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Rolex Chronograph "Pre-Daytona"

Reference 6238. A sheet to take with you: the numbers to check the watch against, what to look at, and what to ask. It does not authenticate anything and it does not tell you whether to buy.

Check the numbers

Measure or ask. A watch that does not match these is not necessarily wrong, but it is a question worth the answer.

Anything above marked not recorded is a gap in this catalog, not a property of the watch. Do not read a blank as a zero.

Before anything else

The 6238 is a low-production manual chronograph whose value sits mostly in an unpolished case and an untouched dial, so most of the inspection is about originality rather than about whether the watch is genuine.

What to look at

1. case Smooth polished bezel
   Correct A plain polished bezel with no tachymetre engraving, which is the defining feature of the last Rolex chronograph made this way
   Red flag A bezel carrying a tachymetre scale, which belongs to the 6239 and later Cosmograph references
2. dial Tachymetre scale printed on the dial
   Correct The tachymetre scale printed around the outer dial track, inside the bezel
   Red flag No scale on the dial, or printing whose font and spacing do not match known examples of the same dial generation
3. movement Valjoux-based caliber 72
   Correct A 17-jewel column-wheel chronograph on the Valjoux 72 base, Rolex-signed and consistent with the case vintage
   Red flag A cam-actuated chronograph movement, or any automatic caliber, neither of which belongs in a 6238
4. case Reference and serial between the lugs
   Correct Legible reference and serial numbers between the lugs, with sharp edges to the lug chamfers
   Red flag Numbers worn shallow or gone entirely, which indicates heavy polishing
5. hands Chronograph and subdial hands
   Correct A matched set whose lume, where present, has aged in step with the dial
   Red flag Mismatched subdial hands, or a chronograph seconds hand in a finish that does not match the rest of the set

Known issues on this reference

• Dials are refinished frequently. A repainted 6238 dial is not a fake watch but it removes most of the premium the reference carries.
• Cases are commonly over-polished, which rounds the smooth bezel and blurs the transition into the case band.
• Pushers, crowns and crystals are consumables on a chronograph and are often later parts.

Parts that are commonly replaced

• Pushers and crown are wearing parts on a hand-wound chronograph and are frequently replaced during service.
• Acrylic crystals are replaced as a matter of course and carry no originality penalty.

Ask the seller, whatever the watch

• When was it last serviced, by whom, and is there paperwork?
• Has the case ever been polished?
• Which parts are not original to it?
• Do you have the box, papers and the original bracelet or strap?
• Why are you selling it?
• Can I see it in daylight, and can I take a photo of the caseback?

What this sheet is standing on

The specifications above are sourced to sothebys.com, sothebys.com. What else the catalog does not know.

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