If there are three Rolex models more desirable to vintage Rolex fans than the Paul Newman Daytona, the star dial Oyster Moonphase and the original Milgauss, I have yet to hear about them. But do you know what is the common thread running between them, apart from all hammering for over a million CHF at the Geneva auctions? They were all massive sales flops when originally introduced, so let’s look at them in chronological order.
Rolex Oyster Moonphase ref. 6062
Image credit: Phillips
The 6062 Oyster Moonphase was launched in 1950, the same year that Rolex introduced the new calibre 1030, their first with bi-directional winding. I mention this because the 6062 was actually powered by the old-fashioned calibre 620, first introduced in 1936. It was the most expensive watch in the catalogue until the 1956 introduction of the Day-Date, by which time it was looking decidedly old fashioned. In the 1958 catalogue, the 6062 was 10% cheaper than the 6611 Day-Date and merited but 4 lines of descriptive text, whilst the Day-Date was deemed worthy of 21 lines. The 6062 staggered on until 1960, by which time the 1030 calibre too had been binned in favour of the 15XX range.
Rolex Milgauss ref. 6543
Image credit: Christie’s
Rolex introduced the 6543 Milgauss just before CERN opened in 1957, the two organisations are just 20 minutes apart on the outskirts of Geneva. So Rolex would have known of the problems encountered by the engineers at CERN whose supposedly antimagnetic watches struggled in proximity to the huge electromagnets there. The Milgauss was immune to these problems as it had both an amagnetic escapement and an antimagnetic soft iron enclosure. The CERN engineers’ problems were real, but few other potential clients had the same requirements, and when the market saw competition from Omega, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and even Patek Philippe, the inevitable happened and the demand fell off the proverbial cliff.
Rolex Daytona
Image credit: Phillips
In the 1960s/70s, if you wanted a chronograph you went for a Heuer or a Breitling, or maybe an Omega Speedmaster, few clients opted for a Daytona as it offered no benefits over the competition and was considerably more expensive. And Rolex clients shunned them too, in their eyes it wasn’t really a Rolex – it wasn’t automatic, it wasn’t waterproof and it didn’t have a date. Essentially nobody bought them, I remember buying one from the son of the original owner in the mid 1990s, it was almost unused as he said his father hated having to wind it every day. It came with all the accoutrements, box, paper, tags etc and – most unusually – the original receipt. When I checked the serial number and looked at the receipt, I realised that they were 11 years apart. The watch bore a serial number from 1963 and the receipt was from 1974. That’s how popular the Daytona was.
What we forget, at our peril, is that rarity is often the result of how badly something sold in the first place, the ugly ducklings are finally swans.
Oracle Time