Woman Finds $191,000 Rolex in Couch Cushion
A Canadian woman discovered a rare Rolex Paul Newman Daytona hidden in a secondhand couch she bought for $25.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Collecting
A Canadian woman found a rare Rolex Paul Newman Daytona reference 6241 while retrieving her dropped phone from between the cushions of a couch she had owned for about four years. Bob's Watches auctioned the watch in June, where it sold for $191,000.
Why it matters
The sale shows how valuable vintage Rolex models can be, even when they turn up in ordinary household places. It also highlights the premium collectors place on rare, well-preserved examples of the Paul Newman Daytona.
The watch sold for $191,000 at auction, roughly 7,600 times the $25 the woman paid for the couch. A reference 6239 Paul Newman Daytona sold for $17.8 million including buyer's premium in 2017, though the reporting does not say whether the two references are directly comparable.
The players
Bob's Watches
Bob's Watches is a watch dealer and auction house that runs online sales of pre-owned and vintage timepieces.
The details
The woman was retrieving her phone from between the cushions when she found the watch, which remained in exceptional condition. Bob's Watches sold it through a small-batch online auction as part of its Fresh Finds series.
Timeline
About four years before the discovery, the woman bought the couch for $25 at a thrift shop.
In 2017, a reference 6239 Paul Newman Daytona sold for $17.8 million.
In June, Bob's Watches auctioned the reference 6241 Daytona for $191,000.
Legacy
Vintage Daytona prices start at roughly twice the cost of current-production models, and the 2017 sale of a reference 6239 Paul Newman Daytona for $17.8 million including buyer's premium set a benchmark for the reference. The June auction of a reference 6241 for $191,000 places this sale within that same upward trend for vintage Paul Newman Daytonas.
Readers who own older furniture or household items may want to check hidden spaces before selling or donating them. The story also shows that rare vintage watches can still turn up through ordinary channels such as thrift shops and estate sales.
The takeaway
Checking the cushions and crevices of secondhand furniture costs nothing and could reveal something valuable. Collectors also tend to pay strong premiums for well-preserved vintage watches, so condition matters.
Further reading
For more on how vintage pieces hold their value, explore Collecting coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
