It was first given to actor Paul Newman by his wife Joanne Woodward in the late 60s.

He was filming Winning at the time, and his use of it “sparked a craze among watch fans, who lent his name to that particular style of Rolex dial,” reports CNN.

Now, nearly 50 years later, a bidder agreed to pay $17,8 million (R250 million) for what was once Newman’s Rolex Daytona.

Setting a new record for a wristwatch sold at auction, New York auction house Phillips explained that:

“Demand skyrocketed for all models of Daytona, making it perhaps the most widely sought after collectors’ watch up to the present day.”

Take a look at the beauty:

The watch was put up for auction by James Cox, a former boyfriend of Newman’s daughter, Nell, who was given the watch by Newman in 1984:

The auction house described Newman’s Rolex, which the actor is said to have worn every day between 1969 and 1984, as “arguably the most iconic collector’s wristwatch of the 20th century.”

How about his wife’s inscription on the back?

Although it beats a previous record of $11 million for a rare stainless steel Patek Philippe, it’s not the most expensive watch of all: a pocket watch made by Patek Philippe in 1933, for the prominent banker Henry Graves, sold for $24,4 million at Sotheby’s in 2015.

And there you have it.

If you have stumbled on a timepiece you think might be worth something, and want to turn it into a wearable piece of art, check out what the Hout Bay Watch Company has been up to with some old classics.

[source:cnn]