Joanne Woodward, and popularized it by wearing it consistently while pursuing his racing career.

Years later, the actor's watch, which had been gifted by Newman to his daughter's boyfriend in 1984, was sold in 2017 at the Phillips New York Winning Icons auction for a record (for wristwatches) $17.8 million.

Its Rolex calibre 4130 has the particularity of using a vertical (rather than lateral) clutch to activate the chronograph, and was engineered to feature a reduced number of components for greater reliability.

Prior to the release of the "Daytona", Rolex produced chronographs using movements sourced from outside manufacturers housed in conventional and, starting in the 1940s, Oyster cases.

[7] The Reference (model) number is marked on the side of the case at the 12 o'clock position, where it is hidden under the strap lugs.

The serial number can provide valuable information about the watch, including its production date.

[7] The original series, produced in small quantities from circa 1963 to the later 1980s, had a four-digit model or reference number, and had a manual wind movement.

[9] However, rare "albino" variants of the Daytona are known to exist where sub-dial colors match the main dial like Reference 6238.

[18] By 2005, Newman had replaced it with a Reference 6263 Daytona with a conventional dial, also a gift, bearing the inscription "DRIVE SLOWLY, JOANNE".

However, Charles Vermot, a senior engineer for Martel Watch Company (where the El Primero was made, and which had been acquired in 1959 by Zenith) had, over a period of months, secretly disassembled the tooling for the El Primero and stored it in the factory attic after the closure had been announced in 1975.

[24] Rolex expressed interest in using the 3019PHC to power a new series of Daytonas, but would not award the ten-year contract to Zenith until they could resume production of new movements.

[24] Rolex modified the movement by reducing the beats to 28,800 VPH to increase the power reserve, and made a few other changes, retaining only 50% of the original parts.

[10] These later series Daytonas, pre-dating in-house movements, were accurate and reliable; they were produced in limited quantities from 1988 to 2000.

The "Chairman Daytona" was created in 1991 as a variant of Reference 16528; it has a galvanised blue dial and the tachymeter markings go to 400 units/hr.

[9] The third series, introduced in 2000, has a movement made by Rolex (designated Calibre 4130) and a six-digit model number,[7][26] Reference 116520.

[28] The members of the winning team in each division are each presented with a Rolex Daytona watch during the victory celebration.

Stainless steel variants of the Daytona remain very difficult to acquire, and a waiting list exists for interested purchasers of new watches, as production is limited to a few thousand per year.

[9] While other sources agree it was a gift from Woodward, they assert the watch was presented to Newman earlier, during the filming of Winning in 1968 or 1969.

The dial came in four color and layout combinations, and was installed as an option by Rolex on the Daytona line of watches in the original series.

[32] Examples of the Reference 6240 Paul Newman have been postulated to exist, which would be either two- or three-color dials.

"At that time, I knew Rolex was an amazing brand, but I had no idea how significant the watch was," James says.

[30] The model was sold by Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo in New York City, as part of the "WINNING ICONS: Milestone Watches of the 20th Century" auction.

"[33] Bacs himself was initially skeptical, but was humbled "to discover that a collector had told the owners that there was only one person, and one auction house that could do the job properly" of auctioning the rare watch, leading James Cox to hire Bacs.