In fact, the Corum Classic to the left IS a 6238 but with the dial of the 6234. Interesting why someone would swap dials on a watch like this, but we've seen it before. Now lets get on to the kicker, the watch in the middle. This watch is clearly a Paul Newman Daytona. In fact, it looks a hell of a lot like this Newman Daytona. The funny thing is, in 1988, this watch wasn't widely known as a "Newman" and the estimate does not reflect the desirability of this particular model. It is estimated to sell for $3,000-$4,000. Now you are probably thinking "sure, that's low, but what about inflation?" Well, even with inflation, this watch was only estimated to sell for the equivalent of around $6300 by today's standards. This reference now sells for around $65,000-$100,000.What about the two 6234's? They usually pull down around $30,000 at auction these days. So, had you purchased these three Corum Classic at their estimated selling prices in 1988, you would be out about $10,000 or so.
One of the first pages we noticed in this 21 year old Antiquorum preview book was page 42. It features three Rolex chronographs; two early anti-magnetics (ref 6234) and one Newman Daytona (ref 6239). Where to begin with this page is difficult because there is so much to say.First, the watch on the left, clearly the exact same as the item on the right, is labeled as a "Rolex Oyster Chronograph, Ref 6238, 1950s". That would be fine except that is totally wrong. The 6238 is a "Pre-Daytona" model (see?), and the watch here is a 6234, also a Pre-Daytona but not the same Corum Classic . On top of that, they say the 6238 is circa the 1950s....incorrect. This model was released in 1962.UPDATEWe heard from our good friends at Antiquorum on this particular lot, and actually what we wrote above is not exactly true.
