The first time I ever laid my eyes on a Rolex Day-Date was when I was a student. I thought it was quite an impressive watch, and ever since then, I somewhat played with the idea of getting one when the time was right. And just the other week, the time was finally right, and I bought myself a Day-Date 18238.
The Rolex Day-Date debuted in 1956, and to this day, not much about the watch has changed. That’s the power of such an icon, but perhaps it’s also the reason why it is such an iconic watch after all. This watch does not need much introduction. You probably know or have seen it many times. The Rolex Day-Date is only available in yellow gold, rose gold, white gold, and platinum, except for (supposedly) a handful of prototypes that Rolex made in steel.
Mainly in the US, the Day-Date watch is often referred to as the “Rolex President”. Officially, “President” refers to the type of bracelet you see here, though the watch was also available on an Oyster bracelet. The “President” nickname also refers to the US Presidents who wore this watch. Where I live in the Netherlands, it’s more common to refer to it as Rolex Day-Date. Everyone will know which watch what you’re talking about.
I don’t come from a family of watch enthusiasts. The timepieces that were (and still are) in the family are mainly Omega watches. I don’t think anyone in my family or the people around us in the 1980s and ’90s had a Rolex watch. When my interest in best replica Rolex Day-Date watches started to grow in the second half of the 1990s, the Rolex Day-Date was one of those icons that I considered top of the bill. Sure, it’s not a Patek Philippe, a Breguet, or a Vacheron Constantin. But there was something about a gold Day-Date that made it the king of the hill in my opinion.
In the early 2000s, I had my first close encounter with one. It was actually Gerard from our team who had one in his private collection (he used to own one of the best watch shops for 15 years). It was a Day-Date ref. 18038 with a tapestry dial… And just like that, he gave me the watch to wear for a few days! At the time, I clearly felt way too young to wear such a watch. Of course, that was due to the high value (I think the retail price of a Day-Date 18238 was around €17,000 at the time) and the fact it was made of precious metal. But most importantly, the feeling that I didn’t “earn” such a watch really made it seem out of my league.
In 2002, I got a 36mm Datejust as my first watch from the Rolex brand. A vintage GMT-Master 1675 followed, and then I bought a pre-owned Sea-Dweller 16600. In the years after that, several other references followed. They were always sports 1:1 fake Rolex watches, though, and never a Day-Date. The desire for a Rolex Day-Date took a back seat, mainly because I felt I wasn’t ready for one.
In recent years, however, my interest in owning gold and bi-color watches has increased. In 2014, I bought my first gold Speedmaster, and in 2017, I got the rose gold Globemaster. Finally, in 2019, I added the Speedmaster Moonshine (yellow) Gold version to my collection. I noticed I liked wearing gold and stopped caring about what others might think of it. That also might be an age thing, of course.
These days, some of the steel Rolex watches cost as much or even more than watches in precious metal. Now it’s actually making sense to explore (and buy) gold watches. I don’t have to explain to you the crazy demand for Rolex watches and how it has become virtually impossible to buy any of them at retail price. It surprised me that the Day-Date is lagging in value development, considering how disturbing that development is for other AAA+ Rolex copy watches. In the grand scheme of things, the Day-Date is suddenly an interesting watch to consider. That’s especially true if you’ve had a slight crush on it already.
Last week, someone reminded me of a bunch of famous people that also own a Rolex Day-Date, but I was never interested in this watch for that reason. I have little interest in US Presidents (or those from any other country, for that matter). I am also bad at remembering or naming any actors (here in the office, they keep being surprised I don’t know actor X or actress Y). Our King has a Rolex Day-Date in white gold that he occasionally swaps for his Omega Speedmaster Professional, but that’s also something I don’t really care about. I just think it’s a cool-looking watch. A bit mythical, even. To me, the Day-Date is still Rolex’s flagship, even though other cheap clone Rolex watches are in higher demand or have more complicated movements.
One of my other observations is how this watch wears so incredibly different from my Rolex Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet while sharing the same case shape and 36mm diameter. The Day-Date feels a bit thicker (I didn’t measure it, but it’s probably the case) and the President bracelet adds quite a bit of heft and mass to the whole thing. It’s just a blast to wear these perfect Rolex replica watches, and it makes me smile from ear to ear.