9 Most Expensive Rolex Watches

The 9 Most Expensive Rolex Watches at a Glance

Price Note: The four “Four Seasons” Daytonas sold with zero buyer’s premium; their hammer prices equal the final amounts paid.

Paul Newman’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6239: $17,752,500

• Sale Details: October 26, 2017, Phillips New York (Hammer: $15.5M; Total: $17,752,500)
• Specifications: 37mm stainless steel case; manual-wind Caliber 722 (Valjoux 722 base); engraved stainless steel tachymeter bezel (calibrated to 200 units per hour); acrylic crystal; off-white exotic dial by Singer.

This 1968 Reference 6239 triggered the modern collector boom. Actress Joanne Woodward bought it at Tiffany & Co. in New York for Newman when he started racing cars during the production of the film Winning. She asked the store to engrave the steel caseback with “DRIVE CAREFULLY ME”.

Reference 6239 features a solid, engraved stainless steel bezel. Rolex introduced a sister reference in 1965, the 6241, specifically to offer a black acrylic (Bakelite) bezel insert. Newman’s personal watch is the classic steel-bezel 6239.

When Rolex first launched the exotic dial in the late 1960s, buyers rejected it. Its Art Deco font and square-tipped hash marks sat in dealer display cases for years. Newman wore his watch on a black leather military bund strap. Italian collectors noticed photos of Newman wearing it and began calling every exotic-dial Daytona a “Paul Newman.”

Newman wore the watch until 1984, when he handed it to James Cox, who was dating Newman’s daughter Nell and helping build a treehouse on the family property. When Cox consigned the watch to Phillips in 2017, bidding opened at $1 million and immediately jumped to $10 million on the first phone call, setting the all-time public record for any Rolex.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Summer” Ref. 126595 SARO: £10,300,000 (Approx. $13.66M)

• Sale Details: September 28, 2026, Phillips London (Zero Buyer’s Premium)
• Specifications: 40mm 18k Everose gold case; automatic Calibre 4131; natural turquoise dial; ruby chronograph sub-dials; bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut pink sapphires (approx. 4.32 carats); pink sapphire hour markers.

Rolex created four unique, gem-set Daytonas, one for each season, for a charity auction run by Aurel Bacs at Phillips London. Rolex sent the proceeds to the Roger Federer Foundation and Re:wild under its Perpetual Planet Initiative. Because it was an official charity sale, Phillips waived the buyer’s premium.

The “Summer” reference matched an 18k Everose gold case with a turquoise stone dial and dark ruby sub-dials. The reference suffix SARO stands for Saphirs Roses (pink sapphires). Thirty-six trapeze-cut pink sapphires line the bezel, and eleven pink sapphires (eight baguette-cut, three square-cut) serve as dial hour markers.

Even though Summer had fewer gem carats on its bezel (4.32 carats) than Winter and Spring (5.57 carats each), it drew the highest bids of the night. It remains the most expensive modern Rolex ever sold at auction.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Autumn” Ref. 126598 TML: £10,200,000 (Approx. $13.53M)

• Sale Details: September 28, 2026, Phillips London (Zero Buyer’s Premium)
• Specifications: 40mm 18k yellow gold case; automatic Calibre 4131; Australian mookaite jasper dial; green chrysoprase sub-dials; bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut green tourmalines (approx. 4.32 carats); green tourmaline hour markers.

“Autumn” served as the final lot of the London charity sale. In Rolex reference terminology, the suffix TML stands for Tourmaline. The bezel holds 36 trapeze-cut green tourmalines, and the dial uses matching green tourmaline hour markers.

Rolex paired the deep green tourmalines and green chrysoprase sub-dials with a dial cut from Australian mookaite jasper. Because mookaite is a natural stone with bands of deep red, mustard yellow, and cream, every dial cut shows a unique pattern. Two phone bidders fought over the watch, pushing the final hammer price to within £100,000 of the Summer model.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Winter” Ref. 126596 SABV: £10,000,000 (Approx. $13.26M)

• Sale Details: September 28, 2026, Phillips London (Zero Buyer’s Premium)
• Specifications: 40mm 950 platinum case; automatic Calibre 4131; blue crystal opal dial; lapis lazuli sub-dials; bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut sapphires in a blue-to-violet/fuchsia gradient (approx. 5.57 carats); 11 diamond hour markers.

“Winter” opened the Four Seasons auction and was the only watch in the group made of 950 platinum. The reference suffix SABV stands for Saphirs Bleus et Violaces (blue and violet sapphires). Its bezel does not use a single blue shade; instead, 36 trapeze-cut sapphires shift around the rim in a gradient from ice blue to violet and fuchsia.

Rolex paired this gradient bezel with a light-blue crystal opal dial and sub-dials cut from deep blue lapis lazuli. Unlike the other three season luxury watches that use colored gemstones for hour markers, Winter uses 11 diamonds (eight baguette-cut and three square-cut). Bidding opened straight at £10 million, where the hammer fell on the first call.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Spring” Ref. 126599 SAVL: £6,800,000 (Approx. $9.02M)

• Sale Details: September 28, 2026, Phillips London (Zero Buyer’s Premium)
• Specifications: 40mm 18k white gold case; automatic Calibre 4131; apple-green chrysoprase dial; purple lepidolite sub-dials; bezel set with 36 trapeze-cut violet/purple sapphires (approx. 5.57 carats); purple sapphire hour markers.

