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Rolex
Ref. 1803
Day-Date
An extremely rare and highly important white gold wristwatch with Arabic calendar, pink gold applied Arabic numerals, centre seconds, bracelet and unusual tapisserie dial
- Estimate
- CHF40,000 - 80,000
CHF149,000
Lot Details
- Manufacturer
- Rolex
- Year
- 1968
- Reference No
- 1803
- Case No
- 1'684'900
- Model Name
- Day-Date
- Material
- 18k white gold
- Calibre
- Automatic, 1556
- Bracelet/Strap
- Rolex President
- Clasp/Buckle
- Folding deployant clasp stamped 2.67
- Dimensions
- 36mm. Diameter
- Signed
- <em>Movement, dial, case and bracelet signed</em>
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
The powerful contrasting visual impact given by this monochrome Day-Date with pink gold hour markers and hands renders this timepiece truly breathtaking, exceptionally rare, and important.The highly unusual dial is decorated with an engraved ‘tapisserie finish’ pattern adorned with pink gold relief and applied Arabic script numerals. Both apertures for the day and for the date are in Arabic, adding a further layer of rarity and complexity to this already historically significant Day-Date.
Literature
Rolex
Swiss | 1905Founded in 1905 England by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis as Wilsdorf & Davis, it soon became known as the Rolex Watch Company in 1915, moving its headquarters to Geneva in 1919. Like no other company, the success of the wristwatch can be attributed to many of Rolex's innovations that made them one of the most respected and well-known of all luxury brands. These innovations include their famous "Oyster" case — the world's first water resistant and dustproof watch case, invented in 1926 — and their "Perpetual" — the first reliable self-winding movement for wristwatches launched in 1933. They would form the foundation for Rolex's Datejust and Day-Date, respectively introduced in 1945 and 1956, but also importantly for their sports watches, such as the Explorer, Submariner and GMT-Master launched in the mid-1950s.One of its most famous models is the Cosmograph Daytona. Launched in 1963, these chronographs are without any doubt amongst the most iconic and coveted of all collectible wristwatches. Other key collectible models include their most complicated vintage watches, including references 8171 and 6062 with triple calendar and moon phase, "Jean Claude Killy" triple date chronograph models and the Submariner, including early "big-crown" models and military-issued variants.
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