Salmon Stella 1803 Rolex Day-Date

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I’m as fond of a good metaphor for communicating my views on any given watch as China are of polluting oceans. The Day-Date, more than almost any other watch, lends itself to a particular analogy: drink. There are endless variants, each quite personally expressive, and they all get you to about the same place. In…

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Birchwood Dial 19018 Rolex Oysterquartz Day-Date

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I know it says Rolex on the dial, but in every other way this is the anti-Rolex. It’s got a battery. There’s an integrated bracelet. The dial is not silver, not stone, but wood. It’s a Day-Date, but not as you know it. Everyone has an off day every now and again, but Rolex had…

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25594SA Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Day-Date Moonphase

There are watches you love right away, watches that shine brighter than Margo Robbie and have Nelson Mandela’s depth of character. 1518s, Rexheps, George Daniels, etc. Others though, take a little warming to. The two-tone (SA) ref. 25594 is neither. This is a watch that is so iconoclast that it somehow loops back to being…

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Ghost Dial, Bark Finish 18078 Rolex Day-Date

Ghost dials are the ultimate form of discretion through patina. Something about the philosophy of wearing a Rolex which doesn’t say Rolex anywhere (or only just) is very enticing. I’ve previously likened the effect to de-badging a luxury German sportscar, which is surprisingly common over there. But, given more thought (and drink), I think it’s…

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1807 Bark Finish, Havana Dial Rolex Day-Date

At the risk of being terribly passé, I’m about to quote myself. Sorry. In writing about about different 1803 a few months back, I said that ‘The joys of Rolex Day-Date collecting are in many ways like the joys of mild alcoholism. In both, the satisfaction is to be found in minor variation.’ Since that…

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Guilloché Dial 1802 Rolex Day-Date

The history of the Day-Date flows much like a river or family tree, there are tributaries branching every which way leading to exciting new places. Many of these historical tributaries were dead ends, never to be revisited or referenced again in Rolex production. Some of the better known paths are the Stella dials, Stone dials,…

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Bloodstone Dial 18039 Rolex Day-Date

Many of the most scarce stone dial Day-Dates share one thing in common: no indices. Why? Certainly, that makes it a bit tricky to glance the time. No, I choose to believe it’s more of an attitude: that Rolex believed once one owns a white gold President with a bloodstone dial, they may arrive anywhere…

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Havana Dial 1803 Rolex Day-Date

The joys of Rolex Day-Date collecting are in many ways like the joys of mild alcoholism. In both, the satisfaction is to be found in minor variation. With any Day-Date, you are getting what is in essence the same functional capability, proportion, and design. But the details vary endlessly in extremely intricate ways such as…

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‘The Owl’ 25572ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Day Date

Not all Day Dates come in Oyster cases. Shortly after the 5402 graced the world with its presence, AP experimented with a few variations on the theme. Out of this early/mid 80s era came many of the iconic complicated Royal Oak offerings we revere today. However, the very first complicated offering to feature in AP’s…

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Birch Burlwood Dial 18038 Rolex Day-Date

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Birch is the kind of adjective you expect to find next to ‘Eames Chair’, not ‘Day-Date’. We all know Rolex has used the Day-Date to host hundreds of exotic dial materials, many in extremely low volumes. Readers here will know of my affection for ligneous Presidents, but I haven’t elaborated on their intricacies yet. Like…

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