Review of Rolex Day-Date "President"

[Noel Fleischer]

thanx robbie. you're right, i thought the new DD was squarish too.

this thing with the lugs is being applied to almost all the models now.

at least chris has the newer style case, the DJ i bought from Josh still has the older thinner lugs.

i think there's also something about the gen faces that appear larger, more open. maybe it is the bezel as

by-tor suggests. there's no doubt however that gens Look and Wear bigger. i just returned from the cayman islands, where

everybody seemed to have a gen TT rolex. i definitely noticed the difference, especially with the subs.

[By-Tor]

The dial color on the rep is simply stunning (imho)... too turquoise or not. And once again: the DD/DJ line has hundreds of different dial variations. Not a big deal (imho).

But of course: Blue dial is rarely the best option for the rep buyers (if accuracy is the only thing you're looking for). Same issue with many other reps too. Personally, I always have a soft spot for blue dials.

[Noel Fleischer]

i agree, in fact i just pm chris about one!

i need another rollie rep like another head, but i do like them.

btw- i posted a pic in the thread about the wg plated dd before. any ideas then

why it looks different from the regular ss since we decided its not real gold? nickel?

Edited September 8, 2008 by Noel Fleischer

[By-Tor]

i need another rollie rep like another head, but i do like them.

Spoken like a true addict.

[Noel Fleischer]

yes by-tor, i'm hooked baad!

right now i have 5 windows open- 3 fora and 2 gen sales sites.

i've been lusting after a UN maxidiver,arrgghh.

now that's a rep i really do need,lol

[jjfesq]

Noel, I want to see it when you get it .

[Noel Fleischer]

no UN reps of that one, jjf- gotta get a gen.

maybe if you send a few more cases... jejeje

Edited September 8, 2008 by Noel Fleischer

[RobbieG]

Yes you are right the gen DD's and DJ's do always look bigger regardless of the case type. I think it may be a combination of three things and their interaction with each other. The first is the fonts on the gens are thinner and more elegant. The thinner font makes the dial look larger. The second is the smooth bezel. The rep bezel is too fat and doesn't have the sloped shoulders like the gens. So what that does is shrink the dial as it draws attention away from it. The sloped bezel of the gen "extends" the entire top of the watch effectively. Finally, the anemic indices of the reps shrinks the dials making it look less substantial.

But all in all, BT is dead right. There are just so many variations of these watches over the years - bezels, dials, fonts, spacing, indices, etc. that one could even have a marginal rep of one of these pieces and it would be hard to call out because of all of this. At this point if you compared a DJ or DD from the 90's with a new model the older one would look fake if you were comparing it to a newer one to someone who didn't know both were correct.

thanx robbie. you're right, i thought the new DD was squarish too.

this thing with the lugs is being applied to almost all the models now.

at least chris has the newer style case, the DJ i bought from Josh still has the older thinner lugs.

i think there's also something about the gen faces that appear larger, more open. maybe it is the bezel as

by-tor suggests. there's no doubt however that gens Look and Wear bigger. i just returned from the cayman islands, where

everybody seemed to have a gen TT rolex. i definitely noticed the difference, especially with the subs.

[RobbieG]

...or my personal favorite saying along the same lines:

"I need another watch like I need a second a*s..."

Spoken like a true addict.

[Toadtorrent]

Not the dial colour of choice for me, but on Mrs. By-Tor-to-Be...it looks great.

Nice review and interesting shots. I had some crappy photos of a Ladies DJ with President bracelet I was going to do a review on (camera broke so I had to use a substitute before I got my new one).

I'll try and type that one up one of these days.

[jfreeman420]

Though hk45ca says that this dial variation is only available in platinum, not in white gold. Can someone confirm this?

You can special order any dial/metal/model combination you wish although Rolex may not ship this dial in white gold from the factory normally.

I am sure if you showed up to your AD with $23k in your hand you can have a glacier blue president in white gold.

[By-Tor]

I am sure if you showed up to your AD with $23k in your hand you can have a glacier blue president in white gold.

Just for the record: Here are the gen prices of the platinum models (thanks hk54ca):

Oyster Perpetual Day-Date. 0 36mm, platinum. bezel set with 24 baguette diamonds.

31 jewel chronometer movement, synthetic sapphire crystal,

with President bracelet 83206 . . . . . . . . . .

with 8 round and 2 baguette diamonds set on dial and President bracelet 83206

Please refer to model 118239 for a complete listing of available additional cost dials.

101,150.00

103.650.00

President Karat" bracelet 84209

83,200.00

Oyster Perpetual Day-Date "Special Edition", " 39mm, platinum, bezel set

with 40 diamonds, 8 round and 2 baguette diamonds set on dial,

31 jewel chronometer movement, synthetic sapphire crystal,

with Oyster 20mm bracelet 72746 .. . . . . .

with mother-of-pearl diamond dial and Oyster 20mm bracelet 72746

Please refer to model 118239 for a complete listing of available additional cost dials.

81,750.00

83,650.00

Oyster Perpetual Day-Date. " 36mm, platinum. domed bezel. case lugs set

with 32 diamonds. 31 jewel chronometer movement. synthetic sapphire crystal,

with President bracelet 83206 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............

