Reference:albino-daytona: Difference between revisions

|title=Rolex “Albino” Daytona — documented examples and disputed dial history

|description=Auction catalogues and watch writers use “Albino” for monochrome silver-dial Daytonas, including three identifiable 6263 examples. Published accounts disagree about the dial origins.

|keywords=Albino Daytona, Rolex 6263, Eric Clapton Daytona, Tom Bolt, silver dial, disputed dial origin

|image_alt=Silver-dial Rolex Daytona catalogued as an Albino, case 2648447

|type=Article

|modified_time=2026-09-23T00:00:00Z

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[[File:Ref 6263 albino-hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Silver-dial Rolex Daytona catalogued as an Albino, case 2648447|A 6263 catalogued as an “Albino” at Sotheby’s in 2025.]]

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“Albino” is a collector and auction-house name for a monochrome silver-dial Daytona, usually discussed in connection with reference 6263. The name describes the dial’s appearance; it does not establish that the watches share a factory dial variant. Three identifiable watches appear in the sources below, but published counts differ and do not settle how many exist.

{| class="wikitable rp-facts"

|-

|-

| term

| “Albino,” a collector and auction-catalogue label for monochrome silver-dial Daytonas

|-

| The documented auction examples discussed here were catalogued as ref. 6263

| Silvered main dial and silvered subsidiary registers; dial printing and hands vary between examples

|-

| dial origin

==Documented examples==

The sources identify three watches, but their count of the wider group is inconsistent. Hodinkee wrote in 2013 that three examples were known. Phillips described Clapton’s watch in 2015 as one of four known white-dial Cosmographs. Perezcope later wrote of three known examples, while Sotheby’s called the 2025 watch one of “a handful.” These statements use different dates and wording; they do not provide a verified population count.

! watch

! identifying record

! what the source says

| Eric Clapton’s former watch

| Case 2,874,334; auctioned by Christie’s in 2003, Sotheby’s in 2008, and Phillips in 2015

| Phillips lists ref. 6263, stamped 6262 inside the caseback, and caliber 727. The 2008 Sotheby’s catalogue says the 6262 back was probably a Rolex service replacement.

| Watch shown to Hodinkee by Eric Ku

| Hodinkee article by Benjamin Clymer, 17 July 2013; no case number published

| Ku described it as a production dial on a production watch. The article gives no Rolex document supporting that account and says Ku later sold the watch to a collector.

| Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi lot 340

| Case 2,648,447; sold 5 December 2025

| Sotheby’s lists ref. 6263, caliber 727, 36mm, and a caseback stamped 6239. The lot result is not visible on Sotheby’s page; Perezcope reports USD 952,500 including premium.

==What the published sources say about the dial==

In 2013, Benjamin Clymer’s Hodinkee article described the second watch brought by Eric Ku as a production dial fitted to a production watch. That is Ku’s account as reported by Clymer; the article cites no Rolex record or factory confirmation. It also records that Ku had sold the watch to a collector.

In December 2025, Perezcope published a different account based in part on testimony it attributes to dealer Tom Bolt. Perezcope says Bolt told the author he created Clapton’s watch in the late 1990s by fitting a silver dial from a ref. 6238 into a 6263 case, and that Bolt coined the “Albino” name. In a later update, Perezcope says Bolt told Sotheby’s representatives that he had created the first example and that the dials came from 6238 service watches. This is attributed testimony about Clapton’s watch and Bolt’s account of other dials; the article does not supply a Rolex factory record for the full group.

Perezcope also points to the hands and pushers on Sotheby’s 2025 lot as inconsistent with its circa-1971 dating. Those are Perezcope’s comparative observations, not findings published in Sotheby’s lot description. The available sources therefore document competing accounts, not a settled origin for every dial called “Albino.”

==Auction record for Clapton’s watch==

|-

! sale

|-

| Christie’s New York, 5 June 2003, lot 178

|-

| Approximately USD 505,000; Sotheby’s page now hides the result behind login

| CHF 1,325,000

Sotheby’s public auction search records the separate Abu Dhabi lot 340 at USD 952,500 including premium in December 2025; the lot page itself still places the result behind login. Perezcope independently reported the same result.

==Relation to reference 6263==

The auctioned watches discussed here were catalogued as 6263s, but their dial and case details differ. Phillips records Clapton’s watch as ref. 6263 with a 6262 caseback stamp; Sotheby’s records the 2025 watch as ref. 6263 with a 6239 caseback stamp. See [[Reference:6263|Daytona 6263]] for the reference’s standard production configurations. “Albino” alone is not enough to establish that a dial, case or movement is original to a particular watch.

==Related references==

* [[Reference:6263|Daytona 6263]]

* [[Reference:6238|Pre-Daytona 6238]]

* [[Reference:6265|Daytona 6265]]

* [[Reference:paul-newman-daytona|Paul Newman Daytona]]

* [[Reference:big-red-daytona|Big Red Daytona]]

== Sources ==

* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/rolex-albino-daytona-ben-clymer Benjamin Clymer, “A Close Encounter With Just The Third Of Its Kind: Hands-On With The Legendary Albino Daytona,” Hodinkee, 17 July 2013]

* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2008/important-watches-n08433/lot.166.html Sotheby’s, Important Watches, lot 166, 2008]

* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/watches-jewels-ad2502/daytona-albino-reference-6263-a-stainless-steel Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi, lot 340, 5 December 2025]

* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/search-results.html?query=6263 Sotheby’s public auction search, closed-lot result for the 2025 Albino]

* [https://perezcope.com/2025/12/03/not-quite-whiter-than-white-the-reality-of-the-rare-rolex-albino-daytona-ref-6263/ Jose Pereztroika, “Not Quite Whiter Than White,” Perezcope, 3 December 2025, updated 8 December 2025]

* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/found-eric-claptons-vintage-rolex-submariner-with-rare-explo Eric Clapton’s former 6263 sale history, Hodinkee]

[[Category:Daytona Manual-Wind]]