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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 6240 Daytona}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 6240 Daytona}}
{{#seo:
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex 6240 Daytona — Production, Dial Variants, Serial Ranges | BezelBase
|title=Rolex Daytona 6240 — Oyster Cosmograph with Screw-Down Pushers
|description=The 6240 introduced the screw-down chronograph pushers and Oyster case to the Daytona line in 1965, raising water resistance to 100m. Includes the disputed Neanderthal prototype and Mk0 Millerighe pushers.
|description=Auction-grounded reference file for the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 6240: dated examples, movement labels, dial forms, bracelets, and the disputed Neanderthal dial.
|keywords=Rolex 6240, Daytona 6240, Neanderthal, Millerighe, Oyster Cosmograph, screw-down pushers, Perezcope, Phillips Daytona Ultimatum, Mk0
|keywords=Rolex 6240, Daytona, Oyster Cosmograph, screw-down pushers, 72B, 722, 722-1, Millerighe, Neanderthal
|image=Ref 6240 hero.webp
|image=Ref 6240 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6240 — Neanderthal example
|image_alt=The Rolex 6240 known as the Neanderthal; its dial attribution is disputed
|type=article
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-04-19T03:19:41Z
|published_time=2026-04-19T03:19:41Z
|modified_time=2026-04-29T02:50:21Z
|modified_time=2026-10-08T00:00:00Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
}}
}}


<small>[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] → '''6240'''</small>


<small>[[Reference:daytona|Daytona]] -> '''6240'''</small>
<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 6240 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Steel Rolex 6240 Neanderthal lot; the dial attribution is disputed|Steel 6240 from the Phillips Neanderthal lot; dial attribution disputed]]
</div>


The 6240 is the first Oyster-cased Daytona and the first Rolex chronograph with screw-down pushers. It ran from 1965 to 1969, sitting between the pump-pusher 6239 and the long-running 6263, and it set the architecture every later Daytona inherited. An acrylic black bezel insert replaced the engraved metal tachymeter, the case earned 100m of water resistance, and the dial finally carried the word "Oyster" because the chronograph could now claim it.
The 6240 is a steel, manual-wind Cosmograph Daytona catalogued from about 1965 to 1969. It introduced screw-down chronograph pushers to the Daytona line and used a black acrylic tachymeter insert. Auction catalogues identify Cal. 72B, 722, and 722-1 in individual watches; they do not establish a clean changeover sequence.


<span id="core-facts"></span>
Christie’s calls the 6240 the first “Oyster Cosmograph” and describes early dials without “Oyster,” followed by later Oyster-marked examples. A 2026 auction catalogue also attributes an unnumbered 1964 prototype to the reference. That watch belongs in the development record, separate from serial-numbered production examples.
[[File:Ref 6240 hero.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6240 — Neanderthal example|Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6240 — Neanderthal example]]


== Core facts ==
==Core facts==


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable rp-facts"
! Field !! Value
|-
|-
| Reference || 6240
! detail
! value
|-
|-
| Family || Daytona (Cosmograph, manual-wind)
| reference
| 6240
|-
|-
| Production || 1965 to 1969
| model
| Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, manual-wind
|-
|-
| Movement || caliber 722-1 (Valjoux 72 base), 18,000 vph
| production
| Auction descriptions place serial-numbered examples around 1965–1969; an unnumbered prototype is catalogued to 1964
|-
|-
| Case || 36mm, 19mm lug width, screw-down chronograph pushers
| case material
| Stainless steel in the reviewed catalogues
|-
|-
| Crystal || acrylic
| case diameter
| Individual catalogues give 37 mm or 37.5 mm
|-
|-
| Bezel || acrylic insert with engraved tachymeter, black
| movement
| Auction labels include Valjoux-family 72B, 722, and 722-1; inspect the movement in each watch
|-
|-
| Crown || Twinlock screw-down
| pushers
| Screw-down chronograph pushers
|-
|-
| Water resistance || 100m / 330ft (up from 50m on 6239)
| bezel
| Black acrylic tachymeter insert
|-
|-
| Dial || "Oyster Cosmograph" — Cosmograph + Paul Newman exotic; rare "Solo"
| crown
| Screw-down; Phillips describes a Twinlock 700-series crown on its Neanderthal lot
|-
|-
| Bracelet || 7205 rivet (early), 7835 folded (late), end-link 271
| water resistance
| Monochrome reports 100 m for the design; this does not establish the condition of a surviving watch
|-
|-
| Successor || 6263 (screw-down pushers, long run)
| dial
|-
| Early non-Oyster and later Oyster-marked dials, plus Solo and exotic examples
| Sibling || 6241 (acrylic bezel, pump pushers)
|}
 
