The White Gold ref. 6265 Rolex Daytona Sold for CHF 5,937,500 in 2018
The Rolex Daytona White Gold 'Unicorn' ref. 6265
Nicknamed ‘The Unicorn’ because of its elusive nature, the watch is understood to be the only known white gold Rolex Daytona to ever be produced.
Rolex, however, did make many white gold timepieces throughout the 1970s. This was typically always utilized on their famous Day-Dates during that period, as it was their most luxurious model.
This adds to the allure of this ‘Unicorn’ timepiece, why is a sports watch covered in precious metal? Not a whole lot is known about the Rolex Daytona ref. 6256, except that it was manufactured in 1970 and delivered to a German retailer the following year.
Since the Daytona’s first launch in 1963, most models were created in stainless steel, however there were some models produced in yellow gold. This unique white gold Daytona from the early 1970s is believed to be the only one in existence. Watch manufacturers are no stranger to special requests from elusive clients, as we had discussed in the Vacheron Constantin ref. 3620 made for Francisco Martinez Llano. Other examples being Patek’s relationship with James Ward Packer, Henry Graves Jr., and J.B. Champion. The best guess is that Rolex made this as a custom request for a very exclusive client.
The Rolex Daytona White Gold 'Unicorn' ref. 6265
The watch features a black sigma dial with white gold indexes, a white gold case, and white gold bracelet that was not original to the watch. The white gold bracelet was added from a period correct, white gold reference 1507 Oyster Date. There are several service marks left on the case back between 1971 and 2010, which suggests it was serviced several times by Rolex themselves.
As you can see, the watch is in incredible condition, which helped it fetch the mind-blowing price of CHF 5,937,500 in 2018. The previous owner, John Goldberger, decided to sell the watch to help those who were less fortunate. This was a change of heart as previously; he had no intentions of ever letting it go.
The watch headlined the ‘Daytona Ultimatum’, which sold alongside 32 iconic Daytona’s, with proceeds benefitting the Children Action in 2018.
Even in the exclusive world of watch collecting, there are always collectors that have more access than you, who get to have special access to the designers in the watch manufacturers themselves. In the case of the Rolex Daytona White Gold 'Unicorn' ref. 6265, we still don’t know who that person is.
By: Eric Mulder
Read more:
“The Only Known Vintage White Gold Rolex Daytona Makes Its Auction Debut to Benefit Children Action.” Phillips, 2018, https://www.phillips.com/article/30067876/only-known-white-gold-rolex-daytona-reference-6265.