Rolex

Rolex

Day-Date "President"

1803

1961

36mm. diameter gold case with gold ripple bezel, with correct reference and serial numbers between the lugs

Gold champagne dial with baton numerals with the original lume dots, original hands, signed Rolex Oyster perpetual Day-Date Superlative Chronometer Officially certified

Original fully signed and serviced Caliber 1556 automatic movement.

Original gold President bracelet

This is a wonderful example of the early Day-Date ‘President'. The movement has been recently serviced and the case and bracelet are in wonderful restored condition and the case still retains very thick lugs. In addition the bracelet is a rare survival, dated 1958 it was obviously a one that was already in stock when the watch was sold circa 1961/2 The Rolex Reference 1803 The Rolex Day-Date was introduced in 1956 as the reference 6510 then the 6611. In 1959 reference changed to the 1803/8 and it remained in production until 1978. The 1803 was initially introduced with the caliber 1555 movement but within a year or two Rolex changed to the 1556 as in this example. In 1972, the Rolex caliber 1556 movement received a hacking mechanism (to stop the seconds when setting the time). Neither the date or day had a quick-set mechanism, that would only be solved much later. The Rolex Day-Date reference 1803 was available with leather strap or gold bracelet depending on the depth of your pocket and it was the last model to come with the pie-pan shaped dial. The pie-pan shape is not as extreme as those on the Omega Constellations from the 1960s, but it does have an elegant effect on the dial. Later references have a flat dial, which does make the watch appear to be larger, while the diameter is all the same (36mm). In the 1800 series, Rolex also used the new hands-set. Straight hands instead of the leaf-shaped ones on the 6611 and its predecessors. At the time, the Day-Date was available with a weekday indicator in 24 different languages