Rolex Day-Date Ref. 1802 - Black Gilt Dial

Straight Facts

When the Day-Date was released in 1956, it was the only complicated Rolex for sale. Hard to believe, but people didn’t want Rolex’s previous attempts at complicated wristwatches. All of that changed when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was spotted wearing the Rolex, and the watch became known as ‘The President’. An internationally known symbol of success and prestige, the Rolex Day-Date was available for many years on a strap or matching solid gold bracelet.

However, this is no ordinary ‘President’

This Ref. 1802 (and more on what 1802 means) is from the early years of the “18XX” series production run where gilt printed dials were still in use by Rolex. Gilt dials are when the lettering and fonts are punched out of the dial so that the brass ‘gilt’ color shows through creating a golden text appearance. These are not very easy to produce and were ultimately discontinued by Rolex in the later half of the 1960s as they couldn’t be produced in the same quantity as a matte dial - but nothing shines and glows like a Rolex gilt dial. Take a look, linger on it. The dial is almost glowing!

Next, this is an 1802 - not the very common 1803 model. What does that mean? No fluted bezel. 1802 was the internal reference for any Day-Date that was fitted with a smooth bezel, a rare option usually associated with the much more expensive and rare platinum versions of the model.

Those two details aside - the present watch is in outstanding condition, featuring a well preserved case and benefitting from the addition of a concealed clasp Presidential bracelet. Between the dial, the reference, and that - it just proved that not all Rolex models were created equally!

*Some marks or spots on the dial are reflections or dust on the crystal and are due to high intensity strobe lighting used while photographing. They are not actually on the watch or visible in natural lighting.