Mark Zuckerberg kicked off 2025 in style by sharing a heartwarming photo of himself with his wife, Priscilla Chan, on the Meta-owned social media platforms. “Happy New Year and here’s to even bigger things in 2025,” the billionaire captioned the post. Continuing the recently picked-up habit, Zuckerberg wore a different luxury timepiece for his latest social media appearance. After recently expanding his collection with some really cool and rare timepieces, including the world’s thinnest watch, the Meta CEO decided to rock a Rolex to ring in the new year with a bang.
Zuckerberg has significantly expanded his watch collection over the last few months, quickly going from zero luxury watches to a prominent collection of highly collectible pieces. However, this is the first time Zuckerberg has been spotted wearing a Rolex watch. Obviously, it had to be a special one. Demonstrating his knack for collecting watches, the 40-year-old wore an extremely rare and highly desirable vintage 18k yellow gold Rolex Daytona Cosmograph ref 6239, famously known as the “Paul Newman”.
Introduced in the early 1960s, the Rolex Cosmograph—later renamed the Daytona—was designed to rival the popular chronographs of the era, such as those by Omega and Heuer. While Omega had secured its legacy as the “space watch” and Heuer was synonymous with Formula 1 racing, Rolex lacked a definitive association. To carve its niche, the brand turned to NASCAR and named its chronograph after the legendary Daytona International Speedway. The rest, as they say, is history.
The reference 6239, the first Daytona model, stands as one of Rolex’s most iconic chronographs. It was powered by the caliber 722-1, a refined version of the Valjoux 72 movement modified by Rolex.
Most 6239 models were produced in stainless steel with standard “non-exotic” dials. Only a tiny fraction featured the now-famous Paul Newman dial, characterized by stepped, contrasting minute track rings and the art-deco style font that is used for the numerals on their sub-dial, chronograph registers.
Ironically, these versions struggled to sell at the time despite a retail price of just $210 (approximately $1,600 today). Today, however, the Paul Newman Daytona ranks among the most coveted pieces in the world of watch collecting.
While steel 6239s appear on the market with some regularity, yellow gold versions are far rarer, offering collectors an extraordinary opportunity. This is especially true for examples featuring a champagne Paul Newman dial, like the one owned by Zuckerberg. It is rumored that less than 300 examples still exist, making it one of the rarest Rolex watches. As a result, a well-preserved example can easily sell for around $900,000.
