The most expensive Rolex wristwatch ever just sold for $17.8 million

 

On Thursday, an anonymous bidder agreed to pay $17.8 million for a Rolex Daytona that used to belong to actor Paul Newman, setting a new world record for a wristwatch sold at auction, according to New York auction house Phillips.

The Rolex was originally given to Newman by his wife Joanne Woodward around the time he was filming the auto racing movie "Winning" in the late 1960s.

New York auction house Phillips declined to identify the buyer, saying they placed the winning bid by phone. The $17.8 million price tag includes the auction fees. 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."

Newman's Rolex isn't the most expensive watch of all time. 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.