As we move into a new year ahead, we look back on some of the highlights from the past year and bring you our stand-out brand stories. We start with the iconic Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date.
Launched in 1956, the Day-Date was introduced as the ‘prestige watch’ of the Oyster Perpetual collection, surpassing a value that hitherto had been dominated by the Datejust, released in 1945.
The unprecedented innovation that the Day-Date offered made it truly unique and instantly recognisable: it displayed the day of the week in an arc-shaped window at 12 o’clock. The Day-Date offered a solution to those requiring complete mastery of their personal calendar.
Although the days may be the same wherever you are in the world, they are written differently depending on the language. Using most writing systems – Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese ideograms and even the Ge’ez alphasyllabary used in the Horn of Africa – the Day-Date expresses the cultural identity of its wearer.
Universal yet personal, the Day-Date was originally available in 25 different languages: Arabic, Basque, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Ethiopian, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Moroccan, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. The number rose to 26 with the addition of Chinese in 1973.
The Day-Date was the first self-winding, waterproof chronometer wristwatch to display the date and the day of the week spelt out in full in two separate windows. Both change simultaneously at midnight. This revolutionary switch continues to fascinate, nearly seven decades later.
The Day-Date 36 and Day-Date 40 are equipped with calibre 3255, a self-winding mechanical movement entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex. A consummate demonstration of technology, this movement carries a number of patents. It offers outstanding performance in terms of precision, power reserve, resistance to shocks, convenience and reliability.
Key Features Of The Day-Date:
• Watch of great prestige, available exclusively in 18 ct gold or 950 platinum
• Instantaneous calendar displaying the day spelt out in full and the date
• Superlative Chronometer certification, specific to Rolex
• International five-year guarantee
• Manufacture Rolex self-winding mechanical movement, COSC certified
• Paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring
• Chronergy escapement
• High-performance Paraflex shock absorbers
• 36 or 40 mm Oyster case, waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet)
For more information please visit Rolex