Our first blog post goes out the most renowned watch brand worldwide – Rolex and its high-class model, the flagship Day-Date (a.k.a. the Rolex President). The first Day-Date was first introduced to the world in 1956 and earned its nickname ‘President’ due to the fact that several US Presidents (including former US President Lyndon B. Johnson and other Heads of State) would wear this beautiful timepiece. While Rolex never officially called this model ‘The President’, it is the official name of the bracelet. Ever since, the 21mm wide President bracelet exclusively accompanies all Rolex Day-Date models in yellow gold, everose gold, white gold or platinum – all precious metals (diameter 36mm or 40mm).
What makes the Day-Date so special? The President is a classic watch with a design that says “look at me” without being over-designed. Since the model is only made with high-end materials, you always wear a status symbol that says “I can afford a luxury watch; I have taste and I am successful”.
For a non-watch lover, the white gold and platinum version looks like a normal steel watch – you wouldn’t know that the price starts at CHF 35’800 for the white gold version. I personally find it quite intriguing that only sophisticated watch lovers would appreciate the white gold Day-Date. This isn’t the case for the yellow gold or everose gold versions because it is more obvious that you are wearing a gold timepiece and you want to make a statement with your Rolex. So, if you can live with the feeling that some would mistake your white gold President for a steel watch, then I would always go for that inconspicuous white gold version.
What originally made the Day-Date standout from the other Rolex models like Dayton, Datejust and Submariner was the integration of a day weekday indicator which is displayed in full at the top of the face. Some say this feature was originally included for business men who wanted an add-on to the normal numeric date indicator. They found it useful to be reminded what day of the week it is.
The heart of Day-Date is the newest in-house movements of the Rolex named ‘Caliber 32XX Series’. This caliber isn’t the most complicated among the watch industry but it is definitely one of the most reliable and best performing mechanical movements. It includes a three-day power reserve and the numeric date and weekday simultaneously jump to the new position at midnight.
From day one, the Day-Date was meant to be a successful fusion of a classy sport watch and an appreciated status item.
Summary
Brand:
Rolex
Model:
Day-Date 36mm or 40
Price (starting at):
35’800 CHF
Measurements:
40mm wide, 12mm depth
When to wear:
Wear this watch at any occasion – either on vacation at the beach or with a nice suit for any business purpose. The Day-Date’s capability is limitless.
What we love about the watch:
When wearing the Day-Date, you wear a status symbol on your wrist. The watch is only available in precious metals (white, everose gold, yellow gold and platinum) so the cheapest Day-Date starts at around CHF 36k. Only sophisticated watch lovers would recognize its value because the steel or platinum version could easily be confused with a (non-existing) steel version of the Day-Date.
Image: „Rolex Day-Date 18038“ by hypo.physe, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hypophyse/3975570350, Licence CC BY-SA 2.0)