Rolex 6262 Review by Raymond Lee Jewelers

Presenting a Rolex 6262 review. Rolex ref. 6262 is an extremely rare vintage Daytona with a Valjoux 727 movement. The Rolex 6262 featured in this article is in excellent condition with all of its original parts and is for sale at our retail jewelry store Raymond Lee Jewelers in Boca Raton.

Rolex – a legendary brand in the horological industry, a status symbol in the world of the elites, the most prominent Swiss watch brand across the globe.

The Swiss luxury watchmaker founded by Hans WIlsdorf is sought after by everyone, pending one has the means to purchase a Rolex. Rolex watches, especially vintage models, cost a pretty penny. For collectors, vintage Rolex is what they crave.

If you were to ask a knowledgeable watch collector “what watch would you choose if you could only keep one?” It’s likely they will choose a vintage Rolex Daytona, even if they have some of the most high-end, expensive watches the world has to offer.

Why? Because the Daytona is iconic, illustrious, and extremely desirable due to its classy and classic design, useful chronograph complications, and the history behind the Daytona series and the Rolex brand as a whole. Furthermore, it’s one of the most versatile watches you will ever find. It was made for daily wear, for essentially any occasion.

The only issue with Daytona watches is they aren’t easy to obtain. It has been 30 years since the first self-winding Daytona was released, and stainless steel versions continue to be one of the most challenging watches to buy new from authorized Rolex dealers. Usually, dealers save the new releases for their best clients, and if you aren’t one of those special customers, you will be on a long waiting list that ranges from one to five years.

Either way, it’s worth the wait…

Today we are featuring a special, vintage Rolex Daytona – The rare Rolex 6262. This particular Rolex Cosmograph 6262 has a conventional Daytona dial rather than the Paul Newman dial. The best part is…we have this pre owned Rolex 6262 for sale, and it’s in excellent condition.

HISTORY OF THE DAYTONA & ROLEX 6262

1963, the year Rolex released the first of a historical series of mechanical chronograph watches called…The Cosmograph Daytona.

Yet, something casual watch enthusiasts don’t know is, Daytona is actually a spin-off name of the original Rolex Cosmograph. The first Cosmograph was introduced in 1963. It wasn’t until 1965 when they coined the series Daytona. You will notice this as the watches before 1965 didn’t have “Daytona” on the dial.

The official name Daytona was set after Rolex’s famous collaboration with the 24 Hours of Daytona, a sports car endurance race held yearly at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

To this day, the series has also kept the original Cosmograph name on the dial and in their marketing efforts.

Where does the name Cosmograph and Daytona come from?

At the time of the development of this series of mechanical chronographs, there was great media attention surrounding the exploration of outer space. Rolex was particularly interested in being part of this movement. Therefore, they registered the name Cosmograph and designated it to their three subdial watches that were soon to be released.

Concurrently, in the early 60s, Rolex was dipping their toes in the realm of car racing, which was when NASCAR was gaining mass popularity. The Cosmograph naturally became nicknamed as “Daytona”, extensively amongst watch enthusiasts, even before they placed the name on the dial. So, in the 70s, it was officially named the Rolex Daytona and every watch had Daytona placed on the dial.

Models of the Daytona from 1963 to the 1980s were produced in small quantities, which make most of them pretty rare.

The first Cosmograph – Rolex 6239

Although Rolex introduced a more modern Chronograph watch in 1955, it wasn’t until 1963 that they released the first chronograph Cosmograph, Reference 6239. The main change the Cosmograph brought was an inverse color scheme from the main dial to the subdials – a feature that makes Daytonas so distinguishable.

The new appearance made for a sportier, more combative look in comparison to the flush dials that preceded it. Another big change was the relocation of the tachymetric scale. The usual printed tachymetric scale on the outer board was removed. They instead engraved a tachymeter on the bezel, with the intention to increase readability of the chrono indicators.

From 1965 to 1969, they released two other references – 6240 and 6241. 6240 was an Oyster and 6241 was not.

1970s – The Rolex 6262 

Now, to the feature of this article, the Rolex 6262, produced for only a single year, making it ultra rare.

The 6262 was a very similar design to the ref 6239, with its inverse dial and non-oyster case, push pumpers, and engraved bezel…except the 6262 had a new and improved movement, the Valjoux 727.

The Valjoux 727, a manual wind with 727 beats at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (vph) was 3,600 more vph that the Valjoux 722 equipped in the Rolex 6239. Many people ask -“What’s the difference between the 6262 and 6239?” – well, that’s the answer.

At the time of its production, it wasn’t a good seller. This is why it was phased out so quickly, dismissed for newer, more advanced references.

However, Rolex 6262 would go on to become one of the rarest, vintage Rolex Daytona in history.

Now, let’s talk Rolex 6262 characteristics…

Rolex 6262 BLACK DIAL

This Rolex 6262 has a black dial with silvered (albeit cream-ish) subdials. Both “Rolex Cosmograph” and “Daytona” are in white lettering.

The hour markers are long, facetted luminous rectangles, placed at the 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11.

There are seconds, minutes and hour hands with lume. The minute and hour hands have strong corners and the seconds hand is slim to a pointed arrow which extends all the way to the edge of the dial.

Paul Newman Daytona vs Conventional Daytona

You will notice that when compared to a Paul Newman Daytona, this dial’s color extends to the edge of the dial. All Paul Newman Daytona watches have a seconds chapter ring, of an inverse color, on the outer board of the dial.

Furthermore, the conventional Daytona seen here has a metallic dial, unlike the Newman fully printed and inked dial.

SUBDIALS

As with all Daytona watches, it has three sub registers – constant seconds, 30 minute, and 12 hours.