<span id="where-it-sits-in-the-line"></span>
== Where it sits in the line ==
 
The manual-wind Daytona references break cleanly into three groups by pusher type and bezel material. The 6239 (1963 to 1969) carries pump pushers and a metal bezel, the 6241 (1966 to 1969) carries pump pushers and an acrylic bezel, and the 6240 sits with the screw-down pushers that define the Oyster sub-family. The 6262 and 6264 (1970 to 1972) bridge into the higher-frequency 21,600 vph Valjoux 727 era, and the 6263 (1971 to 1988) carries the screw-down-pusher Oyster format for the long run.
 
Rolex patented the screw-down chronograph pusher in 1964 (CH423638), and the 6240 was the first reference to put that patent into production. The construction held up, and the rest of the manual-wind line followed — first after the brief 6262 / 6264 detour back to pump pushers and a metal bezel, then permanently from the 6263 onward.
 
<span id="production-outline"></span>
== Production outline ==
 
Production ran from 1965 to 1969 across the 1.1-million to 2.0-million serial range, in parallel with the pump-pusher 6239 and (from 1966) the 6241. Rolex never published a total. The most often-cited working figure sits around 2,000 examples, which puts the 6240 at roughly one-tenth the volume of the 6239 across the same window. Colin A. White's ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' and Pucci Papaleo's ''Ultimate Rolex Daytona'' are the two book-length references most likely to carry tighter numbers, and the 2,000-piece figure should be read as a working estimate rather than a settled count.
 
Two broad production phases run through the reference. The earliest is the Millerighe-pusher batch in the 1.1M to 1.3M serial band, followed by the standard cylindrical-pusher run that carries the watch through to the end of production.
 
Paul Newman exotic dials begin appearing on Daytona production around the 1.5-million serial range, fitted across the 6239, 6240, and 6241 cases at roughly one in twenty examples by the prevailing collector accounting. The Neanderthal (case 1439122), sold at the 2018 Phillips Daytona Ultimatum auction, sits inside this band and is the basis for the attribution dispute treated in Special branches.
 
<span id="movement-notes"></span>
== Movement notes ==
 
The 6240 runs on caliber 722-1 throughout, the second Rolex-stamped derivative of the Valjoux 72 ebauche, with column-wheel chronograph control, lateral clutch, tri-compax sub-dial layout, and a 17-jewel 18,000 vph beat rate. The architecture is the same Valjoux 72 base used across the entire manual-wind Daytona run; the 722-1 designation marks Rolex's intermediate finishing and bridge revisions before the 727 brought the frequency jump to 21,600 vph at the start of the 6262 / 6264 run in 1970.
 
Every 6240 runs at 18,000 vph. The reference saw no late-run frequency change; the faster movement waited for the 6262 generation. US-bound 722-1 examples carry an engraved "ROW" import code on the balance bridge, the same import marking documented on the 6241 and 6239 of the period.
 
<span id="dial-map"></span>
== Dial map ==
 
=== Serial / year / dial / lume / bracelet ===
 
{| class="wikitable"
! Serial range !! Year !! Dial !! Lume !! Bracelet !! End links !! Notes
|-
|-
| 1.1M-1.3M (~1965) || 1965 || Mk0 Millerighe pusher (early), Cosmograph || tritium || 7205 || 271 || Introduction year. Mk0 Millerighe pushers are the early 6240 marker per Phillips Daytona Ultimatum.
| bracelet examples
| Phillips records a 7205/71 combination and a separate 6635/57 combination; neither proves original delivery
|-
|-
| 1.3M-1.6M (~1966-1967) || 1966-1967 || Cosmograph, Paul Newman exotic (Mk1, intermittent) || tritium || 7205 || 271 || Paul Newman exotic dial fitted ~1 in 20 from 1966 onward per multiple sources. The Neanderthal 6240 sits in this batch (disputed — see known_disputes).
| sibling
| 6241, with pump pushers and an acrylic tachymeter insert
|-
|-
| 1.6M-2.0M (~1968-1969) || 1968-1969 || Cosmograph, Paul Newman exotic || tritium || 7205 || 271 || Final two years before 6262 / 6264 succession with the faster Valjoux 727. The 7835 folded-link bracelet may have appeared on the very latest examples.
| later Oyster references
| 6263 and 6265
|}
|}


