65 Rolex Extremely Well Preserved and Very Attractive, Day-Date, Automatic Wristwatch in Yellow Gold, Ammonite Dial, With Additional Bracelet, Reference 18 038
Estimate: €10,000 – 20,000
Sold (Premium)€27,300
Model: Day-Date
Reference: 18 038
Case Material: Yellow Gold
Bracelet Material: Leather Strap
Year: 1980
Movement: Automatic
Caliber: 3055
Case N°: 6 371 649
Dimensions: 36 mm
Signed: Dial, Movement and Case
Accessories: Additional Bracelet
A true icon within the world of vintage watch collecting, the birth of the Day-Date can be traced back to 1956, it quickly became one of the most celebrated models of the Geneva manufacture. Created in multiple variants, the Day-Date exemplifies the creativity of the firm and showcases their aim to follow the evolving tastes of their customers as well as the requirements of some of their most demanding clients. The adventurous spirit of Rolex is known to adopt rare material choices for their daring watch dials. Bringing the heritage of our ancient oceans onto the wristwatch, the present Day-Date reference 18 038 features a dial crafted from ammonite hard stone, one of the most unusual dial materials ever to be featured on a watch: this dial is made up of fossilized ammonites, a group of extinct mollusk animals which are relative to the living nautilus species. The present timepiece is a very elegant and rare specimen among the many variants of the Day-Date model and preserved in remarkable conditions. Due to the fragility of the hard stone, the manufacturing of the dial requires extreme precision to expose the day and date apertures. Considering its biological structure, no two dials are exactly the same in nature, giving each watch a distinctive and unique appearance. Further preciousness are the 6 and 9 indexes in gold with inner diamond decoration.