Rolex Day-Date

For a brand that has built its reputation on its sports watches, it's perhaps unsurprising that the Rolex Day-Date would be among the brand's best-sellers. True, the brand has always produced dress watches, but while the brand's more overt dress watch, the Cellini, often seems out of place among the brand's Oyster-cased offerings, the Day-Date is sturdy, solid, is at home alongside the Submariners and GMTs that make up the rest of the Oyster Perpetual collection. Where the Day-Date is concerned, Rolex spared no expense in making it well-made, both inside and out. When it was introduced, Rolex wasn't making any other complicated wristwatches. Though early versions from the 1950s suffered from technical problems - due to power transfer problems, the day and date wheels wouldn't always seamlessly turn over at the stroke of midnight - Rolex approached the model as they did so many others, making quiet improvements, ensuring the Day-Date was worthy as the centerpiece of Rolex's Oyster class.   Further improvements were made in the late 1950s with the addition of a hacking function which stopped the second hand, allowing for greater accuracy when setting.  But it was when the Day-Date was given quickset capabilities that Rolex created a dress watch that truly could be worn as imagined. Sure, earlier examples of the Day-Date such as the Reference 1803 might be the purist's choice, but the fact that the Calibre 3155 movement can still be found in the Day-Date today proves that convenience makes a dress watch universally appealing. This particular Day-Date is a Reference 18238 dating from the early 1990s bearing a glossy black Roman dial and English day wheel. With an case back inscription that reads "L.B. to R.B. 9-17-93," this was a watch that was worn in the spirit in which it was given--a fact that is evident in the care in which the owner gave it.