From gold to gold: The amazing universe of the neo-vintage Day-Date

[foxytimes]

In the Rolex world it’s almost impossible to keep things in perspective. Despite thousands of articles and millions of posts and videos. Sub, GMT, Daytona and other so called professional models in general get a lot of attention. Less so the classic line. Who knows a Rolex Prince, King Midas or Octagon? On the other hand also classic but very well known are Datejust and especially Day-Date.

But do we really know everything of the history in detail about the latter as it seems to be with Sub, GMT and Daytona? The variety of the DD culminates in the 5-digit era. The count of references outnumbers most likely any other Rolex model in this era. Are you familiar with a 18058, 18148, 18249 or 18368?

Unfortunately the publicly accessible archives provide little detailed information about these DD, the unbelievable diversity of dials and bezels produced from the late 70s to the millennium and the special orders e.g. when an emir ordered his own dials with a khanjar (dagger) logo print. In the next few lines I’ll try my best to deliver you a small insight into this little big world.


Disclaimer #1: The watches discussed are just an arbitrary tiny cluster in the DD-universe. Galaxies like stone dials, stella dials or vignette/dégradé dials are missing and many more. Also not all precious metals are represented.
Disclaimer #2: All shots were made in natural lighting and without filters.

Let’s start with the epitome of a classic DD: YG and champagne stick dial, mounted on a reference 18248.

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Some say it’s boring, like a gold nugget that tells the time. In this case with bark finish bezel and bracelet the appearance could suggest such an idea. But interestingly wearing this watch one gets a lot of attention the more so as the monochromatic design shines and sparkles like a sun of its own. It’s a classic and most probably always will be.

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It goes without saying that the so called president bracelet wears extremely comfortable, the hidden clasp adds to the elegance. The watch can also be worn nonchalantly with a casual outfit and fits like a glove on every occasion. This exact example was sold in Geneva in the 90s.

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What about readability? Gold over gold - it seems logical to have reservations about it. But the golden sticks and hands create enough shadows and therefore contrast to read the time easily. The side shot provided may give you an idea.

Let’s have a look now at the same model 18248 with a darker dial. The rest is identical, Swiss origin speaking of initial sale, 90s.

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We are looking at a blue dial with applied golden Roman numerals. The colors gold and blue are a classic combination like sun and sky. I like the simple pre-deconstructed design of these Romans. This dial type could be seen as a predecessor to the actual Roman numerals in the 228xxx series.

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Another detail: The Romans are arranged upright in the lower part of the dial. Traditionally the time on a dial is measured concentrically (deriving from the old solar clocks) so the hour markers in the lower half of the dial often are upside down. Interestingly the upside down position bothers me visually with Arabic numerals, for the Romans I find both arrangements pleasing, the upside down version being more traditional whereas the upright position looks more modern or better said more 20th century.

Since both DD’s come in a bark finish a few words to that. Yes, it has a raw and crude look-and-feel. The common polished finish definitely can be seen as more elegant and classic. But bark is beautiful too. The crudeness somehow represents the force of nature in combination with the myth of gold.
Don’t wanna be esoteric, just look what happens when a ray of light hits the bark.

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It comes alive. The shine and the reflections in direct sunlight are amazing. Well, and for the less emotional: The bark finish is less prone to scratches.

After these rather simple examples but nonetheless timeless designs let’s go further into the neo-vintage universe of the DD. Next up is a design that divides most watch lovers in the Rolex camp: the Tridor (the three golds).

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This watch, sold in Geneva at the end of the 90s, actually is a reference 18349BIC but the diamond bezel has been replaced with a normal fluted one. Another specialty: it has a YG dial.

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This is possible being BIC which means bicolor although the majority of Tridors are faithful to their reference and come in a WG configuration. Very popular are salmon or champagne dials often with diamond markers. The white stick dial is a rather uncommon choice but it highlights imho the beauty of the bracelet with the three golds in the line order RG-YG-WG-YG-RG.

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As you can see the difference between RG and YG is minimal and can be difficult to spot in direct sunlight due to the reflections. From a distance the watch might appear as a TT Datejust. That puts some people off. In reality the Tridor represents a unique example of craftsmanship forging the three golds together like this. As a bonus: the Tridor links are not hollow thus a Tridor should be a little bit heavier than a similar other gold DD.

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At an arm’s length the three golds are very noticeable unless a bad polish blends the originally sharp lines between the different golds. The Tridor is a unique DD. Although not rare you won’t see it very often in the wild. Strange but true: Oxidation of the metals in the gold alloy can darken the YG portion of the bracelet making it darker than RG and WG and therefore changing the look of the bracelet completely.

Let’s move on in the neo-vintage universe beaming us up to the myriad galaxy. Myriad dials usually consist of a diamond filled outer ring where the hour markers are placed and a darker or lighter sunburst center.

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They are related somehow to certain carousel dials where instead the center is diamond filled (circular pavé). The example shown is a reference 18238 from the end of the 80s. The sunburst gray center behaves like a chameleon. It can change from light gray to a sort of china blue. Fascinating!

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Another intriguing detail: Despite being a YG dial with a YG coronet the day and date windows have a WG look. This bicolor setting seems to be rather rare but happens to be canonic with other dials too.

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The gemstone setting on Rolex serti dials (serti from French sertissage for gem setting) is adorable. According to several publications online the diamonds used by Rolex are of an internally flawless quality (IF). Color-wise the scale used ranges from D to G. That would be top-notch. I have no clear evidence for these findings whatsoever but the difference between an original Rolex serti dial and an aftermarket one is usually very noticeable.

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There is an assumption that D-color diamonds are rather used in a WG surrounding whereas G-color in a YG setting but as far as I know there is no perceivable difference between these grades for the naked eye, these diamonds are just pure white. Where Rolex gets the gemstones from seems to be unknown.

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A few words about the weekday complication. For the neo-vintage models it should be available in 26 languages from all over the world. Amharic, Basque, Catalan, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian Latin and so forth. Personally, I like the ones the most that have few letters. The day-wheel makes a certain DD unique. Or do you see a Keskiviikko day often? By the way it’s the Finnish word for Wednesday…

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In direct light the sunburst dial tends to reflect a lot of the light and take a ghostly appearance.
The colour, reflections and surface texture, along with decorative elements and the overall design give a DD its intrinsic character.

At the end of our journey through the neo-vintage DD universe we go back to the golden start - but with a twist.

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This reference 18038 initially sold in Turkey in the 80s features a diamond string dial with ruby baguette markers. The same design was also available with sapphires and emeralds.

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Once again the quality of the gemstones appears to be superb. As is the condition of the watch after around 40 years.

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The combination of red and gold reminds me of the colors around Christmas time. But interestingly this DD has not seen snow during its entire existence. From Turkey it somehow traveled to California and only recently the watch came back to Switzerland where all Rolexes are born.

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Well, every neo-vintage DD is at least 20 years old and therefore these watches have lots to tell. If the curriculum still is traceable. Unfortunately the older the watch less documentation is available. In general. But also true: you write your own story with such an emblematic watch. Where did the watch find you? What kind of emotions do you link to the moment of the purchase? Or was it a gift from an Indian Raja?

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The DD is a symbol of history and heritage. So goes the slogan. Can it be true? In the universe of the neo-vintage DD chances were never higher.

Thanks for the read and feel free to comment on your own mission in the DD universe.

[aczaja10]

Incredible post. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

[motorjon68]

Spectacular!