We already talked about the absolute king of Rolex watches – the Bao Dai Rolex being offered at Phillips.

But there is another watch worth taking a look at. It is the Predaytona 6238 in gold with gilt and glossy dial – also known from now on as Predaytona G&G. If the Bao Dai is the king of Rolex watches then this Predaytona is surely a prince if not the kings brother. In this configuration there are only two known in the world.

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Followers of my blog will know how much I love the Pre-daytona 6238 – in fact I wrote the most comprehensive report about it – I think it remains my best report I have ever written last year – you can read it here. This 6238 Pre-daytona is an absolute killer watch for several reasons.

First it is a gold version with black dial – which is the rarest and most exclusive Pre-daytona 6238 that exists. Second it is has a gilt and glossy dial. Most black dials are matte (like this watch here) and not gilt. So having a black dial gold 14kt (made for the US market) Predayona with a gilt and glossy dial is extremely rare. We are talking about the pinnacle of Rolex collecting right here with this example. There are only two known examples in this configuration, this watch and the other in the Goldberger 100 Superlative Rolex book – and owned by a European collector – according to my sources.

The truth is that this watch puts most Daytona watches to shame in terms of beauty, rarity, materials (no plastic/bakelite bezel insert) and also in terms of production complexity and cost – the tachymeter scale is printed on the dial here directly unlike with the Daytona. This 1960s Rolex chronograph is made for the sophisticated Rolex aficionado who wants the very best in design, rarity and beauty.* 

I go hands on with this king of all Rolex chronograph watches, look at the dial and put it on my wrist. Here are my thoughts:

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In order to properly assess a watch, several things help. Light is probably the most important part. Not artificial light but natural sunlight. 

Thankfully it was a splendid day in Geneva and I was sitting near a window. Notice the tachymeter scale printed on the dial. The dial is glossy and clean and the part with the sub dial is original and intact with fine circular lines (see picture further down in report).

A comment on the hands – as most 6238 come with the wrong hands on the dial and sub-dials. Even though I have done exhaustive research on this reference I have still come to no definite conclusion on what the correct version is. 

My bias is that the sub-dial hands should be thin in form like this example below (but all should be equal in size which is not the case with this watch). The hour hand and minute appear correct as the minute hand should not extend to the outer scale but stop shortly before. This seems to carry the correct shorter minute hand.

At any rate these are small details – the most important aspect is the dial and this dial is superb.

The 6238 dial with a slightly different angle.

The gilt print on the dial is clearly visible in both pictures (above and below). The dial appears flawless and I could not find any imperfections what so ever. Look at this picture below – it best captures the beauty of this watch in my opinion. The case has clearly oxidised here which is common to many gold versions if left too long unworn. As mentioned before the case is a rare 14kt gold version made for the American market. 

Let us see how the watch looks like on the wrist. A delight I must admit. The glossy nature of this dial is well captured in this picture below.

You can see the glossy dial and gilt printing of the tachymeter scale more clearly now near natural sunlight. It is one of the finest watches Rolex has ever made in my opinion – look at the wonderful gilt scale. A true marvel.

What is even more interesting to note is the sub-dial. Notice the fine circular lines on the left sub-dial – absolutely correct for this reference in 6238 with black dial and gold case. The circular lines are only noticeable on the left sub-dial and the right sub-dial almost looks glossy (but it is not). 

Let us take a look at the watch from the front – a normal view so to speak. Clean design, good proportions – just perfect (see picture below)!

The round outer case of the front reminding us strongly of the Explorer line with the smoothness. Later on with the Daytona introduction in 1963, this part would be replaced with a bezel insert (first in steel but then in plastic/ Bakelite) displaying the tachymeter scale.

It was meant to help drivers read their time measurement more clearly – but in my opinion they made the watch less beautiful by doing that.

What will this watch fetch at auction in May?

That is anybody’s guess but I can offer the following data.  A black dial gold 6238 Predaytona but with matte dial sold for CHF 317’000 back in 2015 and set a then world record for that reference. So in my opinion – the estimate of this watch is correct of CHF 250- 500’000. My best guess is that it will reach the middle of this estimate quite easily. The best case scenario is one that will see the watch reach near the high estimate. I would not be surprised by this.

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Final thoughts: a collector who turns up with this watch at any Rolex gathering will certainly stand above the crowd.

While I love the Daytona 6239 (it is only a matter of time before I find the right one for me) and the Panda 6263 is a cool design – the fact of the matter is that they are plentiful available. They are for sure collectible and beautiful but they are missing this factor of elusiveness and plain ‘wowness’ (please forgive me – I enjoy making up new words). Do me a favour when this Daytona travels the world in HK, London, New York soon) – take a good look at it. Compare it to a Panda or a another Daytona and see if you can feel and see the difference. When you hold it in your hand and look at it – it literally takes your breath away. 

And this is exactly how it should be with watches. Nothing more and nothing less.

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For collectors who are interested in more details concerning the 6238 Gold Predaytona – see our comprehensive report here.

*Caveat emptor: The author of this article owns a similar example of a gold 14k Predaytona.