The watch's popularity started to gain momentum in 1970, when Rolex decided - in, as it turned out, a brilliant stroke of genius- to name this hand-wound, plain chronograph that efficiently calculated the speed and elapsed time, after the Daytona Speedway (for over 15 years, Rolex has sponsored the famed Rolex 24 at Daytona). But it really took off at a breakneck speed in the mid-1980s when photos of Paul Newman wearing the self-winding Daytona model with exotic cream dial, black registers, and a black military-style leather strap, surfaced in the press. A car racing enthusiast himself, Newman was often photographed at racetracks sporting his Daytona. Although he never publicly endorsed the line, the term "Paul Newman Daytona" was coined,(e.g.Rolex Replica Daytona - Paul Newman – Silver) but has never been officially used by Rolex.
