Rolex Day-Date Ref. 1803/9 - Sunburst Silver 'Doorstop' Dial
When the Day-Date was released in 1956, Rolex had made numerous attempts to capture the market with more complicated timepieces such as the Ref. 6036, the Ref. 8171, and the Ref. 6062, but it seemed like buyers were not particularly fond of complicated Rolexes. All of that changed when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was spotted wearing one Rolex in particular: a Day-Date. The model has since become known worldwide as ‘The President’ and as a symbol of success and prestige. Simply put, this one stuck.
The Day-Date was available for many years on a leather strap with a matching gold buckle, but also on a solid gold bracelet (called a 'President' bracelet), like the example that we have here.
The piece that we have here, a Reference 1803 from circa 1965, is a superb example finished in solid white gold. The case shows signs of having been very lightly polished at an earlier time, retaining correct factory proportions with symmetrical lugs. It shows normal signs of wear throughout with no major damage to speak of. The finely-'fluted' white gold bezel is seemingly-unpolished and shows matching normal wear. Inside, the sunburst silver dial featured applied 'doorstop' indices at the 6 & 9 o'clock positions, which are complimented by a correct 'obelisk' handset. The dial itself is in excellent overall condition, showing only faint wear to the edge of the pie-pan with fully-intact Tritium plots. They are evenly patinated and the handset matched the dial nicely.
This piece comes fitted to its correct white gold 'President' bracelet with an adjustable blade clasp and even retains its original white gold crown.
This is a phenomenal example of an icon with some nice features found only Day-Dates from this era. An 'elevated' piece that remains very much under-the-radar If you know, you know.
Condition Report & Details
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Every Oliver & Clarke timepiece comes with a one-year mechanical warranty starting from the date of delivery. We ensure all watches are in wonderful working condition and are ready for daily wear. Many have been fully serviced by our team of watchmakers.
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- Due to the vintage or antique nature of many of our watches, they may not keep time as accurately as when new, nor as precisely as quartz or electronic devices.
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- Internal or external damage caused by accidents, mishandling, abuse, modifications, or services performed by anyone other than our authorized personnel.
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