Manufacturer: Rolex Year: 1973 Reference No: 1803 Movement No: DD618'060 Case No: 3'852'659 Model Name: Day-Date "Desert Rose" Material: 18k pink gold Calibre: Automatic, cal. 1555, 26 jewels Bracelet/Strap: 18k pink gold Rolex President, max length 185mm Clasp/Buckle: Folding deployant clasp Dimensions: 36mm. Diameter Signed: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed Literature: The present watch is described and illustrated in Day Date: The Presidential Rolex by Pucci Papaleo Editore, pp. 196-197
Catalogue Essay
The Rolex Day-Date was manufactured for multiple markets, with the present one originally made for the Middle Eastern market in 1973. During the early years of the line's history, Rolex tailored the design of Day-Date's dial for certain markets.
The present reference 1803 in pink gold is fitted with a silvered dial and matched with applied pink gold Arabic script numerals, and pink gold hands. Both apertures for the day and date are also in Arabic, with their condition remaining excellent overall.
This uncommonly seen Arabic Day-Date is highly coveted by all vintage Rolex collectors, and remains an important example in the model’s history.
Founded 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.