1963!! The birth year of the Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. The start of a phenomenon that continues to this day. As a sports chronograph, it was named Daytona based o the "Daytona Intenational Speedway" race track in Florida. The first draft name "Rolex Le Mans" did not hold up and would be pushed out by the stronger American market and sponsorship of the 24 hour race in Daytona.
The first generation (Mark I) of the Daytona 6239 was only printed with Rolex and Cosmograph and therefore looks even cleaner. The silver plating of the dial is much finer and has a very special appearance and stands out the most of all the versions. Only the first ones still have the signature "Swiss" as we know it from the fifties and was then replaced by the signature "T-Swiss-T". The double "Swiss" signature could be described as a small mistake at the time. The "Swiss" print, which was set too low and not completely visible, was given a second one that is positioned slightly higher and , above, is completely visible.