2 Rolexes Paul Newman Gave to Stuntman Stan Barrett Head to Auction

The sale also will include a third Rolex, with all three watches tied to Barrett’s 1979 attempt to break the world record for land speed.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

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This stainless steel Rolex GMT-Master “Pepsi” watch is one of three watches belonging to stuntman and racecar driver Stan Barrett set to go up for auction at Sotheby’s New York on Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

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Barrett’s good friend Paul Newman gave him this watch when Barrett tried to break—or broke, as some would argue—the world record for speed on land. Newman had the back engraved to mark his friend’s feat. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

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Newman also gave Barrett this stainless steel Ref. 6262 Rolex Daytona. Barrett was wearing both watches when he made his record attempt on Dec. 17, 1979. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

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New York—Two Rolex watches Paul Newman gifted longtime friend Stan Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman who shared Newman’s passion for racing cars, are going up on the block later this year at Sotheby’s New York.

The watches, a stainless steel GMT-Master “Pepsi” and a stainless steel Ref. 6262 Daytona, are the timepieces Barrett wore on Dec. 17, 1979 when he drove the Budweiser Rocket Car in an attempt to become the first man to go faster than the speed of sound on land.

Racing across a dry lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, he was clocked at an estimated 739.66 mph but it did not go down as an official record because of malfunctioning radar scanners and the fact that no one heard a “sonic boom.”

As a stuntman in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Barrett worked with a lot of the big stars of the day including John Wayne and Burt Reynolds. He was Newman’s stunt double in 1971’s “Sometimes a Great Notion.”

The men’s friendship spanned 40 years (Newman is the godfather to both of Barrett’s sons), as they bonded over their love of cars, racing and adventure as well as, according to Sotheby’s, watches.

Sotheby’s estimates the GMT-Master with the Pepsi dial will sell for $50,000 to $100,000 while the estimate on the Daytona, $300,000 to $500,000, is much higher because it was Newman’s personal watch that he gave to Barrett.

Newman was known for gifting watches to family and friends, and he had the back of the Pepsi GMT he gave to Barrett engraved after his speed-record attempt. “STAN BARRETT 739 MPH MACH 1.0206 12-17-79,” it reads.

3-20220812_Barrett yellow gold GMT.jpg — Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch gave Stan Barrett this yellow gold Rolex GMT Ref. 1675 for his world record attempt in the Budweiser Rocket Car. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

4-20220812_Barrett yellow gold GMT back.jpg — Like Paul Newman, Busch had the back engraved on the Rolex he gifted Barrett. (Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

5-20220812_Stan Barrett.jpg — Stan Barrett wearing the two Rolexes from Paul Newman after his race in the Budweiser Rocket Car in 1979. (Photo courtesy of Stan Barrett via Sotheby’s)

Both estimates seem conservative considering the history of Newman-connected watches at auction.

In 2017, Newman’s own 1968 Ref. 6239 Cosmograph Daytona—the very model that became known among collectors as the “Paul Newman Daytona” in the 1980s—sold for a record-setting $17.8 million at auction.

The third Rolex included in the Sotheby’s sale, a yellow gold GMT Ref. 1675 (estimate $50,000 to $100,000), was a gift from Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch.

Busch had “Stan Barrett – Driver – Budweiser Rocket Car 739.66MPH December 17 1979” engraved on the back.

“These three watches—personal gifts between friends and colleagues—carry more historical significance than just their benefactors,” said Jonathon Burford, Sotheby’s Watches Specialist. “Inextricably linked to a feat of human exploration, they represent a slice of American history itself and will no doubt appeal to watch connoisseurs and racing enthusiasts alike.”