During meetings at Watches And Wonders, Rolex only shows its real novelties. A simple dial change won’t make the cut for the presentation of new Rolex watches. As such, the brand only shows us new references and relegates other minor updates to the booth’s display cases. Today, we’d like to show you the newest dials that you can find in the brand’s flagship model, the Day-Date.
At the Watches And Wonders show in Geneva, I noticed the new yellow gold Rolex Day-Date with a green lacquer dial, which reminded me of the old Stella dials. I wrote about it in this article, but at that time, it wasn’t possible to get it in the meeting room. About a month later, we got an invite to the Rolex offices in Brussels to see all the new watches that the brand had introduced, including the “dial updates”.
Green lacquer dial
Upon seeing them, I realized several things. For starters, the new dial variations are simply stunning. I was never a fan of the initial dials of the 40mm Day-Date or even the Day-Date II. But the Rolex Day-Date reference 228238 with the new green lacquered dial swept me off my feet during luxury replica watches And Wonders 2023. When we visited the Rolex offices later, however, there was another model that really impressed me. It was the same reference as the above (228238), but with a black onyx dial featuring baguette hour markers.
Black onyx
Although I do own a (vintage) watch with diamond hour markers, it’s not a look that I would immediately go for in a new watch. But the combination of onyx and the baguette diamond markers is awesome. The little grain that goes horizontally across the dial is unique to each watch. On the official Rolex website, the pictured watch shows a dial with a curved grain. And whereas the Day-Date 40 with a green dial sets you back €35,600 (retail price), Rolex doesn’t display a price tag for the 228238 with the onyx dial. It’s simply on request.
Price on request
The new dial variations for the Rolex Day-Date ref. 228238 share the same specifications as all other 40mm Day-Date models in gold. These watches are powered by the Rolex caliber 3255, which ensures accuracy of ±2 seconds per day on average and a power reserve of 70 hours. Both models come with the 18K gold President bracelet with concealed clasp. Along with the dial, you can also choose whether you want a gold fluted bezel or a diamond-set bezel.
As written above, I had another realization during this session with the new Rolex Day-Date variations. Although my wrist can easily handle the 40mm version, I prefer the classic 36mm size of this iconic model. The proportions just look nicer, in my opinion buy replica watches. The original 36mm-sized Rolex Oyster case is quite elegant, whereas the 40mm case lacks some sophistication. For the Day-Date 36, Rolex not only introduced a new platinum version but also a new dial variation for the yellow gold 128238 references.
I also must admit that I always thought that the difference between the 18238 and the current 128238 was in the bracelet. But there’s more to it than that. As you can see in the images, the top of the lugs of the 118238 and 128238 are polished while they are brushed on the previous reference 18238. Not only that, but the case shape is also slightly different between the lugs.
Leave a Reply