A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day Date model, often referred to as the "President", in solid eighteen carat yellow gold with factory co-branded Tiffany & Co. dial. This is a rare example of the always advertised "flagship" Rolex watch in the line. Even when this watch was made, in the 1990's, the President was THE Rolex to own.
Arguably, the Rolex Day Date is the ultimate status symbol. It was always portrayed to the public this way by the media team at Rolex, and it was always promoted to world leaders, titans of industry and the sports and movie stars around the globe. Although much has changed with regards to Rolex's offering, and the special variations that are on offer, it was always the "President" that led the way in rare, unusual and gem set variants. This is very much true in this case.
Rolex and Tiffany & Co. began a partnership in the 1950’s that allowed the luxury jewellery company to print its name on the Rolex dials that were to be sold in its boutiques. The original Tiffany-signed Rolex dials were completed by hand at their flagship store in New York City. This printing was then extended to other retail stores and then eventually to Tiffany’s service centers.
In the early 1990s, Rolex made the decision to stop supplying co-branded watches, and would no longer honour warranties if the dial stampings had been carried out at a Tiffany & Co. location. As a result, Tiffany & Co. stopped selling Rolex watches, and the two companies parted ways for good.
The dial is stamped "T Swiss T" at the six o'clock position, meaning that it contains tritium luminous material. This material replaced the highly dangerous, and radioactive Radium in 1963. Just like radium, tritium was also radioactive; however, it came with a much lower level of radiation and a much shorter half-life. While tritium was exponentially safer than radium, it only had a half-life of twelve years. This meant that after just a few decades, only a tiny fraction of the initial luminescence would remain. Additionally, as tritium ages, the color changes, which creates often beautiful, and highly sought after patinas on the luminous markers on these older Rolex watches. Tritium was far from perfect, which lead Rolex to search for a better alternative, which happened in 1998 with the introduction of Luminova. The Tritium in this case is all original to the dial, is in perfect condition with every lume plot in tact and in perfect condition. The colour is also beautiful in all of the lume. It has aged into a lovely creamy ivory colour.
This example is in superb original condition. The case is unpolished, only signs of light wear, and very, very sharp case lines throughout, along with the case feet. When looking at the back of the watch, this confirms no polishing. The original and rare model number case back sticker is present. The edges are all razor sharp, feet again strong, and all the relevant hallmarks with no signs at all of brushing or wear. The original Rolex President bracelet is fully signed on the deployant with all the correct marks and the eighteen carat gold marks, along with correct model numbers on the inside of the end links.
