The Most Expensive Rolex Watches

Investigating the most expensive Rolexes is a fascinating exercise because these are not watches that blow you away with massive six-figure pricetags at your local retailer. Of course, the Crown has its fair share of elusive off-catalog pieces that get up there, but many of the most expensive pieces are vintage ones that have skyrocketed in value thanks to provenance and scarcity. Think of the military veteran who bought a Daytona for $346 in the ‘70s and found out it was worth over $700,000 today.

That’s the beauty of the Crown. Where Rolex differs from many of the others is its breadth of price offerings. Their current lineup covers the entry-level Oyster Perpetual at $5,500 and then has an offering at almost every price bracket up to and beyond $100,000. This range lets Rolex stand toe-to-toe (in terms of price) with everyone from TAG Heuer to Patek Philippe.

It’s on the secondary market where these pieces really soar. Many of Rolex's vintage pieces change hands well above their original retail price and, in many cases, trade above modern counterparts. Especially, if they’re rare, contain unique features, or gain notoriety among collectors. And let us not forget the grail pieces that find their way to the auction houses. These often-famous watches can fetch eye-watering amounts with the right backstory or famous former owner.

Considering modern, vintage, and timepieces at auction, we have three different perspectives on the most expensive Rolex watches ever.

Most expensive modern Rolex watches

The current Rolex collection offers watches in a variety of materials. Steel is the most popular and also the most affordable. For the most expensive Rolex watches we need to be looking at the precious metal variants, like gold and especially platinum. While gold might seem like the more opulent choice, platinum is actually rarer and more difficult to mine and work with. It also gives an exquisitely luxurious feel to any watch with its natural heft.

Today, only a few Rolex lines have the honor of coming in platinum: the Daytona, Day-Date, 1908, and newly released Land Dweller collections. For those in the know, the easiest way to spot a platinum Rolex is often the dial color. Rolex reserves its ice blue color solely for platinum pieces to add an extra level of flexing to your expensive Rolex. The final cherry on top of the platinum models are variants that contain diamonds. These are most typically found on specific Daytona and Day-Date references.

Beyond these watches, there is a special section of the Rolex lineup considered “off-catalog.” These are the pieces that you won’t find anywhere on the Rolex website but have probably seen on your Instagram feed or on the wrists of watch-collecting celebs.

Rolex doesn't like to share the price of these off-catalog watches. I suspect it's one of those situations where if you have to ask the price, it’s probably not for you..However, a bit of digging and a rose gold Rainbow Daytona (ref. 116595RBOW), which contains 36 baguette sapphires matching the colours of the rainbow, will empty your bank account of roughly $97,000. These off-catalog pieces are highly limited and reserved only for the most loyal of collectors.

For the general public, the most expensive current Rolex is the platinum Day-Date 40 (ref. 228396TBR). Costing $136,200, the number of gems across the bezel and dial, along with its platinum construction, are what make this watch the most expensive Rolex. Complete with a baguette-diamond bezel, diamond hour markers, a pavé diamond dial, and two blue sapphires for the 6 and 9 o’clock hour markers, it’s advisable to pair it with sunglasses.

Most expensive vintage Rolex watches

Vintage Rolex is one of the most collectable genres in the watch world, with many vintage models fetching considerably more than their original sales price and often more than the current collection. The hero models of vintage Rolex are the Daytona, Submariner, and GMT-Master.

Within these three collections are specific references that are the most sought after among collectors. Some of the more prominent examples include the Submariner reference 6538, which is known as the James Bond Sub because of its appearance on Sean Connery’s wrist in 1964’s Goldfinger, from the 1950s. Special variants of the 6530 can reach nearly half a million dollars at auction. Another hit among collectors is the ref 5517 “MilSub” of the 1970s, which the British Ministry of Defense customized in the ‘70s. It’s distinguished by a small, encircled “T” on the dial, signaling the use of luminescent tritium and its sky-high prices. One version of the 5517 sold for over $600,000 at auction in 2021.