The main markers on each of the subdials have a distinct squared, blocky appearance, making them clearly visible from a distance.

Additionally, the subdials are carved with subtle, evenly placed circle grooves, which start from the center and stop about 2/3rds of the way up to the edge.

T SWISS T Marking

Rolex ref. 6262, like the later ref. 6264, has a “T Swiss T” mark at the bottom of the dial. The mark means the dial contains luminous tritium in the indices, which emit less than 7.5 mCi. Also, it means that the watch is Swiss.

Contrasting Colors

Original Daytonas, like this ref. 6262, all had single color dials with contrasting subdials. Most commonly, a black dial with silver/white subdials or white dial with black subdials. The contrast really makes the dial pop and it increases legibility tenfold.

SINGER

A noteworthy point to make here is that Rolex didn’t make the dials themselves. They outsourced this to a company called Singer, a common practice in the horological industry at the time. Singer made their mark on the back of the dial by impressing their brand name, always in the same place.

The Illustrious ROLEX 6262 “BLUE” Daytona 

Many watch collectors seek to obtain the “Blue” Daytona 6262.

In fact, it is the same version as the one featured here. However, the “Daytona” is of blue lettering simply due to an aging process of the white lettering which turns the white to a blue hue over time.

Vintage Daytona PUMP PUSHERS

The Rolex 6262 isn’t an Oyster. Oyster cases use screw down pushers and will have the words “Oyster” on the dial.

Instead, Rolex 6262 embraced the push-down (Pump Pusher) buttons and as you can see the ref 6262 here has the originals perfectly intact making it even more appealing to the serious watch collector.

With that being said, because the watch uses pump pushers, it is not as waterproof as an Oyster case. The screw down pushers of an Oyster case provides enhanced water resistance.

Although screw down pushers was first introduced in 1965 with the 6240 reference, the pump pushers weren’t completely phased out until 1972, which is why the 6262, created in 1970, still has the pump pushers.

The last Daytona reference utilizing the pump pushers was Rolex 6264.

Rolex 6262 STEEL BEZEL

The stainless steel bezel has a tachymeter engraved into the bezel, rather than the chapter ring that you see on Paul Newman Daytonas.

The tachymeter on the bezel is calibrated for 200 units per hour and is intended for car-racing drivers.

A tachometer scale is used to calculate a speed based on travel time…or to measure distance traveled based on speed.

Rolex 6262 STEEL CASE

Ref 6262 is a smaller size case, at 37mm diameter, which was the style of the day back in the 60s and 70s. It is a tonneau-shaped, water-resistant case, albeit not as resistant as Oyster cases due to the pump pushers as mentioned above. It’s entirely made of corrosion resistant stainless steel, made to last as if it was created by an alchemist. The dial is covered by an acrylic crystal.

The back of the case, you will find a blank caseback, as are all Daytonas, excluding the specially stamped 24 Hour Daytona edition.

We like the clean caseback as it is more comfortable and won’t leave markings on your skin, like some casebacks with engravings do.

The caseback is stamped on the inside with the correct number of 6262. We make this point because some of the ref. 6262 models have 6239 stamped on their caseback. This is because Rolex used leftover casebacks from the ref 6239 on many of the Rolex 6262s.

Speaking of inside the case, let’s talk about the then-new and improved movement that was introduced by Rolex with ref. 6262.

VALJOUX 727 Movement

The Valjoux 727 features a calibre 727 nickel-finished lever movement. It has 17 jewels and maintains 21,600 beats per hour – a substantial improvement from the previous model’s calibre 722.

The Valjoux 727 is a manual movement, so you need to manually wind it daily. An aspect many watch buyers of the day didn’t appreciate. This fact, along with the pump pushers instead of screw down pushers, forced Rolex to sell the 6262 at a significant discount.

For those who took advantage of that and still own a Rolex 6262, it surely paid off big time. Nowadays, Daytonas with a Rolex Calibre 727 are very rare and extremely collectible.

Furthermore, this movement has proven to be extraordinarily reliable and accurate. If an Armageddon was ever to take place, this is the movement you would want on your wrist.

Oyster Bracelet

This particular Rolex 6262 has its original stainless steel 78350 bracelet with 14 links and 571 end links. It is still in excellent condition. The clasp is too. It is still stiff from factory tolerances and works without fail at all times.

Rolex 6262 For Sale at Raymond Lee Jewelers of Boca Raton

All in all, we are quite lucky to have a Rolex 6262 in such fantastic condition. We are currently listing the Vintage Rolex Daytona 6262 for sale at our retail jewelry store, Raymond Lee Jewelers in Boca Raton.

The watch is completely original and is in excellent condition. It comes with the original box. If you are interested, please inquire via the contact form below. You can also stop by or make an appointment with one of our Rolex specialists anytime.

Address & Phone Number:
22191 Powerline Road #12b  – Boca Raton, FL 33433
561-750-7808

About Raymond Lee Jewelers

Raymond Lee Jewelers is one of South Florida’s best sales and service centers for luxury watches. We are a family owned and operated business located in Boca Raton.

Raymond Lee Jewelers has spent the last three decades building a solid reputation, which has earned us an A+ rating with our local BBB.

We aim to meet the needs of all of our customers while exceeding expectations. Our mission is to provide the best possible experience when it comes to luxury watch dealings or servicing. We combine value and quality with the ability to understand the minds of people from all generations.

Our services include buying, selling, repairing, and restoring watches, including but not limited to, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hublot, Harry Winston, Bvlgari, Cartier, Breitling, Tudor. We are also proud to say that we have one of the largest collections of Rolex watches in all of South Florida.

We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions or comments about the Rolex 6262 that you’d like to share with other readers, please leave them in the comment section below.