DD 1803 bracelet info

[FauxldMoney]

Hello,

I just purchased a white gold linen dial DD on a leather strap (to be verified with a local vinatage Rolex shop). I’ll be happily wearing it on a cognac badalassi wax strap for now (not pictured), but I’d like to procure a correct president bracelet at some point and I figure this could take time, so I might as well put up my antenna, so to speak. I have a few other vintage Rolexes, but I’ve been surprised at how hard it is to find information on this particular item. Obviously the reference is 1803, but I haven’t been able to even find the bracelet reference number, much less a serial range for a 1972-ish white gold specimen.

No great pictures yet, but I realize text-only posting is sacrilegious, so I’ll include a bad picture… please forgive my haste.

I truly appreciate any tribal knowledge available on this esoterica :-)

[CTech]

As far as I know, Rolex did not use different clasp codes for the white gold or yellow gold versions of the 1803 President bracelet, so you would be looking for a white gold 7286 with the regular clasp or a white gold 8385 with the concealed clasp.

The concealed clasp bracelet was a catalogue option by 1972 so the watch could originally have been bought with either bracelet or it could also have been supplied on a leather strap with a white gold buckle.

The correct end pieces for a President bracelet to fit an 1803 are marked 53 but the majority of bracelets for sale will have the 55B end pieces used on the 5 digit (18038, 18039, etc. series) watches. The bracelet will still have the same clasp code of 7286 or 8385 so it can get very confusing.

The 5 digit case is slightly thicker than the 1803 case and so those end pieces do not fit very well. There are many 1803 watches around with the later bracelet and 55B end pieces and some of them have had the end pieces modified so they fit the earlier case better, but I don't know the details of how it is done.

[77T]

Originally Posted by FauxldMoney

Obviously the reference is 1803, but I haven’t been able to even find the bracelet reference number, much less a serial range for a 1972-ish white gold specimen.

I agree with the answer you've already seen about the clasp code not being specific as to the metal.

You have a tough quest ahead if you endeavor to find period correct, 50+ year old bracelets.

For one thing, it would likely be so worn out that you'd have to refurbish it. Or, if it was pristine, the price could be half as much as the 1803 you've bought.

But here's some info about the arcane world of dates and clasp codes...you can research this yourself but this is my opinion from reading a few resources. @Springer (or another one who knows more than me) can add or correct the following...

Back in the day, the clasp simply had 2 digits stamped to indicate the year it was made. This was done until 1972.

Then, Rolex decided to use no code for the years 1973-75. There's nothing extraordinary here because bracelets were stocked separately from watch midcases to which it was attached when an 1803 was finally assembled.

So if you found a clasp stamped 70, 71, 72, or not at all, you'd be in a "directionally correct" era.

BTW
Sometime in 1976, Rolex began a new clasp numbering scheme: "A" for 1976 (but some stamped "76" have been seen for 1976). Anyway, the letter code was followed by a number indicating the month it was made. So A9 would be Sept. 1976.

See what I mean about arcane?


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[Dan S]

There is a ton of info here about bracelets.
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=73646

[FauxldMoney]

Thanks everyone! I must confess that I've always gravitated more to the older sport models (the 6536 is a dream of mine), but I've always loved the 1803 pie-pan dial AND the DJ linen dials and until recently I didn't realize that one could have both. I would've preferred to buy one on the bracelet... that would've saved a lot of time and money, but a well-preserved example of this dial in WG does not seem to come up very often, so I got impatient.

As I look closer at how the endlinks meet the case, it certainly seems that many president bracelets are likely not original, and since this certainly isn't a museum piece, I don't feel overly precious about originality... I'm just wary of an ill-fitting bracelet that scratches the lugs/case. Would fitting this correctly (in researching here I saw a picture of a DD on an oyster rivet bracelet... very interesting), be something a vintage watchmaker does?

Thanks again, grateful for the direction.

[crowncollection]

It’s very hard to find the correct bracelet in good condition. Good luck in your endeavours.


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[miamiclay]

Couldn’t the OP have a set of white gold 53 endlinks fitted to any 7286 or 8385 WG President bracelet?

Not that WG 53s will be easy to find, but is there any reason it wouldn’t work?

And, nice dial! The WG silver linen dial is indeed very uncommon, I think you probably did the right thing getting it however you could.