What makes these vintage models so expensive compared to other watches of the era is driven by a number of factors. Unlike the modern pieces, few of these factors include the number of diamonds on a piece or any involvement of precious metals. What’s most fascinating about these model’s often-extreme pricetags is that they almost always come in humble stainless steel. Instead, what’s pushing the price up are the unique features that make the watch special. Experts estimate that only 3,000 Comex-dial Submariners were made and none of them were ever offered for public sale. As for the 6536 Submariner, who wouldn’t want the original James Bond watch? References that mark the launch of a new model also drive collectors mad. The GMT-Master ref. 6542, launched in 1954, is the most desirable vintage GMT-Master because it was the first-ever of that now-historic line.

The final jigsaw piece for an expensive vintage Rolex is rarity. The rarer it is, the higher the price. Rolex has been infamously tight-lipped on production numbers until just last year when they released its first official book Submariner. For the first time, Rolex published production numbers for the Sub collection, which is sure to have an impact on vintage model prices moving forward.

The most expensive vintage model: The Rolex Daytona 6239, known as the “Paul Newman,” This special reference from the ‘60s is a grail among collectors. With its black dial and art deco font on the subdials, it wasn’t a great seller when it was released so it was never made in huge quantities. Add to this the fact that actor and salad-dressing purveyor Paul Newman was a fan, a good-condition 6239 will set you back over $150,000. For an excellent condition with original papers you could be talking over a quarter of a million.

Most expensive Rolex auction results

The final take on the most expensive Rolex watches ever leads us to the auction results. What separates these watches from vintage is that these pieces tend to have famous pasts or previous owners that add a substantial premium over the regular models.

Daytona are, once again, the favorites of the auction houses and tend to perform best. However, there are notable mentions that offer something a bit different.

5. Marlon Brando’s GMT-Master ($1.95 million)

The watch was the exact one worn by Brando in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now. However, this GMT doesn’t have the model’s signature bi-color bezel thanks to some customization from Brando himself. The actor removed the piece himself after director Francis Ford Coppola complained that the character wouldn’t have worn such a watch.

4. The Rolex Antimagnetique ref. 4413 ($2.5 million)

The Antimagnetique is a model you may not have heard of, but one went under the hammer at Phillips for $2.5 million in 2015. To this day, it is the only split-second chronograph Rolex has made and only 12 pieces were ever produced.

3. Rolex “Bao Dai” ref. 6062 ($5 million)\

The name Bao Dai is in reference to the Emperor of Vietnam who was the watch's first owner. Whilst on a trip to Switzerland, the Emperor opted for some retail therapy to find the most precious Rolex he could get his hands on. The 6062—with its diamond hour markers, triple calendar, and moon phase—ticked all the boxes. This is the perfect alchemy for a Rolex on the auction scene: already an incredibly rare and expensive watch that becomes historically important thanks to its former owner.

2. Rolex Daytona ref. 6265 “Unicorn” ($5.9 million)

Unlike the other entries on this list, the watch's price isn’t driven by celebrity or royal owners, instead, it’s a one-of-a-kind white gold Daytona. It is widely accepted that this is the only white gold vintage Daytona ever produced. Quite the claim to fame for its new owner. This watch also benefited from growing prices around Rolex and watches in general. The Unicorn sold only a year after the Bao Dai at Phillips.

1. Paul Newman’s Rolex Daytona ref. 6263 ($17.8 million)

The most expensive Rolex watch ever sold at auction is Paul Newman’s Daytona 6263. The 2017 Philipps auction closed with a final price of $ 17.8 million, over three times more than the 6265 Unicorn in second. The watch was a gift from Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward who had the watch engraved with the phrase “Drive Carefully Me,” a nod to her husband's love of motor racing. Owning a “Paul Newman” Daytona is a dream for many watch collectors, but to own Paul Newman’s Paul Newman, and the most expensive Rolex ever, is something special.