“Spring” features an 18k white gold case. The suffix SAVL stands for Saphirs Violets (violet sapphires), seen in the 36 trapeze-cut purple sapphires on the bezel and the matching purple sapphire hour markers.

Rolex paired this purple gem setting with an apple-green chrysoprase stone dial and lavender-purple lepidolite sub-dials. Like the rest of the seasonal set, it runs on Rolex’s in-house Calibre 4131, which features a 72-hour power reserve and a cut-out gold oscillating weight.

While it finished behind the other three seasonal watches, its 9.02 million result still tops every vintage Rolex sale except Newman’s 6239. The four seasonal watches raised £37.3 million ($49.5 million) combined.

Rolex Daytona Ref. 16599 SAAEC “Zenith Rainbow”: CHF 5,505,000 (Approx. $6.29M)

• Sale Details: November 8, 2024, Phillips Geneva (Hammer: CHF 4.5M; Total: CHF 5,505,000)
• Specifications: 40mm 18k white gold case; automatic Caliber 4030 (modified Zenith El Primero); pave diamond dial with blue sapphire hour markers; 44 baguette rainbow sapphires on the bezel.

Most watch buyers assume Rolex created the Rainbow Daytona in 2012 with references 116598RBOW and 116599RBOW. Rolex actually built this one-off piece in 1994 for a Middle Eastern client, 18 years before putting the concept into regular production. The code SAAEC stands for Saphirs Arc-en-Ciel (French for “Rainbow Sapphires”). This watch has two main differences from modern production Rainbows:

1. Reverse Gradient: Modern catalog Rainbow Daytonas arrange their sapphires clockwise starting with red at 12 o’clock. This 1994 piece runs the color spectrum in the opposite direction.
2. The Caliber 4030 Movement: It uses Rolex’s modified Zenith El Primero chronograph caliber. Rolex engineers lowered the beat rate from 36,000 vph to 28,800 vph, dropped the date wheel, replaced roughly half the components, and installed a free-sprung Breguet balance spring.

When Phillips auctioned the piece in Geneva in late 2024, it set the all-time record for any automatic Daytona.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Ref. 6062 “Monaco Black Dial”: €5,330,000 (Approx. $6.21M)

• Sale Details: October 19, 2025, Monaco Legend Group (Total with fees: €5,330,000 / approx. $6.21M)
• Specifications: 36mm 18k yellow gold Oyster case; automatic Caliber 655; glossy black lacquer dial; 6 diamond markers at odd hours; English/French calendar discs.

Rolex built only two vintage references that feature a triple calendar with a moonphase: the Reference 8171 “Padellone” and the Reference 6062. The 8171 used a non-waterproof snap-on caseback, while Rolex built the 6062 inside its waterproof, screw-down Oyster case.

This 2025 Monaco watch is often called a “Stelline,” but that label is incorrect. A Stelline dial features eight faceted gold star-shaped markers. This watch has a glossy black lacquer dial set with six square and baguette diamonds placed at the odd hours (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11).

Rolex made only three known yellow-gold Ref. 6062s with black diamond-set dials. One is the “Bao Dai,” which places five diamonds at the even hours. The Monaco watch places its diamonds at the odd hours, leaving room for the applied Rolex coronet to sit at its normal 12 o’clock position. The case arrived at auction unpolished with deep gold hallmarks, helping it pass the Bao Dai as the most expensive non-Daytona Rolex in history.

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6265 “The Unicorn”: CHF 5,937,500 (Approx. $5.94M)

• Sale Details: May 12, 2018, Phillips Geneva (Hammer: CHF 5.0M; Total: CHF 5,937,500)
• Specifications: 37mm 18k white gold case; manual-wind Caliber 727; black “Sigma” dial; white gold sub-dials; 18k white gold bark-finish bracelet.

During the four-digit manual-wind era (1963 to 1988), Rolex produced Daytonas only in stainless steel or 18k yellow gold, plus a small batch of 14k gold models for the United States. For decades, watchmakers thought rumors of an original vintage white gold Daytona were false.

Italian collector Auro Montanari, known as John Goldberger, found the single original white gold Ref. 6265. Rolex made it in 1970 as a special commission for a German retailer, who delivered it in 1971. The black dial bears lowercase Greek sigma markings at six o’clock, proving the hour markers and hands are solid white gold.

Goldberger put an 18k white gold bark-finish Rolex bracelet on the watch and gave the piece to Phillips in 2018, donating the entire sale amount to the Children Action foundation.

Paul Newman’s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6263 “Big Red”: $5,475,000

• Sale Details: December 12, 2020, Phillips New York (Hammer: $4.5M; Total: $5,475,000)
• Specifications: 37mm stainless steel case; manual-wind Caliber 727; black acrylic bezel insert; screw-down pushers; black dial with red “DAYTONA” text.

