A new world record was recently broken at auction for a 6238 Rolex Pre-daytona (see details here).
While every watch collector on this planet seems to know the Rolex ‘Daytona’, not many Rolex collectors are familiar with a much rarer, often more valuable and more elegant (that is my personal opinion) reference -the Rolex 6238 Pre-daytona.
The 6238 is an important milestone for Rolex in many ways. It was the last Rolex chronograph before the legendary Daytona would be introduced in 1964 – the 6239. While the Daytona with the tachymetre printed on the bezel (and not the dial) is better known, the more interesting reference in terms of rarity and value is the 6238.
Many purists agree, the 6238 with the polished bezel and tachymeter written on the dial is the more elegant and refined version.
A perfect analogy comes to mind from the classic car world.
The Daytona is the DB5 Aston Martin of the classic car world- well known, popular and quite rare. But the more exclusive line and (in many cases) more valuable version is the DB4 even though it stands in the shadow of the DB 5. It is the same with the 6238.
This is where I like to come in. And write about a reference that has been, quite frankly, overlooked. Please see here for an in-depth report on the 6238.
(For a picture of the black dial and steel version – please see post here).