The dial set is small. Standard Oyster Cosmograph dials dominate the run, Paul Newman exotics are much scarcer, and the Solo dial stays a very small Italian-channel oddity.
==Where it sits in the line==


{| class="wikitable"
The 6239 used pump pushers and an engraved metal tachymeter bezel. The 6240 paired screw-down pushers with a black acrylic insert. Its sibling, the 6241, kept pump pushers with an acrylic insert. The later 6262 and 6264 returned to pump pushers, while the 6263 and 6265 carried the screw-down Oyster case into a longer production run. Published dates around the 1969–1971 transition vary by source.
! Variant !! Distinguishing features !! Notes
 
|-
The Swiss patent application for Rolex’s waterproof push button has an 11 June 1964 priority date. That filing dates the patented mechanism; it does not date a particular watch. [https://patents.google.com/patent/CH423638A/en The patent record] is separate from the 1964 prototype reported by Monaco Legend below.
| Standard panda Cosmograph || Black dial, white sub-dials, "Rolex Oyster Cosmograph" three-line block at 12 || Most common configuration across the run
|-
| Standard reverse panda Cosmograph || Silver-white dial, black sub-dials, same text block || Less common than panda but not rare
|-
| Paul Newman exotic (Mk1) || Art-deco sub-dial numerals, square chrono hashes, contrasting outer minute track || Fitted intermittently from ~1966 across panda and reverse panda backgrounds, ~1 in 20 of period production
|-
| Solo dial || Only the Rolex coronet and "ROLEX" word printed at 12; no "Oyster Cosmograph" line || Italian collector terminology (''solo'' = "only"); small surviving population, attribution-sensitive
|-
| "Neanderthal" Paul Newman || Monochromatic black-and-white palette, larger-than-usual chrono registers, no dial lettering beyond Rolex coronet || Single attributed example (case 1439122) — disputed; see Special branches
|}


Jose Pereztroika's "Perezcope" typology runs Paul Newman dials out to Mk1.75 and beyond for the longer 6263 / 6265 chapter; the disputed Neanderthal attribution turns on whether its dial is an early prototype or a later Mk1.75 dial swapped onto an early case.
==Production outline==


<span id="case-bezel-crystal-and-crown"></span>
Christie’s dates the 6240 to 1965–1969 and estimates about 1,700 examples. That is an auction-house estimate, not a factory count. Phillips and Sotheby’s date individual serial-numbered watches to 1965 or 1966. Their case numbers and catalogue dates are useful examples, not a serial-year chart.
== Case, bezel, crystal, and crown ==


The case is the period-standard 36mm steel Oyster, 19mm between the lugs, and it carries the three changes that separate the 6240 from the 6239: screw-down chronograph pushers, an acrylic black bezel insert in place of the engraved metal tachymeter, and a depth rating jumped from 50m to 100m. All three changes track together. The screw-down pushers are what the depth-rating jump and the "Oyster" dial designation depend on, and the acrylic bezel insert was Rolex's chosen aesthetic for the Oyster-cased Daytona of the period.
The early pusher distinction is visible in the catalogues. Christie’s describes fine grooves on an early example as “mille righe” and contrasts them with deeper grooves on later pushers. Phillips also labels its 1965 lot as an early Millerighe example. The records do not set a serial-number cutoff, and a pusher on a surviving watch may have been replaced.


The screw-down pushers themselves come in two generations on the 6240. The earliest, fitted only to the first-batch watches in the 1.1M to 1.3M serial band, carry the vertically grooved Millerighe knurling. From mid-1966 onward, the standard smooth cylindrical screw-down pusher takes over. Both lock into the case via a threaded tube with a rubber gasket; both unscrew counter-clockwise to operate the chronograph and screw back down to seal the case. A 6240 found with smooth pushers in the earliest serial band has either been serviced with later pushers or is misattributed.
Monaco Legend’s 2026 catalogue describes an unnumbered prototype attributed to ref. 6240, with an internal Rolex technical transmission sheet dated 5 March 1964. The catalogue lists Cal. 722-1 and a 37 mm case. Keep this prototype apart from the serial-numbered watches: the sale record documents the auction house’s attribution and reported paperwork, not a commercial production date.


