The mother of all Rolex Daytonas goes for a princely sum.

US$17,752,500. That’s the winning bid for the legendary Paul Newman Daytona, once owned by the late actor/racecar driver/philanthropist himself. The lucky (and clearly deep-pocketed) winner? A bidder on the phone who sealed the deal after a 12-minute bidding war. At that price, the Paul Newman Daytona has set a record for achieving the highest price for any wristwatch at an auction. 

Paul Newman

As early as June this year, we got wind of the Phillips ‘Winning Icons’ auction that would take place in October where the legendary timepiece would go under the hammer. It was significant not least because, prior till then, no one could be sure where Paul Newman’s Daytona was.

It only emerged, when the watch was offered for auction, that it was in the possession of Nell (Paul’s daughter) Newman’s one-time boyfriend, James Cox. Newman himself had given it to Cox when the latter revealed he didn’t own a watch (more here).

While it may now have changed hands again, the Paul Newman Daytona loses none of its significance and reminds us all of the sentimentality ascribed to timepieces—one of the reasons horology is so close to our hearts in the first place.