The Rolex wristwatch that once belonged to Paul Newman has just set a record of US$17.8 million when it was auction in New York on Thursday. The stainless-steel Daytona Rolex was part of the “Winning Icons -- Legendary Watches of the 20th Century" set of 50-pieces put up for bidding at Phillips auction house.

The timepiece was originally estimated at more than $1 million but it's winning price exceeded the previous record for a stainless-steel Patek Philippe that sold for US$11.1 million also by Phillips last November.

Newman got his watch -- a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, reference #6239, made in 1968 -- as a gift from his wife, actress Joanne Woodward. The two starred together in the 1969 movie “Winning,” which sparked Newman’s successful racing career. The wristwatch has a white dial, three black subdials, the red outer track and Woodward’s engraving on the back: “DRIVE CAREFULLY ME.”

In the following decade, the watch traveled the world with the actor, appearing on his wrist in promotional materials, magazines and documentary footage. It became so synonymous with the Hollywood legend that vintage-watch aficionados dubbed the model after him.

They are among the most coveted in the market, according to Phillips. In May, an 18-karat gold “Paul Newman” Daytona fetched $3.7 million at Phillips in Geneva. A year earlier the company sold a stainless-steel version for $2 million. But neither of those had ever graced the blue-eyed star’s wrist.

The fate of Newman’s Daytona was somewhat of a mystery after it disappeared from the actor’s wrist in the 1980s. It turns out that in 1984, the star gave it as a gift to James Cox, a college student who dated Newman’s daughter Nell. Cox said he wore it proudly for years and then, as prices for vintage watches began skyrocketing, put it away in a safe box. Cox decided to sell the piece, in part, to raise money for the Nell Newman Foundation, where he serves as treasurer.