Eastern Arabic Dial 1805 Rolex Day-Date

Meet the 1805. That’s right 1805, not 1806. This is one of those references that needs explaining, in fact often called a lost reference alongside the 1808, 1809, 1810, and others like the ‘King’ 1831. Any time the number of known examples of any given Rolex approaches single digits, it gets hard to know much concretely. That’s the world we’re in today: 5 examples. The last time we highlighted an Eastern Arabic Day-Date on bracelet, we began, ‘There are Day-Dates and then there are Day-Dates that look like they smoke on airplanes.’ This is the latter. And it’s quirky in a whole host of ways, not the least of which is this magnificent dial—which is one of just a handful to start with. It’s One Thousand and One Nights, just with the President.

If you look at this bezel closely, you’ll note it’s not the normal fluting from an 1803. It has intermediary teeth or pyramids in the valleys, running the opposing direction. Some call it the ‘piranha’ bezel, a sort of fractal celebration. Around the time the 6510 and 6611 evolved into the 18XX series, Day-Date varieties blossomed aggressively. This is from just after that time. By the 18XX, the Day-Date was available with discs in 24 languages, then Stella dials, then stone dials (in the mid 1970s), and guilloché. Through all this, there were special orders. Applied Eastern Arabic dials are all thought have been made on special order, most likely Royal family. This is of the same ilk as an Oman Khanjar but more likely than not ordered from the UAE with Arabic Hindi numerals.

Then there’s this Milanese bracelet, the sort of thing you’d usually only see on Patek Philippe around this era (1960). Radium was used until around 1963 by Rolex. Radium Day-Date dials always age a little more roughly, particularly from hot climates, but that’s a part of the honesty here. And here’s the real ace: it’s pink gold. We know of 5 examples of 1805 in pink gold, 1 in yellow gold, and none in white yet. There are many, many Day-Dates from the four-digit era and the market is broad. The 1805 is a myth, one of the least seen four-digit references. It makes one wonder what else we don’t know. What I’d give to be sheikh in the 60s.

This example is not perfect but honest and with a lot of character. The dial is champagne that has been made more mild by time. The radium is nearly black with some pips a touch lighter. The wheels match, which one would want to see. The case has been lightly polished, but the bezel still has that fractal pattern clearly visible. It comes from a well-regarded Dubai-based retailer, well described, via Instagram only although he does have a direct WhatsApp contact on his page as well.