Entrepreneur Alberto Galassi spotted wearing a Rolex

Alberto Galassi, CEO of the Ferretti Group — the Italian multinational behind yacht brands including Riva, Pershing, and Itama — was recently photographed wearing one of the most historically significant timepieces in the vintage watch market: a stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 'Paul Newman' reference 6263. The sighting is a reminder that at the upper echelons of Italian industry, serious watch collecting is less a hobby than a statement of character.

The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6263 was produced from approximately 1971 to 1987 and represents the final evolution of the manual-wind Daytona line before Rolex introduced the self-winding cal. 4030. Powered by the Valjoux 727 movement — a robust, column-wheel-controlled ebauche offering a 17-jewel construction and column wheel chronograph mechanism — the 6263 is distinguished from its sister reference 6265 by its screw-down pushers and a bakelite tachymeter bezel rather than a metal one. The case measures 37mm in stainless steel, modest by contemporary standards but perfectly proportioned for the period.

The 'Paul Newman' designation refers to a subset of exotic dials fitted to several Daytona references, characterized by art-deco-style subsidiary dials with alternating square and round hour markers, a contrasting outer chapter ring, and distinctive typeface. These dials were originally a slow seller — dealers reportedly struggled to move them. Today, the Paul Newman dial on a ref. 6263 in steel is among the most aggressively pursued lots at major auction houses, with pristine examples exceeding $1 million USD. The combination of screw-down pushers and bakelite bezel on the 6263 makes it the more visually dramatic of the two key references.

Galassi's professional world — presiding over a luxury marine group with revenues exceeding €1 billion — places him squarely in the demographic that gravitates toward vintage Rolex as both cultural artifact and tangible asset. The ref. 6263 suits that profile precisely: it is low-profile in the street, devastating under scrutiny.

On the current market, stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6263 Paul Newman examples in collector-grade condition trade consistently between €350,000 and €500,000 on the grey market, with exceptional provenance or rare dial variations pushing well beyond. No official retail price exists for vintage references; the 6263 has been out of production for nearly four decades.