Apparently there is a saying, that Rolex don’t do anniversaries and they still maintain that mantra today. However, during the Basel watch fair this year, Rolex quietly unveiled an anniversary Day-Date to celebrate 60 years of the Day-Date that isn’t really an anniversary day-date, yup, sounded confusing to me too. Nicely tucked away, out of the limelight of the new Daytona, was this beautiful sunburst green dial Rolex Day-Date, with roman numeral dial. Coincidently it was also shown to us on St. Patrick’s day, which of course was befitting the occasion too. Shown to us as more of a side distraction during our Basel meeting, though in my opinion, it is one of the best looking day-date combinations in the current Day-Date offering.
The dial isn’t dissimilar from the sunburst champagne dial Day-Date 40 Rolex introduced last year, of course the only difference with this anniversary piece is the use of green, which most of you will know are the hallmark colours used by Rolex for many, many years. Naturally the case measures a rather respectable 40 mm. Like all Rolex Day-Date’s (with the exception of the platinum version) it sports the highly distinctive fluted bezel. The Oyster case on this anniversary Day-Date 40, features a monobloc middle case with screw down case back and a twinlock screw down crown, ensuring it is waterproof up to 100 metres. It goes without saying that no Day-Date would be complete without a “President” bracelet, which was designed specially for the Day-Date when launched in 1956.
The biggest change that took place last year on the new Day-Date 40 and one that has naturally been passed on to this anniversary piece is the new in-house Rolex manufactured movement. The Calibre 3255 is COSC certified but like all new Rolex calibres, it has also undergone an exclusive series of tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to their own criteria, which exceeds watchmaking norms and standards. This new Superlative Chronometer status is identified by the green seal, as opposed to red, that now comes with every Rolex watch and is coupled with an international five-year guarantee.
While there is technically nothing new to see here, it just goes to show that even Rolex, even though they won’t publicly admit it, do indeed acknowledge important dates. And if it were me that was in the market for a new Day-Date, I’d strongly be leaning towards this stunning looking piece that has somehow managed to go under the radar.
The new 60th Anniversary Rolex Day-Date 40 will be exclusively available in Everose and White-Gold, and is priced at £25,100 including VAT. More information is available on the official Rolex website.
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