[RobbieG]

A dealer would be taking a huge risk doing this, plus to have a parts account they have to account for what they do with replacement dials and the serials of the watches they go in I believe. Rolex is stone brutal. AD's are not even supposed to work on any gens with aftermarket bezels. And regarding the glacier dial in WG watches, Rolex is keenly aware that people will request this of their AD's to avoid paying for the exclusivity of that dial color in platinum so it is a hot topic. A dealer might do it if they sourced a dial for you outside the Rolex chain but I doubt they would order a glacier dial new from Rolex parts to retrofit in a new watch for you. I'm sure there is some dealer that would of course, but that would be an exception and they would have to know you pretty well IMO.

You can special order any dial/metal/model combination you wish although Rolex may not ship this dial in white gold from the factory normally.

I am sure if you showed up to your AD with $23k in your hand you can have a glacier blue president in white gold.

[By-Tor]

Hey guys... I still have this watch in my possession. Completely unused. It developed a weird day-date setting problem. i.e the day won't change properly. Looks like the crown doesn't "connect" properly to the daywheel. But I think it'd be very quick fix for any skilled hobbyist.

Please contact Eurotimez if you want a good deal on this watch... I'm willing to ship it to EU or US at my own cost. Don't want to keep anything that's not mine.

Thanks.

[hank7502]

By Tor-

Please do a review of the new 41mm DD. Thanks

[teddy boy]

Another excellent review from By Tor (the source).

I own a rep of the day-date with rhodium dial and fluted bezel. It's the same watch that RobbieG has pictured but with the fluted instead of a smooth bezel. I am almost certain that my watch is white gold plated. It was advertised as such when I bought it. Moreover, I was in a rolex AD and the sales person who was very knowledgeable about watches commented on the white gold. I never let her handle the watch, she only saw it on my wrist That's why she wasn't able to tell that it was a rep. Also I was dressed like someone who could own such a watch. Her exact comment was that some people claim that white gold isn't worth the money because they think it looks like stainless. She then went on to say that you can always spot white gold because of the pinkish tint. She reached into the display case and pulled out a stainless sub which she held up next to my watch to illustrate the difference in color. She was right, there was a dramatic difference as my watch had a pink tint that was missing from the sub. My day-date is 3 or 4 years old so there is no way of knowing whether the white gold plated is still made, but the claim that there are some white gold plated watches out there seems to be substantiated.

[By-Tor]

@Teddy Boy: Thanks for the compliments.

White gold plating? Interesting, but why not... actually that kind of plating would make perfect sense. Do you have photos of your rep? Would like to see it.

Cheers!

[teddy boy]

I'm terrible with a camera. With my pictures you'd probably say, "well, that could be a watch". I have a friend who is pretty good, I'll see if he can take some pictures and also help me get them posted.

[By-Tor]

Cool.

I doubt it's real white gold that's used in the plating though (see Jfreeman's comment in the review). But it can be something else... something that resembles the color and appearance. It'd be interesting to see it pictured with a standard stainless steel watch.

[teddy boy]

The idea of taking a picture with a stainless watch ocurred to me too, which is somehwat remarkable. I don't usually think of those comparisons. I'll get in touch with my friend and ask him to bring his camera to work. I have a stainless sub rep (not a very good rep) that could serve as comparison. I took both watches outside today and the difference is subtle but it's there. I hope it will show in a picture.

[teddy boy]

I took both watches (the day-date and the wouldn't fool anyone sub) to my camera friend. We're going to try to take the pictures on Friday, April 23. He doesn't think the watch really has a pink hue. Rather, he believes that they're both stainless; the day-date polished and the sub brushed and that the polished reflects flourescent light differently from the brushed. After he made that observation, I could see that being the case as the pinkish tint on the day-date isn't visible in plain daylight. My friend's impression of what's going on would fit with what happened at the Rolex AD as the light in the store was obviously flourescent. I hope to have some pictures up by the weekend. If I decide that the pinkish hue ins't there, I'll just post some pictures of my day-date f to allow comparison of my rhodium dial to the ice blue that By-Tor reviewed.

[teddy boy]

If this worked, there should be two images of my day-date. The picture taken next to the sub demonstrates the pinkish hue of the day-date. As I stated in a previous post, a salesperson in a Rolex AD was the first to point out the pink hue. Believing that my watch was gen, she was pointing out the difference between white gold and stainless. Since I was told that my watch is white gold plated or wrapped by the person who sold it to me, I simply thought that the pink tint came from the plating. By-Tor suggests that he doesn't think that white gold plated reps exist and that the pink tint may come from something else. I certainly defer to his judgement as he so clearly has forgotten more about reps than I'll ever know. In another post on this thread I indicated that the guy who ultimately took the picture believed that the pink tint came from flourescent light. After examining the watch more carefully, that's not the case but I couldn't exactly say when the watch looks pinkish and when it doesn't. As you can see in the wrist shot, the pink tint is not evident all the time.

In any event, thanks again to By-Tor for the review. I've owned this day-date for about four years and wasn't wearing it very much. His review inspired me to again wear what is really one of my favorites. Moreover, this style watch is appropriate for me as I normally wear a suit.

[Tourbi]

Great watch!

There is no better watch for a suit. The DD is the Rolex to have!

[Prsist]

Yeah I forgot. Ran into that problem with my wife.... "This watch is broke! It only works when you shake it! You need to take it back!!!!"

[Revano]

Yeah looks quite similar to the gen. except for the thinner roman numerals and the circular lines on the edge of the dial are larger.

The real Rolex top model is a Day Date platinum with 31 jewels, meteorite dial set wit h2 diamonds, bezel set with 42 baguette diamonds, a crownclasp and has a value of around 273k USD or 200k Euros (2010-2011).

Edited February 4, 2011 by Revano