Entrepreneur Fawaz Mubarak Al-Hasawi spotted wearing a Rolex

Kuwaiti entrepreneur Fawaz Al-Hasawi was photographed wearing a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6239 bearing the iconic "Paul Newman" exotic dial, a piece dated to approximately 1968 and representing the pinnacle of vintage Rolex collecting. A comparable example realized $125,000 at Christie's in December 2019, underscoring just how seriously the market prices these survivors.

The ref. 6239 holds a specific place in Daytona chronology as one of the earliest references — introduced alongside the 6238 in 1963 — distinguished by its screw-down pump pushers and the "Daytona" text printed in red beneath the tachymeter bezel. Power came from the manually wound Valjoux 72 caliber, a robust 17-jewel movement running at 18,000 vph and offering a 40-hour power reserve. Case diameter measured 37mm in stainless steel, and the ref. 6239 remained in production through the early 1970s. The "Paul Newman" designation refers specifically to the exotic dial variant featuring Art Deco-style subsidiary registers with alternating square and round indices, a contrasting outer ring, and a distinct font — a dial configuration that Rolex itself called "exotic" in period literature.

The collector significance of this dial variant cannot be overstated. For decades these watches sold at modest premiums, if at all. The October 2017 Phillips auction of Paul Newman's personal ref. 6239 — hammering at $17.75 million — fundamentally altered the landscape. Suddenly, every exotic-dial Daytona from the 6239 through 6265 family entered a new stratosphere of demand. Originality of dial, case sharpness, and provenance drive value dramatically, with tritium lume plots and unpolished cases commanding the highest premiums.

Al-Hasawi is no casual enthusiast. His reputation as the "King of Daytona" is well established among Gulf-region collectors and on the international vintage circuit, where his holdings reportedly span multiple rare Daytona references across different eras. Wearing a circa-1968 6239 — rather than displaying it — reflects a collector philosophy of genuine engagement with the pieces.

On the current grey market, clean exotic-dial ref. 6239 examples in honest, unpolished condition trade firmly between $80,000 and $180,000 depending on dial color, lume condition, and provenance, with exceptional examples regularly exceeding that ceiling at specialist auction.