Vintage Rolex Daytona ref 6263 Big Red Dial

This "Big Red" Daytona is in overall great vintage condition. The case is overall good condition with normal signs of wear and some scratches; the case appears to have been polished. The numbers are clearly visible between the lugs. The inside caseback is stamped "6262," it was not uncommon for Rolex to use different reference number casebacks for similar models interchangeably. This watch has retained its correct P301 pushers. The bezel is in great condition with some scratches throughout and has some small areas of slight delamination. The dial is in overall excellent condition with light patina. The white sub-registers have remained super clean with hardly any patina/ wear. The red "Daytona" text has remained vibrant. The lume plots on the dial have developed patina and have aged to a lovely yellow color; all of the plots are round and intact. The hands are in great condition with light patina; the central seconds hand has developed a bit more patina. The watch has a 78350 bracelet with XX links and no. 571 end links; the clasp is stamped "VD" indicating it's from 1979. The bracelet is in overall great condition with normal signs of wear and a bit of stretch between the links.

Rolex came out with the Daytona in 1963 and it is still in production today. Rolex came out with the reference 6263 around 1971 and this would be the last generation of the manually wound Daytona. The defining characteristics of the reference 6263 are the screw down style pushers and the black acrylic bezel. Rolex offered this model in a few variations in stainless steel. Rolex offered them with a black dial with white sub registers, like the example we have here today or with a silver dial and black registers. Rolex also offered the 6263 with an exotic black or white dial and these are known as Paul Newman Daytona's. Rolex also offered the 6263 in 14k and 18k gold. 

The example we are offering here has the black dial with red "Daytona" text on the dial and collectors refer to these as the "Big Red" Daytona's. Taking that one step further, when looking at the “Daytona” text it is spaced a little above the register and collectors call these the “Floating Red Daytona.” This watch is coming directly from the son of the original owner who got it as a Christmas gift in the early 1980s from his father-in-law. The story goes that this Christmas has been dubbed “The Watch Christmas” because the father-in-law got his son-in-law this Daytona and his wife (his daughter) a ladies Datejust. The original owner was an electrical engineer at NASA and mostly wore the watch while on the job. They lived near Cape Canaveral. It’s interesting to note that this watch is a circa 1978 and the watch was purchased new a couple years later, so it just shows how these Daytona’s weren’t flying off the shelves like they do today – how things have changed!

The 6263 is one of the most desirable watches and we have seen a real uptick in demand over the last few years. Collectors tend to gravitate towards the 6263 because of the black acrylic bezel and screw down pushers giving the watch an aggressive, yet classic aesthetic.