The bezel insert is acrylic with an engraved tachymeter scale running 60 to 400 units per hour, painted white over a black background. This is the visual signature that separates the 6240 from the 6239 (engraved metal bezel, no insert) and aligns it with the 6241, the two acrylic-bezel branches of the period. The 6262 (1970 to 1971) returned briefly to the engraved metal bezel of the 6239 before the 6263 settled the line on the acrylic insert for good. The 6240's acrylic bezels are prone to cracking, fading, and edge-chipping, and a clean original bezel insert on a 6240 is a meaningful condition item.
==Movement notes==


Crystal is acrylic, period-standard. Crown is Twinlock screw-down with the period-correct Oyster signature, the same crown architecture as the contemporary Submariner and GMT-Master.
Auction catalogues identify Cal. 72B, 722, and 722-1 in individual 6240s; some also list 17 jewels. The [[Reference:Movements|movement guide]] gives the family’s rate as 18,000 vph. Christie’s records Cal. 722 in two circa-1965 examples; Phillips records 72B in the 1966 “Oyster Alpina” and the Neanderthal lot; Sotheby’s catalogues a circa-1965 example with 722-1. The catalogue dates and movement labels do not form a reliable transition chronology. Read the engraving on the watch itself.


<span id="bracelets-end-links-and-clasps"></span>
Christie’s describes a 722 marked “ROW” on one example and identifies it as a US-market import code. The [[Reference:Movements|movement guide]] records other readings of ROW and notes that Rolex documentation has not settled its meaning. Treat the stamp as a lot-level observation.
== Bracelets, end links, and clasps ==


The 6240 was delivered on the 7205 Oyster rivet bracelet through most of its production. The 7205 is the 19mm rivet bracelet specifically for the Daytona / Air-King / Precision case lugs of the period; it pairs with end-link 271, identifiable by the "271" stamp on the underside. The folded-link 7835 successor, also paired with end-link 271, took over from approximately 1969, at the very end of the 6240's run, and carried into the 6262 / 6263 / 6264 / 6265 generation that followed. Some late 6240 examples may have shipped on 7835 from new; documentation is too thin to call this a clean transition.
==Dial map==


Both bracelets used the small-logo folding clasp generation that ran from 1958 to roughly 1969. The clasp is signed inside the blade with a quarterly date code in the pre-1976 format: Roman numeral quarter plus two-digit year, e.g. "II.66" for the second quarter of 1966. The clasp dates the bracelet, not the watch head; period-correct clasps carry codes within or close to the watch's serial-derived production year.
Auction records show more than one inscription layout. Christie’s and Sotheby’s describe early examples without “Oyster”; Christie’s contrasts them with later dials carrying the Oyster designation. This is a sequence reported by auction catalogues, not a complete production chronology.


The US-market alternative bracelet was a Connecticut-made hollow-rivet 19mm with unmarked end-pieces, lighter gauge than the Swiss 7205, sold by US Rolex agents from 1959 to 1979. These are not Rolex-stamped and are a known collector lead but not original-equipment.
Exotic or “Paul Newman” dials are documented on 6240 watches. Christie’s catalogues a black exotic dial on case 1,659,454, dated circa 1967. The reviewed records do not establish the share of 6240s fitted with exotic dials or a serial number at which they began.


<span id="special-branches"></span>
Christie’s uses “Solo” for the dial on case 1,205,996, catalogued circa 1966 with Cal. 72B. The term describes that lot’s sparse Rolex-only dial. The catalogue does not establish a separate factory reference or a production count for Solo dials.
== Special branches ==


The Neanderthal, case 1,439,122, has a black-and-white dial with unusually large subsidiary registers. Phillips presents it as a pre-Paul Newman prototype. Perezcope’s 2022 analysis argues that the dial is a later transfer, citing an April 1998 magazine photograph that appears to show the dial in another watch and differences in its printing. The attribution remains disputed.


