REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

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In part two of a look into the gem set and stone dial watches of Rolex, Ross Povey, in collaboration with Pucci Papaleo, celebrates rare and blingedout examples of the elder statesman oftheRolexfamily,theDay-Date. THE COMPLETE GUIDE WORDS ROSS POVEY PHOTOGRAPHY PUCCI PAPALEO Inthe first installment of this two-part speed-walk through the fascinating world of Rolex Bling we pressed our noses against the glass of the King of Chronos, the mighty Daytona and the ways in which it’s been lifted beyond mere timing instrument (be it your lap of Le Mans or your pre-plunged caffetiere) to haute-jewelry accessory. Today we take a look at the Daytona’s older brother, which was hip-hopping its bling long before its younger sibling was conceived. The Day Date has seen more ‘ice’ in its near-65-year lifetime than any other Rolex watch and has been adorned with gems since its very earliest iterations back in the second half of the 1950s. The ice is thick, let’s go skating… 148 VINTAGE
Left The Day-Date 36 reference 1803 in white gold with white gold bracelet, baguette and brilliant-cut diamond markers and a rare gradated green dial called “Augusta Green”. These watches with the caliber 1556 came with a rare 2.75Hz running escapement speed. Above The reference 6612 shown here bears a smooth bezel which differs from Rolex’s fluted bezels of the 1803 onwards. It also offers a very unique bracelet and was developed for the Arabic market. THE PRECIOUS WATCH Rolex unveiled the Day-Date at Baselworld in 1956. The new watch featured Rolex’s groundbreaking Datejust technology that was supplemented by the addition of a day window. From the get go, the Day-Date was manufactured in precious metals only, including yellow, white and pink gold and platinum. Over the years a small number of Day- Dates in steel have appeared and we presume they were either for testing movements or for watchmakers to work on, much like the hyper-rare brass training models that we have seen occasionally crop up. The first references available were the 6510 and 6511, and then in 1957 the second series came in references 6611 (with a coin edge bezel), 6612 (with smooth bezel) and 6613 that was made in platinum in very small numbers. Both series one and two were monoblocco cases, where the midcase and bezel were crafted from a single piece of metal, unlike later watches where the bezel was a separate part that was used to keep the crystal in place. In 1960 the iconic reference 1803 was launched which was again available in yellow, white and pink gold as well as the reference 1804 in platinum. Whilst there had been some diamond setting on the earlier models, it was with the 1800 series that Rolex really began to experiment and push the boundaries. STARTER STONES From the early days, the Day-Date was a watch that was destined to be the most luxurious member of the Rolex clan. I have a copy of a price list from 1965, which lists some of the main pieces from the collection. A GMT-Master on steel bracelet cost CHF2,910. The platinum Day-Date on bracelet with diamond hour markers had a list price of CHF22,000. That was a lot of money in the mid-60s and would have been the preserve of the ultra high net worth buyer of the time. One of the earliest examples of diamond use on the Day-Date is the reference 6611 in white gold. As early as 1958 this watch was fitted with baguette and brilliant cut diamonds. A familiar setting pattern from Rolex, that we saw in examples such as this in the late ’50s up until present day, is a baguette diamond at six o’clock and nine o’clock and then the remaining hours with brilliant-cut diamonds. There was no space for a stone at twelve or three o’clock, due to the day and date apertures on the dial and so these dials are known as “eight plus two”. There were also dials without the baguette-cut diamonds and just eight brilliantcut stones as seen on this 6612 also from 1958. The “eight plus two” configuration continued to be the most common setting throughout the 1960s and 1970s. VINTAGE 149
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CELEBRATING THE MACHINE WITH A HEAR
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BREGUET BOUTIQUES - NEW YORK 646 69
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COLLECTION Fifty Fathoms ©Photogra
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CALIBER RM 67-01 RICHARD MILLE BOUT
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SEVEN DAYS V45 S6 SQT 212.463.8898
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intentionally allowing the majority
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Tangente Update. Made in Germany. T
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CALIBER RM 07-01 RICHARD MILLE BOUT
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Piaget Altiplano 38mm Bulino Engrav
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On Niclas Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
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In 1983, Land Rover created one of
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ZENITH × REVOLUTION AND THE RAKE T
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ZENITH X REVOLUTION CHRONOMASTER RE
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THE CARRERA, 1964 (LEFT) VS 2020 (R
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BACK TO THE FUTURE Combine a French
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Page 100 and 101: significant technological advanceme
Page 102 and 103: LA GRANDE DAME As Grand Seiko celeb
Page 104 and 105: A NEW SPRING DRIVE Last year when w
Page 106 and 107: This page, clockwise The SBGW263 in
Page 110: Next, housed in yellow gold and wit
Page 113 and 114: In January this year, when Oris bro
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Page 118 and 119: INNOVATIONS IN THE INDUSTRY: HUBLOT
Page 120 and 121: INNOVATIVE MATERIALS Hublot’s inn
Page 122 and 123: A TRUE SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY This m
Page 124 and 125: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RETAIL-SMAR
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Page 128 and 129: A SPECIAL HOUSE Parmigiani CEO Davi
Page 130 and 131: 128 BACKTOTHEFUTURE
Page 132 and 133: STRIVING FOR HONESTY A Breitling am
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Page 136 and 137: to California to visit Joshua Tree,
Page 139 and 140: VINTAGE Bona fide style icon and fo
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Page 145 and 146: this. As a comparison, of the Ferra
Page 147 and 148: HOW LASER WELDING WORKS 1. A series
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Page 153 and 154: Above left A reference 18238 “Gol
Page 155 and 156: A-Z OF DAY-DATE STONE DIALS Agate A
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Page 159 and 160: CALL COLLECT: MARK CHO Founder of T
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Page 163 and 164: I couldn’t get over the big Bvlga
Page 165 and 166: Wei Koh: Welcome Austen, to our new
Page 167 and 168: Above The Royal Oak Perpetual Calen
Page 169 and 170: the knowledge or the know-how to di
Page 171: www.grand-seiko.com/us-en
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