The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 6263 arrived at the beginning of the 1970s, alongside its steel-bezel sibling the 6265. It has a stainless steel Oyster case of 37 mm (Phillips lists 37.5 mm) with a screw-down case back, a black acrylic tachymeter bezel insert, and a black or silver dial with contrasting subdials. Inside is the manually wound Valjoux calibre 727 with 17 jewels, running at 21,600 vibrations per hour against the 18,000 of the earlier Valjoux calibres. It is a three-register chronograph with small seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour counters. Its historical importance lies in the larger screw-down pushers and crown, which replaced the pump pushers of the 6239, 6241 and 6238 and made the Daytona properly water resistant.

The screw-down pushers did two jobs: they sealed the case and acted as a safety lock against accidental starting of the chronograph. Later dials carry an oversized red DAYTONA above the 6 o’clock counter, which gave the “Big Red” nickname. Some dials were co-signed by retailers such as Tiffany & Co. The 6263 was one of the last Daytonas with a hand-wound Valjoux movement. Phillips states that the 6263 and 6265 were officially discontinued in 1987, and Sotheby’s notes that in 1988 the Valjoux was replaced by the automatic Zenith-based calibre 4030 in the reference 16520, ending 25 years of Valjoux-powered Daytonas. The best-known example belonged to Paul Newman, a gift from Joanne Woodward engraved on the back, which he wore often in the 1980s.

Collectors regard the 6263 as the mature form of the manual Daytona, keeping the vintage proportions while adding real-world water resistance. Auction houses describe Daytona chronographs as among the most iconic and coveted collectible wristwatches, and the market reflects it: a Tiffany-signed 6263 sold at Phillips Hong Kong for HK$1,386,000, while Sotheby’s has offered standard examples with estimates of US$50,000 to 100,000. Paul Newman’s own 6263 “Big Red” sold at Phillips New York in December 2020 for about US$5.48 million, which WatchesbySJX reported as the third most valuable Rolex sold at auction at the time. Condition, dial variant and originality drive prices strongly. The reference 6263 is no longer produced; Rolex continues the line with the current automatic Cosmograph Daytona.