Vintage Rolex Big Red Daytona 6263

pre-owned WATCH CONDITION EXAMINATION

This Daytona is in overall great, vintage condition with wear consistent with age. The case has some scratches and has been polished. The original bezel is in honest condition with scratches and wear. The watch has retained its correct "P302" pushers. The dial is in excellent, honest condition overall. The red Daytona text was applied a bit heavier which is not very common and we have seen it in other examples. Rolex was not always as consistent with little details like they are today. The sub-dials have developed patina. All of the lume plots except the one at 3 o'clock are fully intact and have aged to an attractive pale yellow color. The three o'clock plot shows signs of degradation which is common. The bracelet has some wear and light stretch between the links. 

The outer box shows wear and the corners on one side are ripped. 

VINTAGE ROLEX Daytona 6263

Here we have a beautiful Rolex "Big Red" Daytona coming directly from the family of the original owner. Not only has the watch been well taken care of over the years, it comes with the original box, papers, booklets, and receipts. It even comes with a Rolex note pad with paper in it. This looks like nearly everything the original owner would have gotten when he got the watch. 

The story goes that on January 19, 1987 the original owner "Robert" purchased this and a ladies two-tone Datejust at Little Switzerland in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. According to the original sales receipt the Daytona cost $960 and the Datejust cost $1,705, can you even? When comparing all the paperwork and receipts, everything lines up. The corresponding serial number is hand written on the guarantee with a "Little Switzerland" stamp from the retailer which matches the receipt with all the numbers. We love it when all these details line up and there is no shortage with this kit. On the side of the outer box has a little "6263" sticker with a small black dot indicating the black dial, so cool. Having a full kit like this is something we don't see very often. We hear at least a couple times a week about how people loose the original box and papers after moving, so this is a real treat seeing all the accessories together. Another interesting little anecdote is that the Daytona booklet and the "Your Rolex Oyster" booklets both say "Bob's" handwritten on them (the Daytona booklet on the first page). This was to differentiate the Daytona booklets with the Datejust ones, so you could say it was meant to be that would have the honor of listing this beauty. 

Rolex came out with the Daytona in 1963 and today modern and vintage examples alike are some of the most sought after watches in the world. Rolex came out with the reference 6263 around 1971 and this would be the last generation of the manually wound Daytona. The defining characteristics of the reference 6263 are the screw down style pushers and the black acrylic bezel. Rolex offered this model in a few variations in stainless steel. Rolex offered them with a black dial with white sub registers, like the example we have here today or with a silver dial and black registers. Rolex also offered these with exotic dials known as Paul Newman dials and they offered the model in gold as well. 

The example we are offering here has the black dial with red "Daytona" text on the dial and collectors refer to these as the "Big Red" Daytona's. The 6263 is one of the most desirable watches and we have seen a real uptick in demand over the last few years. Collectors tend to gravitate towards the 6263 because of the black acrylic bezel and screw down pushers giving the watch an aggressive, yet classic aesthetic. Paul Newman had a 6263 "Big Red" Daytona very similar to this example and that watch sold at auction in 2020 for $5,475,000.