As mentioned last week, we were going to look at a couple pieces that kind of slipped by us this year. Last week we looked at a Patek Philippe: the Pilot Travel Time that now comes in rose-gold. This week we’re going to look at an iconic piece from the Rolex collection: The Day-Date but as you can tell from the title this one features a meteorite dial with baguette diamonds. The Day-Date has always been a favourite of mine, even growing up as child of all the Rolex my dad owned this one sticks out more than any other. The Day-Date is Rolex symbol of excellence and prestige; it is the timepiece you reward yourself with. Though nowadays it has become more a symbol of opulence, but this doesn’t diminish its meaning.
The dial of this Day-Date 40 is a sight to behold, fashioned out of meteorite and adorned with 10 baguette diamonds adds a note of distinction to the otherwise understated case. Naturally the white-gold case measures 40mm – hence the 40 part of the name. Like all Rolex Day-Date’s (with the exception of the platinum version) it sports the highly distinctive fluted bezel. The Oyster case on this Day-Date 40, features a monobloc middle case with screw down case back and a twinlock screw down crown, ensuring it is waterproof up to 100 metres. It goes without saying that no Day-Date would be complete without a “President” bracelet, which was designed specially for the Day-Date when launched in 1956.
The biggest change that has taken place over the last couple of years on the Day-Date 40 and one that has naturally been passed on to this new piece is the new in-house Rolex manufactured movement. The Calibre 3255 is COSC certified but like all new Rolex calibres, it has also undergone an exclusive series of tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to their own criteria, which exceeds watchmaking norms and standards. This new Superlative Chronometer status is identified by the green seal, as opposed to red, that now comes with every Rolex watch and is coupled with an international five-year guarantee.
While there is technically nothing new to see here, it just goes to show that even Rolex like flexing their muscle to show-off their watching making prowess and demonstrate their superior dial making skills. What’s quite nice about this piece is that from a distance it just looks like an ordinary run-of-the-mill Day-Date until you get up close to really see the devil in the detail.
The new Rolex Day-Date 40 with Meteorite Diamond Dial is priced at $46,750. More information is available on the official Rolex website.