After 15 years away from stand-up comedy, Ellen DeGeneres is back with a new Netflix special, “Relatable”. The show is at its best when Ellen is poking fun at her own attempts to be relatable amidst her absurd levels of fame and fortune. She jokes about her heated bathroom tiles, a gardener named Tatiana tending to Ellen’s rose garden, and butlers drawing her a warm bath.
But Ellen’s most palatial flex goes unmentioned: the watch she’s wearing. Ellen’s taste for wristwatches is well documented, so it’s to be expected that she’d pull out something special for her first stand-up show in 15 years. And she didn’t disappoint.
Ellen’s Rolex Paul Newman Daytona
Zooming in on a couple screencaps of the show, the exotic Paul Newman dial of Ellen’s vintage Rolex Daytona becomes immediately identifiable. It’s a panda dial, with a black acrylic bezel. As the story goes, the Paul Newman versions of the Rolex Daytona were unpopular and a market flop when Rolex first manufactured them. As such, not many were made, meaning they’re now extremely rare. Singer made these style of exotic dials not just for Rolex, but for many other watchmakers. Italian collectors gained an appreciation for them in the 1980s, and prices have been skyrocketing ever since. The most in demand are the stainless steel builds, such as the one Ellen is rocking.
If you squint, it looks like Ellen’s watch has pump pushers (as opposed to screw-down pushers), meaning this is likely a Daytona Reference 6241. The 6241 is a 37mm watch with a Valjoux 72 movement beating inside. The Reference 6264 is the other model with a black bezel and pump pushers, but it was a transitional reference produced for just one year. The 6241 is considered slightly more rare and desirable than its brother, the Reference 6239, which has a steel bezel (not black).
The Reference 6241 that Ellen seems to be wearing fetches prices well into the six figures at auctions. Bob’s Watches has a historical chart of the prices of all Paul Newman references at auction, showing a $500,000 hammer price for a 6241 in 2017. That’s a bit of an outlier, but prices regularly reach $300,000.
Source: Bob’s Watches
If you haven’t watched it yet, sit down for an hour to watch Ellen DeGeneres’ new special, “Relatable”, and try to catch a glimpse of her Ref. 6241 Paul Newman Daytona in between laughs.