The Most Expensive Rolex Watches in the World
The most expensive Rolex in the world, Paul Newman’s own personal Daytona with a rare dial, sold for $17.8 million in 2017, and that is unlikely to be topped anytime soon. But if you look beyond the #1 spot, the landscape of hyper-premium Rolexes has changed a lot in recent years. The focus, in general, has shifted from vintage rarities to modern showstoppers. Nowadays people notice that the MVP of the NBA, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, wears an unattainable Rolex covered in pink sapphires more than they notice that an old Daytona has a rare dial with a couple of words missing–and I can’t blame them. Here we’ll provide a thorough but digestible understanding of all the most expensive Rolex watches in the world.
The Most Expensive Rolex Daytona Watches
The top of the list of the most expensive Rolex watches ever sold at auction is dominated by Daytonas. And four of those were the personal property of Paul Newman.
Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytonas ($1.1m-$17.8m)
Paul Newman’s wife, Oscar winner Joanne Woodward, famously gave him three Rolex Daytona watches, each specially engraved with a loving message. The first was his iconic Rolex Daytona ref. 6239, engraved “Drive Carefully, Me,” which sold at auction in 2017 for a $17.8 million–making it the most expensive watch in the world at that time. This watch is the reason collectors call vintage Daytonas with this type of exotic dial a “Paul Newman Daytona dial,” and steel examples that weren’t owned by Mr. Newman easily sell for a quarter-million dollars. Gold ones can approach a million.
The second Daytona that Woodward gave Newman was a black-dial Daytona ref. 6263 which bore the inscription “Drive slowly — Joanne” and was auctioned in 2020 for nearly $5.5 million. The third was a white gold Daytona ref. 116519 from the early 2000s, making it arguably “neo-vintage” at this point. Its back is engraved “Drive Very Slowly Joanne,” and it sold at a 2023 Sotheby’s auction for $1.1 million.
Newman’s Daytonas weren’t all gifts from Woodward, however. He was also awarded a stainless steel Daytona ref. 16520 with a white dial in 1995. The Rolex 24 logo, Paul Newman’s name, and “Rolex Motorsports Man of the Year 1995” are engraved on the caseback. Newman won his class in the 24 Hours of Daytona that year at age 70, making him the oldest racer to ever do so. That watch also sold for $1.1 million at the same 2023 Sotheby’s auction as the engraved 116519.
Most Expensive Vintage (4-Digit) Rolex Daytonas Not Owned By Mr. Newman (Up to $4.1m)
The world of high-end vintage Daytona collecting is vast and nuanced, so in this article I won’t dive too deep in the minutiae. But I will give you a quick chart of the most expensive variants that you should know about, including the highest auction prices of credible examples.
| Name | Description | Highest Uncontroversial Auction Price |
|---|---|---|
| John Player Special (JPS) | Solid gold model with black/gold Paul Newman dial | $2.49m Sotheby’s 2023 |
| Lemon Dial | Solid gold model with rare matte yellow Paul Newman dial | $3.72m Phillips 2017 |
| Oyster Sotto (3CRCO) | “3-Color Rolex Cosmograph Oyster” where the word “Oyster” is under (sotto) the word “Cosmograph” | $2m Phillips 2014 |
| Solo Dial | Early 6240 dial with only “Rolex” text (no “Oyster” or “Cosmograph” or “Daytona”) | $263k Phillips 2015 |
| Ref. 6269 | Yellow gold, round diamond bezel, ultra-rare, pave diamond dial available | $1.63m Christie’s 2022 |
| Ref. 6270 | Just like the 6269 but with baguette diamonds instead of round ones | $4.1m Phillips 2023 |
If you’ve read Perezcope’s article on the so-called “Unicorn” white gold Daytona you’ll understand why I omitted it from this list. Although it sold for $5.9 million in 2018, its originality has since been called into question. Frankly I don’t think the watch world has fully come to grips with how absolutely wild it is that the third-highest all-time sale price of a Rolex was for a put-together fantasy piece. But let’s move on to some insane Daytonas whose provenance has not been called into question.
