The Watch
Favoured by Paul Newman – who owned several variants – this specific style of Daytona is inextricably associated with his iconic image and thus now, informally bears his moniker.
Early examples in good condition are keenly sought by collectors and consequently, command very high prices when they appear on the market.
We learned from our client that this particular watch is a 1960s Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Reference 6239, in stainless steel, with the highly sought after “Panda” dial, which is in mint condition.
The Strap
Our brief was to develop a strap that not only complemented the watch, but also held true to the era from which it came.
In appreciation of the racing/military cuff-strap that Paul Newman favoured for his own Daytonas, our client chose this style as his starting point. All of our straps are bespoke so we can tailor each one to suit the specifics of any timepiece. With a smaller diameter case (36mm), this Paul Newman, and indeed many other 1960s watches, is more svelte than recent Daytonas; so whilst we were developing for it a cuff strap, we felt it needed to be sufficiently minimal to avoid overpowering the piece.
We worked on developing a strap with a shape for the cuff that suited not only the watch, but also suited the size of our client's wrist. Inspired by the colours of the Daytona, we chose English Burgundy Cordovan – lined in a contrasting black leather – for the cuff. Cordovan worked well for this because it is dense, has a lovely satin sheen and is relatively thin to avoid unnecessary bulk. The burgundy plays particularly well with the dial’s cream patina and red marker-band colours. The cuff has also been notched to allow better access to the winder.
For the strap we chose black vegetable-tanned shoulder leather because of its muted sheen and relative flexibility. It is comfortable, polishes up a treat and ages beautifully.
The keeper, in burgundy cordovan, is designed to visibly contrast with the black of the strap and to complement the cuff and dial.
Both cuff and strap were hand-stitched in black beeswaxed linen thread before being burnished by hand to smooth and seal the edges. We prefer not to use edge dyes and sealants on our straps, although this is sometimes necessary when the leather can't hold a natural edge polish, eg exotics. We like to celebrate the strata of the relative leathers on our lined straps rather than disguise them.
