Last night, Paul Newman's personal Paul Newman Daytona sold for a record-breaking $17.75 million, making it the most expensive wristwatch ever sold. Ever since news of the watch's consignment to Phillips broke in the Wall Street Journal on June 1, 2016, the watch world has been buzzing. What would it sell for? Who would it sell to? What would happen after the sale?
We have covered this watch extensively, from placing it on the cover of the HODINKEE Magazine, Volume 1, to going hands-on with it and featuring it on Friday Live last week. In the week leading up to the auction, we spoke to a slew of watch world insiders, including dealers, collectors, auctioneers, and HODINKEE readers, to see what they had to say about the Paul Newman Daytona and what it means to the watch world and collecting as a whole.
Now, with the sale behind us, and the dust beginning to settle, let's take a look at the story of how a stainless steel chronograph made horological history.