The Most Expensive Gem-Set Rolex: The Original Rainbow Daytona ($6.3m)
The Rolex Rainbow Daytona, though widely mocked and ignored when it first appeared publicly in 2012, is now one of the most desirable watches in the world. It has spawned a sea of rainbow watches from luxury watch brands ranging from Patek Philippe to Hublot. You can expect to pay between $350,000 to $650,000 for a Rainbow Daytona today. Pave diamond dials, diamond bracelets, and newer generations all push the price towards the higher end.
But the most expensive Rolex Rainbow Daytona of all, by far, is a unique piece made in 1994. Ref. 16599SAAEC was largely unknown to the world until it surfaced at a Phillips auction in 2024 and sold for $6.3 million.
The Original Platinum Daytonas ($2m-$3.3m)
Five platinum Daytonas were specially commissioned for Rolex CEO Patrick Heiniger in the late 1990s, years before they ever sold a platinum Daytona to the public. Sotheby’s was the first to unearth their existence in 2018.
Each of these ref. 16516 models features a different dial: black mother-of-pearl, rainbow mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli, turquoise Stella lacquer, and one that hasn’t publicly surfaced yet. Of these, the lapis lazuli dial sold for $3.27 million and the turquoise Stella dial sold for $3.14 million at recent auctions, while the pink mother-of-pearl example was withdrawn from a May 2025 Geneva sale before the hammer fell.
Yellow Sapphire Daytonas ($1-2m)
Rolex has made so many obscure off-catalog models over the years that many of them end up outside the realm of popular knowledge. I would put the “Cognac Beach” Daytona ref. 116589 from the early 2000s in that category. It’s like the yellow mother-of-pearl version of the Rolex Daytona Beach, but with a yellow sapphire baguette bezel.
There are quite a few ultra-obscure Daytonas made from 1998-2000 with sapphire, ruby, diamond or even emerald bezels that would fetch huge sums at auction. But as I mention in my guide to the rarest Rolexes, I believe yellow sapphire is the rarest of all. The Pre-Leopard Daytona (ref. 16559) is the only other Daytona with a yellow sapphire bezel that I know of.
The Cognac Beach could be a unique piece, and there are probably no more than four Pre-Leopards. I would expect sales figures in the low seven figures in today’s climate. I think it’s a relatively new phenomenon that the luxury watch market as a whole is even realizing that ultra-high-end off-catalog Rolexes might be one-of-one (or close to it) and coveting them immensely. Not so many years ago we might’ve looked at them more like “just another random gem-set model” and expected a discount.
Pigeon Blood Ruby Daytona ($1.2m)
One of the first modern Daytonas with a true seven-figure market value was the Pigeon Blood Daytona, an off-catalog 2023 Rolex release offered in either white gold with a black dial (ref. 126599TRU) or yellow gold with a pave diamond dial (ref. 126598TRU).
Pigeon blood rubies, widely regarded as the most exotic and deeply colored rubies, are extraordinarily costly. The bezel is covered in perfectly-set and perfectly-matched trapezoidal pigeon blood rubies, while baguettes mark each hour. Expect to pay somewhere in the $1.2 million range if you can find one.
63-Carat Daytona ($3 mil)
Released the same year as the Pigeon Blood Ruby Daytona, but still not publicly spotted in the wild yet, is a supposed 63-carat Daytona absolutely saturated in diamonds. Baguette diamonds completely cover the bracelet and lugs, the bezel is set with trapezoidal diamonds, and round diamonds cover just about everything else. For all we know this could be a unique piece. If you’ve seen one, let us know–all we have to go by is this leaked internal Rolex rendering.
Barbie Daytona ($1m)
The now-infamous “Barbie Daytona” ref. 126538TRO has been seen on the wrists of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Mark Wahlberg, Caroline Wozniacki, Lionel Messi, and Mirka Federer. Supposedly only ten were made in 2024, with rich pink dials that match the pink sapphires in its bezel.
While it’s hard to put a market value on something so rare, $1 million is probably the right ballpark. This is a true celebrity-tier off-catalog Rolex.