[[File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-orologi-market-1998.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Orologi & Market April 1998 page documenting the Neanderthal|Orologi & Market April 1998 page documenting the Neanderthal]]
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-phillips-lot.webp|Phillips Daytona Ultimatum lot 32, catalogued as the Neanderthal
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-singer-comparison.webp|Singer stamp comparison used in the published dial analysis
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-orologi-market-1998.webp|April 1998 Orologi & Market photograph cited in the Neanderthal dial dispute
</gallery>


[[File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-singer-comparison.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Singer dial-stamp comparison|Singer dial-stamp comparison]]
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==


[[File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-phillips-lot.webp|thumb|right|280px|alt=Phillips Daytona Ultimatum 2018 Neanderthal lot|Phillips Daytona Ultimatum 2018 Neanderthal lot]]
The auction records reviewed here give case diameters of 37 mm and 37.5 mm. They describe a stainless-steel Oyster case, screw-down chronograph pushers, a screw-down crown, and a black acrylic tachymeter insert. Some retrospective histories report a 100 m rating for the design; a vintage watch needs its own inspection and pressure test before anyone treats it as water-resistant.


<span id="the-neanderthal-6240"></span>
Christie’s describes fine-grooved early pushers and contrasts them with deeper grooves on later examples. Phillips notes that the plating on its Neanderthal lot’s brass pushers had worn through. These observations help identify the photographed lots; they do not prove a factory cutoff or the originality of pushers on another watch.
=== The "Neanderthal" 6240 ===


The most contested 6240 is case 1439122, the Neanderthal. Phillips sold it as the earliest Paul Newman prototype, and Jose Pereztroika at Perezcope later argued the dial was a much later construction. The dispute is now central to any serious 6240 discussion.
The reviewed catalogues do not specify the crystal material for each example. The photographs show the visible surface, not whether a particular crystal is original or a later service replacement.


Perezcope's 2022 dossier is the strongest challenge to the old attribution. The dossier identifies the famous dial as a later construction rather than an early factory prototype, citing the same dial previously photographed in another watch and a set of typography, tritium-text, minute-track-color, and Singer-stamp details that align with later Paul Newman production rather than the earliest 6240 story. The watch retains its market position, but the early-prototype explanation is no longer the default reading.
==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==


Perezcope reached out to Aurel Bacs and Pucci Papaleo with the findings; no public correction or buyer notification has been issued by either party as of the dossier's publication. The dispute remains live: Phillips's lot essay and Pucci Papaleo's published taxonomy treat the Neanderthal as the earliest Paul Newman 6240, and Perezcope's documented analysis treats the dial as a later swap onto an early case. The case-and-movement period-correctness of 1439122 is not contested; the dispute is dial-only.
Phillips records a 1966 “Oyster Alpina” on a riveted 7205 bracelet with 71 end links and a clasp stamped 4.66. Its Neanderthal lot is catalogued with a 6635 bracelet, 57 end links, and a clasp stamped 4.65. Sotheby’s describes a Jubilee bracelet on its 2012 example but does not give a bracelet reference in the listing.


<span id="solo-dials"></span>
These are auction-described combinations, not proof of original delivery or a complete fitment list. A clasp stamp dates the clasp, not the watch head. The broader [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet guide]] covers the limits of using a clasp code to date a watch.
=== Solo dials ===


The Solo dial, with only the Rolex coronet and "ROLEX" word printed at 12 and no "Oyster Cosmograph" line, surfaces in small numbers across early manual-wind Daytona references. Perezcope's earlier work documented at least one Solo example with the "Cosmograph" line erased, and the Italian collector tradition (''solo'' = "only") treats Solo dials as a known small-population variant rather than a single nicknamed example. Documented 6240 Solo examples are scarce and almost always carry attribution caveats. The dial's removal of standard text makes it a high-risk variant for retroactive modification.
==Auction record==


<span id="jps-style-configurations"></span>
The records below describe individual watches. Christie’s estimates about 1,700 examples for the reference; the catalogues do not provide a Rolex production ledger.
=== JPS-style configurations ===


