The Day-Date was born as Rolex’s dress offering. It maintained unadulterated the company DNA through the Oyster case, but was meant to be offered exclusively in precious metals (excluding prototypes), highlighting its “high-end” ethos. While most of the production of the line is in yellow gold, some rare examples in different metals have been made: pink gold, white gold and the extremely elusive platinum, represented by the present example of ref. 1804 - the diamond-set bezel version of the model. Without a doubt, this superb platinum Day-Date manufactured in the mid-1960s goes well beyond the already remarkable collectability of a “normal” Day-Date. A passing glance at the dial immediately reveals that we are in the presence of one of the impossibly rare personally bespoken Rolex dials. Rolex has been known to personalise dials according to the demands of their most important clients, however the case is most often the addition of a company logo on a number of watches (subsequently to be given to the most respected employees). The present example impresses not only because it is one of the earliest examples of bespoken dial (from circa 1968), not only due to the incredible state of preservation of both case and dial, but also because here the personalisation does not involve a company but rather an individual. This watch most likely not part of a bespoke batch (as in the case of company personalisations), rather it is a unique piece made at the demand of a single private client, which speaks volume about the importance such an individual must have had for Rolex to grant such a request.

In fact, while it is impossible to point out with 100% the identity of the Saif Mohamed Alnehayan mentioned on the dial, it is highly probable that he was a representative of the UAE-based Al Nehayan family, highly intertwined with the political, diplomatic and economic life of the country. For example, Sheik Nahyan bin Said bin Mohammed Al Nahyan is currently the UAE ambassador to Saudi Arabia. On top of the exclusive platinum case and bespoke dial, the collector will be stunned by the overall configuration of the piece. Not only black gloss dial with diamond-set numerals are considered the most exclusive of all Rolex dials, but to have them arrive to these days in such outstandingly condition is truly uncommon, rendering this Day-Date a “perfect storm” for the collector of the most rare and prized Rolex timepieces.