Obsidian Daytona ($1.3m)
Out of the dozens of types of rare Rolex stone dials produced over the years, obsidian might be the rarest of all. And one of the off-catalog 2025 Rolex releases was a white gold Daytona with an obsidian dial, ref. 126599TSA. Although its list price is rumored to be $438,000, its true market value is probably triple that.
Most Expensive Vintage Rolex Submariner: Big Crown 3-6-9 Dials
The earliest Rolex Submariner models had no crown guards, and they were offered with two depth ratings. For the most part, 100m “Small Crown” models had 6mm crowns while the “Big Crown” models got 8mm crowns and 200m ratings. A beautiful 6538 Big Crown in outstanding condition with an “Explorer Dial” is so far the only Submariner to cross the million-dollar mark at auction. Its fantastic condition and red depth rating were factors in that exceptional result.
A handful of early Submariner references including the 6200 “King Sub” were also offered with the now-famous 3-6-9 dials, and in good condition any of those could reach stratospheric prices–especially with an early original bezel insert with no minute hashes between 0-15.
Factors like a red painted triangle on the bezel, the lack of the word Submariner, or the rare alternative “Monometer” branding can all increase the collectability and price of a rare vintage Sub. Depending on condition and quirks, most Small Crown and Big Crown Submariners are in the $30,000-$300,000 range; only the most exceptional examples sell for more than that.
The white gold prototype model with a nipple dial also deserves an honorable mention in the “most expensive vintage Rolex Submariner” discussion, because it would probably join the million-dollar club if one went up for sale today. Christie’s sold one for just over $630,000 in 2017, and supposedly only three exist. Steve McQueen’s personal Rolex Submariner ref. 5512 would also be priceless to the right collector, but it has never appeared at auction.
Most Expensive Modern Rolex Submariner: 116649EMBR
The most expensive Rolex Submariner made in recent years is ref. 116649EMBR, with trapezoidal emeralds and diamonds covering the bezel. Eight of the hour markers are also set with emeralds. Black dials and pave diamond dials were both offered. The pave diamond center bracelet links, however, were mandatory. Market value today is roughly $400,000. According to the official Submariner book by Nicholas Foulkes, only 51 were made. It’s a neat book, though it does repeat some Rolex myths like the Oyster being the world’s first waterproof watch (it wasn’t).
The Most Expensive Rolex Sea-Dweller: The Table Cut Special ($6m)
In the same vein as the decadent 63-Carat Daytona I mentioned above, a baguette-covered Sea-Dweller was also quietly released in 2023. What stands out here, in addition to the shocking amount of baguette and round diamonds, are the table-cut diamonds that cover the center links. Each center link is covered by one monstrous table-cut diamond. It looks absolutely nuts, and those table-cut diamonds are surely the reason for the “$6 million” estimate you may have seen floating around social media.
The Most Expensive Rolex GMT-Master: Marlon Brando’s 1675 ($5.1m)
The most expensive Rolex GMT-Master ever sold at auction (by far) is a ref. 1675 that looks completely unremarkable from the front, aside from its missing bezel. Roughly $5.09 million of its $5.1 million auction price stems from the fact that Marlon Brando carved “M. Brando” on the back and wore it during his performance in Apocalypse Now.
The film’s production team felt that Brando’s Rolex Pepsi GMT—with its distinctive, colorful bezel—would stand out too much and look out of place on his character, Colonel Kurtz. Brando reportedly protested, arguing that if viewers focused on his watch rather than his performance, he wasn’t doing his job as an actor. As a compromise, he was allowed to wear the watch in the film, but without the bezel, resulting in its now-legendary stripped-down appearance.
The only other seven-figure Rolex GMT sale price was for the ref. 1675 that astronaut Edgar Mitchell wore on the Apollo 14 mission to the moon (~$2.16m). Ref. 16758 SARU is probably the most expensive GMT-Master not owned by Mr. Brando or worn in space. And I should also tell you about the most valuable GMT-Master II model.
The Most Expensive Rolex GMT-Master II: 116769TBR “Ice” ($600k)
The 116769TBR “Ice” was introduced in 2007 as a white gold, diamond-encrusted version of the GMT-Master II. Its retail price of over $480,000 made it the most expensive Rolex ever retailed at the time. Expect to pay about $600,000 for one today.
