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Seeking Expert Insight on Rolex Daytona 6239 (Serial: 1695131) Unusual Serial, Rare Dial, Provenance

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Hello everyone,

I’m looking for expert opinions on a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ref. 6239 with serial 1695131. Two specialists in my local area have opened and inspected it and confirmed the following:

-The watch is 100% genuine.
  • The movement is extremely well preserved, with no tarnish and only evidence of older maintenance.
  • The dial shows wear but appears to be a rare configuration that is difficult to find today.
  • The specialist described the serial number as unusual, but authentic, noting they had seen this type of numbering in examples bought in Germany during the late 1960s.
  • Caseback correctly marked 6239 / C.R.S.
  • Bracelet is stamped 4 / 68 (4th quarter 1968).
  • Rolex themselves authenticated the watch but declined opening it due to moisture traces under the dial.

This watch has been in my family since new. Its story is unusual, but I’m including it in case provenance matters to collectors.

  • It was purchased in Germany in 1968, where my father was stationed at a U.S. military base.
  • He had been exiled from Poland in 1966 for involvement in early activity that later became part of the Solidarity movement.
  • He was closely acquainted with Lech Wałęsa.
  • My father served two years in the U.S. military, then migrated to a country outside Europe in 1969, where many Polish political exiles relocated.
  • He stopped wearing the Rolex in 1976 after being arrested upon returning to Poland. He believed travelling on a Foreign passport would protect him, but he was detained and faced prison or execution.
  • The only reason he survived was that the official handling his case had previously been his subordinate (and secretly left-leaning) during his U.S. service, and assumed my father was a fellow "Comrade."
  • I was born during his detention. Upon release, he changed my Polish birth name to an English one, and disowned his birth country.
  • The watch also saved his life in a military boating accident in 1968, and the bracelet shows denting from that incident.

Any insight into dial rarity, movement originality, and approximate market value given condition & provenance would be greatly appreciated.

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dsio
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A one owner Paul Newman, that isn’t something you see every day. It’s worth a lot, the kind of piece that needs to be listed in a major international auction.

You’re going to get flooded with offers on it and every dealer who sees it will try to convince you that they’re “the only one you can trust” because there is enough margin in to buy an entry level house.
 
Nissestr
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dsio dsio
A one owner Paul Newman, that isn’t something you see every day. It’s worth a lot, the kind of piece that needs to be listed in a major international auction.

You’re going to get flooded with offers on it and every dealer who sees it will try to convince you that they’re “the only one you can trust” because there is enough margin in to buy an entry level house.
Perhaps regular case and just the newman dial, as seen in bezel?

Edit: regular 6239*
 
Dan S
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Except for the last line of the OP, this reads like an AI-generated sales listing.

But taking the post at face-value, assuming everything you say is accurate, it's obviously very valuable. Rare and desirable, although the condition will hold it back because the very top collectors may stay away. It's the type of watch where only a well-advertised auction will determine the true value. Buyers will need to decide whether they believe the story, and then decide if they like the watch.

I really don't think you need additional crowd-sourced opinions at this point. You must know who the key experts are and you can contact them directly. Certainly I would never attempt to authenticate or put a value on a watch like this based on a few photos of a cased watch behind a scratched crystal, and an unverifiable story from a stranger. Why not contact Phillips, let them research it and sell it, and see how it does?
Edited:
 
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Dan S Dan S
Except for the last line of the OP, this reads like an AI-generated sales listing.

But taking the post at face-value, assuming everything you say is accurate, it's obviously very valuable. Rare and desirable, although the condition will hold it back because the very top collectors may stay away. It's the type of watch where only a well-advertised auction will determine the true value. Buyers will need to decide whether they believe the story, and then decide if they like the watch.

I really don't think you need additional crowd-sourced opinions at this point. You must know who the key experts are and you can contact them directly. Certainly I would never attempt to authenticate or put a value on a watch like this based on a few photos of a cased watch behind a scratched crystal, and an unverifiable story from a stranger. Why not contact Phillips, let them research it and sell it, and see how it does?
I am definitiely not AI. 😀

My birth certificate is certainly verifiable. It clearly shows the name change, within weeks of my birth. But anyone can choose to believe that is just coincidence. I don't doubt my father's story either, as he told me this his whole life. To each his own.

My mother also told me of her fear of raising two kids alone were my father to be inprisoned or executed. Her own father was beaten to death by the bolsheviks, and she had to flee Poland. My father's detension was a very emotional time for everyone.

I still want crowd-sourced opinions because I am not a collector, and have been made several all cash offers that made me blink several hundred time. It made me think this watch is far more valuable than anyone is willing share with me.

But thnks for the Auction advice. It may be the only way forward.
 
cristos71
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I still want crowd-sourced opinions because I am not a collector, and have been made several all cash offers that made me blink several hundred time. It made me think this watch is far more valuable than anyone is willing share with me.

But thnks for the Auction advice. It may be the only way forward.
You could try Mike Wood here:

http://www.theoldwatchshop.com/

He is also a very big collector and has a good name in the vintage Rolex world. I'd think he would be able to give you some honest advice.
 
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