In 1983, Joanne Woodward gave Newman a second Daytona for their 25th wedding anniversary. Unlike his 1968 Ref. 6239, this was a Reference 6263 with screw-down pushers that increased water resistance to 50 meters, a black acrylic bezel, and a standard black dial with red “DAYTONA” lettering over the bottom register.

Woodward engraved this caseback with another message: “Drive slowly Joanne”. Newman wore this watch almost every day for the next twenty-five years. In 2008, shortly before he died, he gave it to his daughter Clea Newman Soderlund.

A standard steel Reference 6263 without celebrity ties sells between $90,000 and $130,000. Newman’s ownership and Woodward’s inscription added more than $5.3 million to its final price.

Also Read: Rolex 4‑Piece Off‑Catalog Daytona Set

Popular Sales Just Outside the Top 9

Recent auctions pushed several historic record holders down the rankings:

• Rolex Daytona Ref. 6270 “The King” (Oman Khanjar): Sold for HK$40,635,000 ($5.23 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2025. It is one of eight known yellow gold Daytonas ordered by Sultan Qaboos of Oman via Asprey of London, set with a baguette diamond bezel and pave diamond dial.
• Marlon Brando’s GMT-Master Ref. 1675 “Apocalypse Now”: Sold for CHF 4,582,500 (approx. $5.12 million) at Christie’s Geneva in November 2023. Brando removed the bezel himself while filming in the Philippines because Colonel Kurtz would not wear a shiny red-and-blue ring, and carved “M. Brando” into the steel caseback.
• Rolex Oyster Perpetual Ref. 6062 “Bao Dai”: Sold for CHF 5,066,000 (approx. $5.06 million) at Phillips Geneva in May 2017. Bought in 1954 by Vietnam’s final emperor, Bao Dai, it is the only known black-dial 6062 with diamond markers at the even hours (2, 4, 8, 10, 12).
• Rolex Antimagnetique Ref. 4113 Split-Seconds Chronograph: Sold for $4.72 million at FutureGrail Dubai in November 2025. Rolex never cataloged a split-seconds watch for the public. In 1942, the factory built 12 oversized 44mm examples (serial numbers 051313 through 051324) for Italian and British motorsport teams. Only nine survive.

Also Read: 7 Most Affordable Rolex Watches Ranked by Real Sale Prices

Auction Records vs. Brand-New Retail Prices

Auction records reflect vintage scarcity, not boutique prices. Brand-new Rolex watches are in two different pricing tiers:

1. Standard Catalog Pieces: The most expensive standard watch listed on Rolex’s consumer website is the 18k white gold Day-Date 36 (Ref. 128349RBR) with a pave diamond dial, rainbow sapphire markers, and diamond bracelet links, priced at $101,400. Standard platinum Daytonas (Ref. 126506) with baguette-diamond indices retail between $85,000 and $92,000.
2. Off-Catalog High Jewelry: Rolex prints a private, unlisted binder of gem-set models for VIP buyers. The diamond-covered GMT-Master II “Ice” (Ref. 116769TBR) set the factory list price record at $485,350. Current off-catalog models, such as gem-set Daytonas and GMT-Master IIs with natural stone dials, list between $250,000 and $400,000+.

What Drives Seven-Figure Rolex Prices?

Four factors explain why these watches fetch millions:

1. Direct Family Provenance: Paul Newman’s watches came straight from his family with signed letters, photographs, and matching caseback inscriptions. Marlon Brando’s GMT came with on-set photos and his own hand-carved name.
2. Production Scarcity: Rolex now produces over a million watches a year, but early output was tiny. The Reference 4113 came from a batch of 12; the white gold 6265 was a single piece; and the Ref. 6062 black diamond dial exists in only three known examples.
3. Unpolished Metal: Collectors pay top dollar for cases with sharp factory bevels and deep hallmarks. Polishing a vintage case or replacing parts during service can remove up to half its auction value.
4. Charity Dynamics: The 2026 Four Seasons auction and the 2018 Unicorn sale raised money for non-profit foundations. Bidders often bid higher when their money goes to philanthropic causes.

FAQs About Most Expensive Rolex Watches

What is the most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction?

Paul Newman’s personal 1968 Daytona Ref. 6239 is the most expensive Rolex ever sold, bringing $17,752,500 at Phillips in New York on October 26, 2017.

What is the difference between a Stelline and the Monaco Black Dial 6062?

The Stelline uses eight faceted gold star-shaped hour markers. The Monaco Black Dial Ref. 6062 uses six diamond markers set at the odd hours (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11). Both share the same triple-calendar moonphase movement, but their dial layouts are completely different.

Why does the Daytona dominate auction records?

The Cosmograph Daytona holds eight of the top nine auction records. Its racing history, celebrity ownership, low early production numbers, and unique dial variations make it the most collectible sports watch in the world.

Can you buy a seven-figure Rolex directly from a retail store?

No. Standard catalog models top out near $101,400, and secret off-catalog jewelry pieces reach around $485,000. Every Rolex that has sold for over $1 million is an ultra-rare vintage watch or a bespoke charity commission sold at auction.