The reason the “Ice” sells for roughly twice the price of other exotic gem-set off-catalog GMT’s (like the Icy Coke Rolex GMT) is the baguette diamonds covering the bezel and bracelet–they’re much more costly than small round ones.
One-of-One Platinum Yacht-Masters
The Yacht-Master isn’t typically an auction darling, but there are two unique pieces that I should mention.
The Most Expensive Rolex Yacht-Master: The Ten-Millionth Rolex Chronometer ($2.6m)
The most valuable Yacht-Master is another one-off made for the Heiniger family (when Patrick Heineger was CEO). It was made to mark the milestone of Rolex’s ten millionth chronometer. Although many Yacht-Masters have platinum bezels, this was the first one with a platinum case. And it is believed to be the first Rolex with a platinum bracelet, period.
The “DIX MILLIONIEME” writing on the dial is pretty cool, although I think they could’ve chosen a better typeface. Few people even knew this watch existed until it went up for auction in 2023, where it fetched $2.6 million.
The Emerald Yacht-Master ($2m)
Oddly, the Dix Milionieme watch isn’t the only one-of-one platinum Yacht-Master. In 2024, Rolex made a unique piece absolutely saturated in diamonds (plus 12 emeralds on the bezel) for Singaporean shipping magnate and world-class luxury watch collector Ali Maghami–better known to watch nerds as @santa_laura on Instagram. It’s certainly not for sale, but if we had to put a fair market value on it, it would probably be somewhere around $2 million–roughly 3x its estimated list price.
More on the Rolex Yacht-Master:
| ➢ | Rolesium Yacht-Master Model Guide |
| ➢ | Rolex Yacht-Master 42 Collector’s Guide |
| ➢ | One-of-One Emerald-Clad Platinum Rolex Yacht-Master Shared Online |
| ➢ | The Rolex “Cotton Candy” Yacht-Master from 2022 |
Million-Dollar Rolex Day-Dates
Only two Rolex Day-Dates have ever passed the million-dollar mark at auction, and at least one more would if it were sold today.
Jack Nicklaus’s 1803 ($1.22m)
Jack Nicklaus’s own personal Rolex Day-Date ref. 1803 sold for $1.22 million at a Phillips auction in 2019 not just because he owned it, but because he actually wore it all the time. “This is the very first watch I ever owned, and the only watch I wore for every professional tournament I’ve won throughout my career,” Nicklaus said.
Nicklaus’s 1803 has an uncommon dial with slim baton hour markers, and talon-like double batons at 6 and 9 o’clock. The uniqueness of this next Day-Date is a lot less subtle:
Rainbow Khanjar ($1.33m)
Rolex watches marked with the Khanjar symbol on the dial and/or caseback were commissioned by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman, and typically given as diplomatic gifts. They’re highly collectible today, and the most expensive of all Rolex Khanjar watches is the famous “Rainbow Khanjar” that Sotheby’s sold for $1.33m in 2022.
Ref. 18059 was made in 1984 and might be the very first example of a Rolex with a rainbow-gradient sapphire bezel. Sapphire hour markers match the rainbow pattern, while pave diamonds cover the rest of the dial, along with the center links of the bracelet.
And now I’ll talk about a watch that, in my opinion, would undoubtedly be the most expensive Rolex Day-Date ever if it were auctioned today.
The Marilyn Monroe-JFK Rolex ($4m)
Marilyn Monroe famously gave John F. Kennedy a gold Rolex Day-Date 1803 model engraved with “Jack, With love as always, Marilyn May 29th 1962.” She presumably gave it to him ten days before that date, when she suggestively sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to him at Madison Square Garden. Kennedy, wary that the gift could expose their rumored relationship, instructed his aide Kenneth O’Donnell to dispose of it. The watch, along with a love poem from Monroe and Kennedy’s written instructions to O’Donnell, resurfaced decades later when it was auctioned in 2005 to a U.S. collector for $120,000.
