‘Japan No Lume’ 1803 Rolex Day-Date

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Hardstone dials are all the rage these days. Day-Dates are synonymous with onyx, lapis, and jasper. But in the earliest days of the Day-Date, there weren’t stones. There were Stellas. And before there were Stellas, there were gilt pie-pans. An early Day-Date in white precious metal is just about the ultimate in discreet opulence as…

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Jasper Dial 18039 Rolex Day-Date

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Of all standard production Rolex models, white precious metal and a jasper dial has to be in the top five of outright rarity. You’ll see jasper in yellow gold with some frequency, a handful yearly popping up in the market. But in white precious metal, not gem set, fewer than 10 are known. My current…

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Tom Landry’s 18038 Rolex Day-Date

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Tom Landry is one of the most important and influential figures there has ever been in American football. And this is his Day-Date. No, not just the same reference. This is Landry’s actual Rolex, the precise one that’s been immortalized and carved on his statue’s wrist outside Texas Stadium. Head coach of the Dallas Cowboys…

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Bloodstone Dial 18239 Rolex Day-Date

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Stone dial Day-Dates are having their moment. But this, a bloodstone, defies comparison within Rolex. There are maybe a handful of dials as rare as a white metal bloodstone Day-Date across all Rolex models. There are fewer than 10 known, 8 is my best estimate currently. That makes this humble dial more scarce than a…

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Onyx Dial 18206 Rolex Day-Date

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If you have a robust memory, you may recall back in 2020 Lange released an 1815 Rattrapante in Honeygold, the brand’s first split seconds. Immediately and nearly unanimously, the watch world exclaimed, ‘Wow that’s beautiful . . .wait, didn’t they make one of those already?’ It just sort of seemed like a rattrapante always should…

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Lapis Dial 18038 Rolex Day-Date

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Stone dial Rolex is having its day and I don’t think that’s for rarity alone. A stone dial gives what is ultimately a standardized product an edge of uniqueness as well as personal style. It’s kind of like ice cream, we all appreciate ice cream as a category and uniquely delicious ice cream, but everyone…

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Green Stella 18038 Rolex Day-Date

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What is a summer watch? Prepare yourself, I’m about to move through some contrived tropes. Is it anything on a bracelet, for obvious humidity resistance and cleanliness? No, that level of simplicity is like calling anyone who appears on camera an actor. Jason Derulo is now an avid Tiktokker. He’s not an actor. Or, arguably,…

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Blue Stella 18039 Rolex Day-Date

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From lilac to yellow, Stella dials are ‘in’, whatever that means. Every time I see a great one come up for sale these days, and the accompanying punchy ask, the ‘so hot right now’ Zoolander meme comes immediately to mind. I normally totally eschew anything fashionable; fashion is of the now. By definition fashion cycles.…

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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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