Television presenter Ellen spotted wearing a Rolex

Ellen DeGeneres has been spotted on the wrist with a vintage Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 6239 in stainless steel, fitted with an exotic dial — the configuration the collecting world universally calls the 'Paul Newman.' For a host whose cultural influence spans decades, the choice lands squarely in character: low-key in presentation, extraordinary in substance.

Rolex launched the Cosmograph reference 6239 in 1963, initially marketed under the name 'Le Mans' in European markets. Rolex USA pushed for the 'Daytona' designation to leverage the brand's official sponsorship of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the name stuck globally. The ref. 6239 is the founding chapter of that story — the first Daytona to wear the name on the dial. It runs the manually wound Valjoux 72 calibre, a robust ebauche with a column-wheel chronograph mechanism, 17 jewels, and a 45-hour power reserve. Case diameter sits at 37 mm, modest by today's standards but perfectly proportioned against the era's aesthetic.

The 'Paul Newman' designation applies to examples whose exotic dials feature a distinctive Art Deco typeface, contrasting subdial rings, and applied square indices — details that set them apart from standard-dial Daytonas. The nickname emerged after photographs surfaced of the actor and racing driver wearing exactly this configuration. The ref. 6239 represents the earliest and, for many specialists, the purest expression of the Paul Newman dial. Condition, originality of the dial, and tritium lume integrity drive value dramatically on these references.

Since 2017, when Newman's personal ref. 6239 sold at Phillips Geneva for $17.75 million — a world record for any wristwatch at auction at the time — collector appetite for the reference has never cooled. Even honest, unrestored examples in average condition command serious six-figure sums. The Rolex Daytona 6239 Paul Newman sits in a category where provenance and dial originality can mean a tenfold difference in price.

Ellen DeGeneres is a known vintage watch collector with eclectic taste. Wearing the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6239 places her alongside a small group of collectors and enthusiasts who understood the Paul Newman's significance long before the broader market caught up.