My vintage Day-Date ref. 1803...

[Shade]

Now, I have a yellow gold single quickset (can't remember the ref number sorry) day-date already, with gold plate and gold roman indices. But ALAS! My wife took over and now it practically belong to her. I always liked my day-date, and I love the look of the soft gold with the soft gold dial and such and so on...

But I love my wife more, so I had to "let it go". Hahaha... But it turns out, I COULDN'T stop thinking about that day-date, and I'm not fond of adding and removing links, and there are times she wants to wear it, and I want too, so it was too much of a hassle.

So one day, I was meeting an acquaintance to deal on a Panerai 170 submersible at a second hand dealer store, which I had reviewed on the non-Rolex thread, and while waiting, I saw that he got this immaculate (for it's age) 1803 for sale! He told me it was from his own private collection, he got it off someone a long time ago, but never worn it much.



He showed me the watch, and I was stunned. It was barely polished (or perhaps unpolished), the plexi is also in very very very good condition and is still in it's original state. The movement is sparkling clean and keeps accurate time. The dial is soft gold with diamond indices, in pristine condition as well, with all the aged lume dot still in place, and the date plate and day plate still perfectly aligned. The bezel is also very very very nice.

The only gripe is that there's a ding on the lower left lug, which is not a problem for me, which also means that this watch has never been polished away or buffed out, which I like. All the edges are still sharp, it was like falling in love all over again. Sure it's one of the oldest day-date available, and no quick set makes it a pain, but hey, for the price I was offered, it can't be beat. Oh one minor minor gripe, is that I love the newer clasp version. This old version is hard to open for me and it hurts my finger (fingernails).

One of the best thing I liked about this day-date is that the dial is a pie-pan shaped, which adds dimension to the overall aesthetic of the dial, and makes it very interesting to me! :D

The hands do show a little age, and the rolex crown logo as well, but you'd have to be nitpicky (like me) to notice it. Everything else is tip top. Did I say how sparkly clean the movement was? I didn't take a picture of it sorry, but I would've believed if he told me that the movement was brand new. Amazing.



The diamond indices do give out an extra bling to an all gold watch but I wouldn't fuss around too much, it's already an all gold watch anyway, so an extra bling wouldn't hurt. In fact, I kinda like it!

There are many chances that I almost bought a second day-date, but I couldn't justify the price - condition, so I always passed it over. But once I saw this one, I knew I couldn't pass it up.

Sure comparing it to the newest day-date is a no contest, the newer day-date has a larger case profile, better fonts on the day and date for clearer viewing, and it incorporates coating on the date cylcop. And has a smoother higher beat movement, but for almost 3 times the price. Worth it? To some yes, to me - no. I'd rather get 3 day-dates 1803, hahaha... to bad they didn't make a rosegold one in 1803, otherwise I'd have all the yellow, white and rose. :D

For those wondering, how this "oldy" watch would look and feel like... I must say, It looks and feels expensive! It's a class of its own, and the age doesn't show it. Buy it if you find one! :)



But now, knowing how a great find like this is possible, I'm hunting down a white gold version of this 1803. Wish me luck guys! And thanks for reading.

[watch watcher]

Oh, nice. That just happens to be my "grail" Rolex, a DD Prezy with the bling dial.

[CKLinLA]

Its looks beautiful!
I have a similar 1803; this is my favorite DayDate

[Shade]

Thank you for the compliments guys!

[Rogerlcobb]

By the way, they do make it in Rose Gold as I own one. They are a very rare model of the 1803 with the 1556 movement. I will get some pics up...

[Rogerlcobb]

Here are the pics....

[lance5]

WOW! great find, Shade

[Tokyo Time]

Great story. Since I got my 1803 a few months ago all my other watches went into hibernation.

[WatchNutcase]

Thats a sexy beast, how much did you grab it for?

[Shade]

Wow I dont remember - it was some time back - but my recent head only 1803 only costed me 3k.. The price has went up since (I was offered 3.5k already), and I bought my most recent one about 7 months ago..

[sea-dweller]

Looks great!

[jordtattoos]

Beautiful!


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[snoop24]

Great watch!


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[Amex4711]

1803 the perfect watch

[JoseR]

Nice watch...

[952953]

Awesome watch