Even though JFK never wore it, that seems like a preposterously low price. Auction results are a snapshot in time; they shouldn’t be viewed as permanently definitive valuations. In the 1990s, Paul Newman Daytonas were selling for about $15,000–less than some vintage Bubblebacks at the time. In some cases they’re worth 100x the price of a Bubbleback today. So, markets and trends change over time, but if I had to put a ballpark figure on a monetary value for the “Happy Birthday Mr. President” watch and all its provenance, I’d be thinking somewhere around $4 million nowadays.
Rolex Meteorite Sky-Dweller Ref. 326959TBR ($700k)
2022 seemed to be the first year that Rolex started releasing at least one “mega” off-catalog piece per year. Rolex released a white gold Sky-Dweller with a meteorite dial, a trapezoidal diamond-set bezel, and a case covered in diamonds. There were two bracelet options: an Oysterflex strap, or a fully pave diamond bracelet. Most of the diamonds are round, while the row of baguettes in the center link makes a serious statement.
The bracelet version (ref. 326959TBR) is worth about $700,000 today, and one is part of Richard Heart’s watch collection. We sold an Oysterflex version (326259TBR) for $266,000 last year, though its market price has settled to around $185,000. Production of meteorite Sky-Dwellers didn’t seem to last long, and in the following years (2023-2025) they released the Table-Cut Sea-Dweller along with the string of ultra-expensive off-catalog Daytonas I mentioned earlier (Pigeon Blood, 63-Carat, Barbie, and Obsidian).
Not all off-catalog Rolexes are highly desirable; plenty of off-catalog diamond-covered Day-Dates and Yacht-Masters languish in display cases and sell secondhand for well under their list prices. But these super-off-catalog pieces seem to be hot among the wealthy, often selling for 3x MSRP.
It’s an interesting marketing move for Rolex to have created this new ultra-ultra-exclusive tier of off-catalog watches, but it makes sense from a marketing standpoint to offer products that are a true “flex” even for megastars. Rumor has it that Rolex is involved in “approving” who they go to, which is a traditionally un-Rolex-like move. But they don’t want Richard Mille and Jacob & Co. to have all the celebrity fun.
More on Rolex:
Most Expensive Non-Sports Rolex Models
While sports models dominate the leaderboards when it comes to the most expensive vintage Rolex watches, there are some legendary dressier models that have crossed the seven-figure threshold as well.
Bao Dai ($5.06m)
The Rolex 6062 is a triple calendar moonphase watch with Rolex’s waterproof Oyster case, and probably only a few hundred exist. Most examples are in gold with light dials, and good examples can cost $500,000 easily. But the “Bao Dai” stands out as a singular black-dial, diamond-set variant custom-ordered for the last Emperor of Vietnam in 1954.
Bao Dai’s Rolex is the only known 6062 with diamond markers at the even-hour indices and gold arrowheads at the odds, with Rolex’s logo and chronometer text both moved to fit the dial’s unusual layout. When it sold at a Phillips auction in 2017 for over $5 million, it was the most expensive Rolex ever, and it held that record until Newman’s personal Paul Newman Daytona smashed it.
Padellone ($100k-$1.15m)
The only other moonphase watch that Rolex has ever made aside from the 6062 (and possibly the 81806 if you believe in that–I’ll get to that in a minute) is the famous “Padellone” ref. 8171, which also has a triple calendar display. There were probably less than 1,500 produced, made from 1949-1953 and split roughly evenly between steel and gold models. You can buy one easily for $100,000-$300,000 depending on condition/originality.
Christie’s sold one example for $1,145,000 in 2013, but it was in spectacular condition with a very rare diamond dial; 8171’s usually don’t get anywhere near that price.
4113 Rattrapante ($3.5m)
Ref. 4113 is the only rattrapante (split-seconds) chronograph Rolex ever made. Only 12 were produced.
