Paul Newman's watch auctioned for record 17.8 million US dollars

A constant beloved companion of Paul Newman for years, the late Hollywood star's Rolex has sold for $17.8 million, setting a world auction record for a wristwatch. Given to him by his wife Joanne Woodward and lovingly inscribed while the couple filmed and co-starred in the 1969 movie "Winning," Newman was photographed wearing the iconic watch on countless occasions. Auction house Phillips said it was snapped up late Thursday in New York by an anonymous telephone buyer for $17.8 million after 12 minutes of frenzied bidding in a sale that attracted collectors from more than 40 countries.

But, if it's the most expensive wristwatch sold at auction, a handcrafted Patek Philippe pocket watch made for New York banker Henry Graves remains the most expensive overall, fetching more than $24 million at Sotheby's in 2014. He used the watch, known as the Paul Newman Daytona, to time races and bet with friends that his watch was more accurate than theirs, Phillips said. He gave the watch to his daughter Nell's then boyfriend, James Cox. Newman gifted the watch when he discovered that Cox did not own one. "Pop handed James his Rolex and said, 'If you can remember to wind this each day, it tells pretty good time,'" wrote Nell in a signed letter acc-ompanying the sale.