The John Player Special (JPS) black-and-gold dial colourway is most strongly associated with the 14k yellow gold 6241 (the pump-pusher Oyster-bezel sibling), where Revolution's bench-side examination documents fewer than 400 produced for the North American market. JPS-aligned configurations on the 6240 — a screw-down pusher Daytona with the JPS palette — are not part of the canonical Pucci Papaleo / Phillips taxonomy and surface only as one-off attributions; treat any 6240 marketed as JPS as requiring case, dial, and pusher provenance verification before relying on the attribution.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sale record
! Catalogue date and number
! What the catalogue records
|-
| [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5808817 Christie’s, lot 5808817]
| circa 1965; case 1,298,415
| Cal. 722, black matte dial, 37.5 mm case, fine-grooved “mille righe” pushers.
|-
| [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6212858 Christie’s, lot 6212858]
| circa 1965; case 1,298,267
| Cal. 722 stamped ROW, 17 jewels, 37 mm case; Christie’s identifies ROW as a US-market import code.
|-
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/158342 Phillips, Geneva Watch Auction XIV, lot 234]
| 1965; case 1,269,446
| Cal. 722, 37.5 mm case, Millerighe pushers, riveted expandable Oyster bracelet and C+I clasp stamped 7-67. Sold for CHF 107,100.
|-
| [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/important-watches/lot.258.html Sotheby’s, Important Watches 2012, lot 258]
| circa 1965; case 1,439,224
| Cal. 722-1, 37 mm case, early non-Oyster dial; Sotheby’s condition report describes a Jubilee bracelet.
|-
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080016/10 Phillips, Start-Stop-Reset, lot 10]
| 1966; case 1,438,971
| Cal. 72B, “Oyster Alpina” dial, 7205/71 bracelet and clasp stamped 4.66.
|-
| [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6269161 Christie’s, lot 6269161]
| circa 1966; case 1,205,996
| Cal. 72B; Christie’s describes the sparse dial as “Solo.”
|-
| [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080318/32 Phillips, Daytona Ultimatum 2018, lot 32]
| circa 1966; case 1,439,122
| Cal. 72B, 6635/57 bracelet, clasp 4.65; dial attribution disputed. Sold for CHF 3,012,500.
|-
| [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6424494 Christie’s, lot 6424494]
| circa 1967; case 1,659,454
| Black Paul Newman dial; the catalogue records a 37.5 mm case and an Oyster bracelet with clasp stamped 4.67.
|-
| [https://www.monacolegendauctions.com/auction/exclusive-timepieces-38/lot-229 Monaco Legend, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 229]
| 1964 prototype; no commercial serial
| Auction catalogue reports a Rolex technical transmission sheet dated 5 March 1964, Cal. 722-1 and 37 mm case. Sold for €125,000.
|}


<span id="tropical-examples"></span>
==Related references==
=== Tropical examples ===


Tropical 6240 dials, black dials that have aged to brown or chocolate, exist but turn up less often than tropical 6263 / 6265 examples because the underlying production was smaller. The browning is the same lacquer-instability mechanism documented on other 1960s Rolex dials. The black pigment was unstable in the lacquer mix, and light, heat, and humidity drove the colour change over decades. Tropical examples carry significant premium when the case, movement, and pushers are all period-correct.
* [[Reference:6239|Daytona 6239]], pump pushers and engraved metal bezel
* [[Reference:6241|Daytona 6241]], pump pushers and acrylic bezel insert
* [[Reference:6262|Daytona 6262]] and [[Reference:6264|Daytona 6264]], later pump-pusher references
* [[Reference:6263|Daytona 6263]] and [[Reference:6265|Daytona 6265]], later screw-down-pusher references
* [[Reference:daytona|Daytona family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement guide]], [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial-number guide]]


<span id="historical-market-and-auction-record"></span>
==Gallery==
== Historical market and auction record ==


The 6240 sits in the highest tier of vintage Daytona prices. The screw-down-pusher and acrylic-bezel combination is rare on its own, and the 2018 Neanderthal sale at Phillips lifted the rest of the reference along with it.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 6240 hero.webp|Neanderthal lot, with disputed dial attribution
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-phillips-lot.webp|Phillips Daytona Ultimatum lot 32
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-singer-comparison.webp|Singer stamp comparison
File:Ref 6240 neanderthal-orologi-market-1998.webp|Orologi & Market 1998 photograph cited in the dial dispute
</gallery>


