Burl Wood Dial 18039 Rolex Day-Date

White gold and wood is peak 80s Day-Date. Rolls Royce’s PR arm has run amok using the phrase ‘post-opulence’ to describe their current portfolio. The definition is loose, but something akin to quiet excellence. This is post-opulent Rolex collecting. It’s wood, not diamonds. White gold, not platinum. Everything about it is a little coy, a little reserved. For the same price, someone could’ve ordered a lapis dial Day-Date in yellow gold. But someone didn’t, and dialed it back with a very charismatic spec.

Burl Wood Day-dates have their own, very distinct dial. The indices are white gold and not square but sort of polished half-cylinders. Unlike some of the brighter birch tone dials, the writing is white not black, which provides excellent contrast. The 18039, 9 denotes white gold, is amongst the subtlest from this time. The contrast white gold brings to the table is needed, particularly when some of the ink can sink down into the wood pores.

This 1979 example comes just from the start of the five-digit era, where quickset, sapphire, and many, many options were offered in catalogue. It wasn’t just wood, it was stone, guilloche, stella, Oman, diamonds, and 24 languages. This was a part of the explosion of Day-Date popularity, thanks in no small part to an ad with Lyndon B John’s wrist and an association to power. Wood is undoubtedly one of the best, it is often said that Rolex would select one in every ten for actual casing, though I’ve never been able to find anything to substantiate that. Looking at this, I can believe it.

The white gold wood dials have always stood a head and should or two above the more seen yellow gold at auction. Auction results have usually oscillated between 40-50K USD across the big three. If you want to get really confused, this white gold wood dial spec also exists in Datejust form and is even more valuable. But the Day-Date is the President’s watch, and that’s probably the move. Who knew wood could be elevated to become a true luxury material. Maybe we are actually living in post-opulence, whatever that means.

This example is sporting a strong case, with great edges and brushing. The dial shows no signs of damage with clear print. The tritium in the handset has some pinholes, which should be noted.