81806 (Controversial)
It is generally accepted that the “Jean-Claude Killy” Rolexes from the 1950s-1960s (chronographs with month, date and day displays) are the most complicated Rolex models ever made. I would argue that the Yacht-Master II is a greater horological achievement, but I digress. Rolex may have also made triple calendar chronographs with a moonphase as well. Robert Maron sold a Rolex ref. 81806 years ago, as did Antiquorum. Plus an unconfirmed one appeared online in 2023, and @houndandeagle seems to have come across one recently:
According to Antiquorum, just like with the 4113, 12 prototypes were produced. But internet debates dating all the way back to the early 2000s have questioned the legitimacy of the 81806 reference altogether, noting that Rolex was still using 4-digit model numbers at that time. Many other brands used the same Valjoux base movement with similar cases, so a counterfeit “Rolex” re-brand wouldn’t be hard.
Cloisonné Dials ($500k-$2m)
Cloisonné is an intricate enameling technique where thin gold wires are used to outline shapes on a dial, which are then filled with colored enamel and fired—a painstaking process with a high failure rate. Only three legendary artisans at the dial company Stern Frères–Marguerite Koch, Nelly Richard, and Carlo Poluzzi–were capable of making these remarkable dials. Rolex, Omega and a few other brands bought these cloisonné dials in the 1950s, often featuring the same designs–such as Viking ships, Neptune, mythical dragons, maps and eagles.
The most expensive cloisonné dial Rolex ever sold (so far) is the 1949 Rolex Oyster Perpetual depicting a whale and frigate, created by Marguerite Koch. This watch sold at Christie’s Geneva in May 2014 for $1.24 million. Out of all the types of special Rolex dials, cloisonné dials are arguably the most special of all, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that record got broken.
Priceless Rolexes Lost to the Sands of Time
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wore a gold Rolex Datejust frequently, but it has never turned up at auction. It’s unclear who owns the watch now or if it even still exists. There might not be any unique caseback engravings, so somebody could be out there wearing MLK’s old Datejust without knowing it. But that’s certainly a watch I’d put in the “priceless” category–if it’s in good condition.
President Dwight Eisenhower also had a gold Rolex Datejust with a Jubilee bracelet and an amazing history. It was Rolex’s 150,000th certified chronometer, and they gave it to him in 1950 in appreciation for what he did as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II. The cyclops wasn’t invented yet, but a few years later, when Eisenhower was President, Rolex reached out and offered to add their then-new date magnifier to his watch free of charge. The watch was hand-delivered from the US government officials to Rolex and back, and written provenance backs it all up.
Plus it has a sweet “DDE” engraving on the caseback along with a ring of five stars and the date “12-19-1950.” It would surely be a seven-figure watch at auction…except it no longer has its original dial and it has been woefully over-polished. Shame. Bidding didn’t even reach $500,000 when it went to auction in 2014, so it was withdrawn.
Some other Rolex watches associated with heads of state (such as Lyndon B. Johnson and Fidel Castro) have never come to auction with clear, direct provenance, often remaining in museum or family collections. And there are surely some historically notable Rolexes out there that the public doesn’t know about yet, and I look forward to sharing them with you as they turn up. And if you know any industry moguls with mindblowing off-catalog Rolexes we’ve never seen before, feel free to tell us about them below!
3 responses to “The Most Expensive Rolex Watches in the World”
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I was the one who posted the unique platinum Yacht-Master on RolexForums. I remember seeing it in a Hodinkee article last year about an event in Singapore and doubted that it was a unique piece. Its owner replied and told me to check out his Instagram account where he showed it off. I was surprised since I had no idea that Rolex made modern one- off pieces. Speaking of which, I know there is a one- off Sea Dweller in white gold, completely set with baguette-cut diamonds, with an estimated MSRP of $6 million. Here is a link to a picture of it: https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=964138&page=2
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I was the one who posted the platinum Yacht-Master on RolexForums. I remember seeing it in a Hodinkee article last year about an event in Singapore and doubted it was a one-off piece. The owner responded and told me to check out his Instagram account, where he was showing it off. I was surprised, since I had no idea Rolex made modern one-off pieces. Speaking of which, I know there is a one-of-a-kind Sea Dweller in white gold, completely set with baguette-cut diamonds, with an estimated retail price of $6 million. I only know of one photo that probably appeared on My Rolex Network. I hope it surfaces someday.
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Thanks Alfredo, I’m sure there are more mega-rarities we haven’t seen yet!
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