1979 Rolex Day-Date 18K YG (Ref. 18038) Tiger Eye Stone Dial

The Rolex Day-Date is one of the most iconic and beautiful watches in the Rolex catalog. The Rolex Day-Date earned the nickname "President" after it had been rumored that President Dwight Eisenhower began wearing one.  In reality, Eisenhower wore a Rolex 18K yellow gold Oyster Perpetual Datejust which Rolex gifted to him in 1950. However, the nickname President stuck and is quite fitting for the Day-Date as Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Reagan, and Nixon all wore the Rolex Day-Date model. It has always been a symbol of status and luxury as the Rolex Day-Date is only made in precious metals most commonly 18k yellow gold and possesses both the day and date complications within the movement. 

On an extremely limited basis, Rolex manufactured timepieces featuring exotic materials. Such as dials made from various minerals, woods, and stone including; black onyx, burl wood, lapis lazuli, opal, birch, tiger eye, fossil, coral, aventurine, and ferrite, among others… These exotic variants are always strikingly vivid with a minimalist design and each exotic variant was produced in very limited numbers. With rarity varying between materials, the more rare the material was, the less Rolex produced.

In 1977 Rolex updated the iconic Day-Date model aka the "President" with the ref. 18038, which featured some major changes to the Day-Date line of watches. The first of the major updates was the introduction of a sapphire crystal, but the biggest improvement was the introduction of the Cal. 3055 movement. This new and improved movement featured a quick-set date function within the winding crowns second position, landing the ref. 18038 with the nickname the "Single-Quick" Day-Date.

Good examples of these exotic Rolex Day-Date references have become exponentially harder to find because of a cult following surrounding them, and a lack of circulation due to the coveted value each unique dial retains. In other words, collectors love these watches and rarely sell them, so when they come up for sale it’s always special.