Standard Cosmograph-dialled 6240s in good condition trade well below the Paul Newman tier but well above contemporary 6239s with comparable dials, reflecting the smaller production population and the Oyster-format premium. Mk0 Millerighe-pusher first-batch examples carry an additional premium where the pushers are documented as period-original. As with the rest of the manual-wind Daytona corpus, condition of the acrylic bezel insert, originality of the dial and pushers, and the presence of period-correct bracelet and clasp drive the spread between the high and low examples by an order of magnitude or more.
[[Category:Daytona Manual-Wind]]


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph] — Erik Slaven, Monochrome
* [https://patents.google.com/patent/CH423638A/en Rolex SA, "Swiss patent CH423638A, Waterproof push button", Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property / Google Patents record, 1965]
* [https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/CH080318 Phillips — Daytona Ultimatum (Geneva, 12 May 2018)] — Pucci Papaleo (curator); Aurel Bacs (auctioneer), Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-daytona-chronograph-1963-in-depth-review/ Erik Slaven, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Daytona, The Emblematic Racing Chronograph", Monochrome, 2024-12-20]
* [https://perezcope.com/2022/11/03/rolex-daytona-6240-paul-newman-neanderthal-a-myth-goes-extinct/ Rolex Daytona 6240 Paul Newman "Neanderthal" — A Myth Goes Extinct] — Jose Pereztroika, Perezcope
* [https://goldammer.me/blogs/articles/reference-guide-rolex-daytona Marcus Siems, "A Beginner's Guide to the Early Rolex Daytona (1963-88)", Goldammer, 2022-12-20]
* [https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-first-rolex-daytona-by-benjamin-clymer Historical Perspectives: The Very First Rolex Daytona, Explained (Or, What Is A Double-Swiss Underline Daytona?)] — Benjamin Clymer, Hodinkee
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5808817 "Christie’s, ref. 6240 case 1,298,415, lot 5808817", Christie’s]
* [https://www.acollectedman.com/blogs/journal/rolex-pre-daytona-forgotten-classic Is the Rolex Pre-Daytona a Forgotten Classic?] — Russell Sheldrake, A Collected Man
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6212858 "Christie’s, ref. 6240 case 1,298,267, lot 6212858", Christie’s]
* [https://watchesbysjx.com/2018/05/penultimate-picks-from-daytona-ultimatum-at-phillips.html Penultimate Picks from Daytona Ultimatum at Phillips] — JX Su, SJX Watches
* [https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6269161 "Christie’s, ref. 6240 “Solo,” case 1,205,996, lot 6269161", Christie’s]
* [https://goldammer.me/blogs/articles/reference-guide-rolex-daytona A Beginner's Guide to the Early Rolex Daytona (1963-88)] — Marcus Siems, Goldammer
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6424494 "Christie’s, ref. 6240 Paul Newman dial, case 1,659,454, lot 6424494", Christie’s]
* [https://www.watchtime.com/brands/watches/tracking-the-rolex-daytona-a-53-year-history Tracking the Rolex Daytona: A 55-Year History] — WatchTime Team, WatchTime
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080016/10 "Phillips, Start-Stop-Reset, lot 10 — ref. 6240 “Oyster Alpina”", Phillips, 2016]
* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ Vintage Watch Straps — Rolex bracelet and clasp reference] — David Boettcher, vintagewatchstraps.com
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/important-watches/lot.258.html "Sotheby’s, Important Watches 2012, lot 258 — ref. 6240", Sotheby’s, 2012]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/158342 "Phillips, Geneva Watch Auction XIV, lot 234 — ref. 6240", Phillips, 2022]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080318/32 "Phillips, Daytona Ultimatum 2018, lot 32 — “The Neanderthal”", Phillips, 2018]
* [https://www.monacolegendauctions.com/auction/exclusive-timepieces-38/lot-229 "Monaco Legend Auctions, Exclusive Timepieces 38, lot 229 — 6240 prototype", Monaco Legend Auctions, 2026]
* [https://perezcope.com/2022/11/03/rolex-daytona-6240-paul-newman-neanderthal-a-myth-goes-extinct/ Jose Pereztroika, "Rolex Daytona 6240 Paul Newman "Neanderthal" — A Myth Goes Extinct", Perezcope, 2022-11-03]


[[Category:Daytona Manual-Wind]]
[[Category:Daytona]]
[[Category:Daytona]]
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