Watch Paparazzi

Footballer Luis Figo spotted wearing Rolex

Luis Figo, the Portuguese maestro who won the Ballon d'Or in 2000 and defined an era of football excellence at Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan, was recently spotted wearing what many collectors consider the single most important vintage Rolex ever produced: a stainless steel Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 6239 with a black matte 'Paul Newman' exotic dial.

The ref. 6239 was the first Daytona reference, introduced by Rolex in 1963. It measures 37mm in stainless steel, houses the manually wound Valjoux 72 ebauche — a column-wheel chronograph movement known for its crisp action and long-term reliability — and was fitted with a screw-down pump pushers design that would evolve across subsequent references. The case was offered with an acrylic crystal and the now-legendary 'Oyster' bracelet or leather strap. Production ran until approximately 1969, overlapping with the ref. 6241 which introduced a black bezel variant.

The 'Paul Newman' designation refers to the exotic dial variant, characterized by its distinctive Art Deco-style sub-dial chapter rings, contrasting register colors, square-tipped markers, and the railroad-track minute scale running inside the outer chapter ring. The name derives from actor Paul Newman, who famously wore his own ref. 6239 — a gift from wife Joanne Woodward — for decades. When that specific watch sold at Phillips in 2017 for $17.75 million, it reset the entire vintage market. Black matte dial examples of the 6239 are among the most sought-after variants, as the matte surface ages with exceptional character and the contrast with the exotic registers is particularly striking.

For collectors, the ref. 6239 Paul Newman sits at the apex of vintage Rolex desirability. Condition, dial originality, case sharpness, and provenance all influence value dramatically. Unpolished cases with crisp lugs command significant premiums, and any signs of dial restoration immediately reduce worth in serious collector circles.

Figo's choice signals both genuine horological taste and financial substance. With grey-market prices consistently exceeding $230,000 USD — and exceptional auction results pushing well beyond that figure — the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6239 Paul Newman remains a benchmark of vintage watch collecting worldwide.