Rolex Day-Date Ref. 1803 - Brown 'Confetti' 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 1969, is a fantastic example finished in solid yellow gold with a wildly cool dial. The case remains in excellent overall condition, having likely seen a very light previous refurbishing many years ago, and now exhibits an attractive 'rosy' oxidation developing in the usual tighter areas. It shows light signs of wear throughout with symmetrical lugs a few very small impressions on the left case profile and a blemish on the tip of the bottom left lug. The matching 'President' bracelet is likely-unpolished and shows matching oxidation and light wear throughout. The 'fluted' yellow gold bezel is also seemingly unpolished and shows light signs of wear with light oxidation on the 12 o'clock position. The real treat with this piece, however, is that brown dial... For a short time, some dials offered by Rolex and Tudor exhibited additional colors under close inspection — in this case, 'flakes' of gold, red, and even hints of purple! These are what we call 'Confetti' dials, and this piece possesses a beautiful one! It remains in fantastic condition, with a consistent color and texture and only minor lume-loss to its Tritium plot at the 9 o'clock position, with the others intact. The handset is non-luminous.