Buying guide: Day-Date Certified Pre-Owned
The Day-Date, also known as the "President" after its dedicated bracelet, is the Rolex model reserved for precious metals: unlike almost every other model in the catalogue, it has never been produced in steel. It's historically the brand's ultimate dress watch.
Main sizes and generations
- Day-Date 36 — the historic 36mm size, still in production today in numerous gold and platinum combinations.
- Day-Date II — an intermediate 41mm generation, produced from 2008 to 2015, now discontinued: a chunkier case, thicker lugs, and a wider bezel than the generation that followed.
- Day-Date 40 — the current 40mm generation, introduced in 2015: despite being only 1mm smaller than the Day-Date II, it wears slimmer thanks to thinner lugs and bezel.
What to check before buying
Being always in gold or platinum, the case is more prone to wear and scratches than a steel model — check how many times it's been polished, since over-polishing rounds off the original edges and reduces perceived value. The President bracelet, with its concealed Crownclasp, should fasten with no play. On fluted-bezel versions, check the fluting edges for wear.
Why CPO makes sense for this model
Since this is always a precious-metal purchase with a high unit value, the guarantee of authenticity and the servicing carried out directly by Rolex matter especially: the risk of buying a piece with non-original components or incorrectly re-polished is higher than on a steel model, and the CPO channel removes it.