Turquoise Stella Dial 18038 Rolex Day-Date

Thankfully, this 18038 dial has nothing to do with Tiffany, it’s just a great color. While we all love a colorful OP, vintage Rolex did it first and did it better. Stella dials have been collected since they were introduced in the early 1970s, however only very hotly in the last decade, coinciding with the Day-Date’s broader ascendance. The are the polar antithesis to the professional, sport Rolex: whimsical, exuberant, and punchy. Of the myriad colors produced, it’s really just lilac, yellow, pinkish coral, and this seafoamy-turquoise that are exceedingly rare.

Of that desirable set, it’s no surprise that any color which can be called Tiffany has had quite the ride over the last few years. This green-blue is lovely, aside from all the hype. Moreover, it’s one of the better dial types. Stellas are categorized into four series or types. The first is a pie-pan 4-digit. The second is a T Swiss T flat. This third is a T Swiss Made T, while the fourth has only a Roman numeral track. This third series is found in five-digit Stella Day-Dates, which means you also get a quickset. Day-Date collectors will know, this is a worthy addition for usability. The real beauty of Stella dials is not the color, but the craft. Stellas were made by Stern, using Stella, a Châtelaine-based supplier of lacquer. Each was built up from multiple layers of hand applied lacquer, which had to set between coats. The failure rate was high. You can see this thickness over normal dials around the apertures, with rounded edges due to depth (which were incompatible with gold surrounds).

If Stella dials have been on an arc over the last decade, Turquoise Stellas have been on a SpaceX booster. Note, this is not the same as blue, which is often labelled as Turquoise incorrectly. These were 40K USD in 2015, now with multiple results well in excess of 100K. Even though yellow is rarer, this is the more valuable. If you’re talking in white metals, things get even crazier. Despite the immense collectability, I’ve always felt Stella dials take themselves just a bit less seriously, but still very much in immensely great taste and something that has to be studied to be appreciated.

This example has a beautiful case with strong edges, no visible hairlines on the dial (which is what you want to be certain of with these as Stellas can fracture). It’s an all-time-great level of example. The bracelet looks relatively strong as well. It comes from a well-regarded Dutch retailer.