Woman finds rare vintage Rolex worth $250,000 in thrift-store couch

Paul Newman's own version of same watch previously sold at auction for $15.5m (£12m)

Woman finds rare vintage Rolex in her thrift-store couch (Stock)

A woman has reportedly made a profit of $250,000 (£193,932) after selling an extremely rare Rolex she found in-between the cushions of her thrift-store sofa.

According to Paul Altieri of Bob’s Watches, who recounted the story for the Robb Report as one of the “craziest stories I’ve come across”, the Canadian woman, who chose not to be named, was sitting on a couch she’d previously purchased for $25 (£19) when she dropped her phone.

After reaching into the cushions, the woman pulled out a timepiece, which happened to be a vintage Rolex Daytona 6241 “Paul Newman”.

“In the world of vintage watches, Rolex Daytona chronographs are king,” Altieri wrote. “And the Paul Newman variants of vintage Daytonas - characterised by a very particular dial style - are downright legendary.”

Paul Newman’s own watch broke the record for the most expensive watch ever sold at auction in 2017, according to Altieri, for a price of $15.5m.

Upon realising her find, the woman attempted to call the thrift store and find the original watch owner.

However, as the sale of the couch had been years prior, there was no way to get in contact with its previous owner.

It was then that the woman reportedly reached out to Bob’s Watches, who sent a Rolex expert to Canada to identify the watch.

After confirming the watch was a genuine vintage Rolex Daytona 6241 Paul Newman, Altieri offered to buy it from the woman for $250,000.

According to Altieri, the luxury watch is unique for a few reasons.

In addition to only being crafted by the famous watch brand in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the Daytona Paul Newman - made famous by the actor and race car driver - were only created as manually wound versions for just three years.

During the three-year period, just 3,000 of the 6241 watch were made with a manual dial, with even fewer fitted with an “exotic dial”, according to Altieri.

The watch found by the anonymous woman had all three components - making it extremely valuable.

As for what the woman did with the money, the watch expert said she planned to “buy a house and get a boob job”.