Reference:18108

Day-Date → 18108

Ref. 18108, Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2021, lot 2135.

The 18108 is an 18k yellow-gold Day-Date with a bark-finish bezel and President bracelet; the documented bezels are diamond-set. Auction catalogues record champagne dials with ruby numerals, turquoise or blue and oxblood lacquer, onyx, and wood. Their dates place individual watches around 1985–86; the reference’s production limits remain unknown.

Core facts

Detail	What the records show
Family	Day-Date, five-digit generation
Dated examples	Auction catalogues place individual watches in circa 1985 and 1986
Case	18k yellow gold; 36 mm in most catalogues, 35.5 mm in one
Bezel	Bark finish with 12 diamonds documented on an onyx-dial example
Movement	Caliber 3055 automatic; 27 jewels in several catalogues
Dial	Champagne with ruby numerals; turquoise/blue and oxblood lacquer; onyx; wood
Bracelet	President, with bark-finish centre links documented; bracelet details vary by lot

Where it sits in the line

The 18108 belongs to the single-quickset 3055 generation. Auction catalogues describe diamond-set bezels on the examples here, including several with a bark finish.

Production outline

The dated examples cluster in the mid-1980s. Christie's dates the champagne-and-ruby and two onyx examples to circa 1985, and its wood-dial example to circa 1986. Sotheby's gives circa 1986 for the turquoise/blue watch. The reference's production limits remain unknown.

Movement notes

Christie's and Sotheby's identify the automatic movement as caliber 3055; catalogues that give a jewel count report 27. The 3055 corrects the date from the crown. To change the weekday, the hands must pass through midnight. The movement guide covers the 3055 and the later double-quickset 3155.

Movement marked 3055, from a watch the listing identifies as ref. 18108.

Dial map

The catalogues record several dial configurations:

• Christie's lot 5841689 lists a champagne dial with ruby numerals. Its online lot 67 describes black onyx with diamond hour markers and identifies that dial as a service dial. A separate Christie's lot records another onyx example.
• Sotheby's describes one lacquer dial as turquoise in 2018 and blue in 2021, calling it “Stella” in both records. The matching case number identifies the same watch. Christie's separately uses “Stella” for an oxblood lacquer dial; these are catalogue labels for the pictured watches.
• Christie's circa-1986 lot lists a wood dial without identifying the species.

The same blue-dial example, shown at an angle; Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2021, lot 2135.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

Christie's gives a 36 mm diameter, screw-down crown and caseback for its circa-1986 example; lot 5841689 measures another watch at 35.5 mm. Crystal material is unrecorded in these catalogues.

Christie's specifies 12 diamonds on one onyx-dial watch; other listings describe diamond-set bark bezels without a count. The catalogues document these watches, while the setting across the full production run remains unknown.

Sotheby's titled its 2018 turquoise-dial lot “18108A” and reported caseback number 18000. Its 2021 listing calls the watch 18108 and repeats case number 9'342'167, identifying the same case in both sales. Christie's records 18200 stamped inside the caseback of another watch. The reason for the differing markings is unknown.

Bracelets, end links, clasps, and packaging

The catalogued watches have 18k yellow-gold President bracelets, several with bark-finish centre links. Christie's records clasp stamp 8723 and end links 55 on one bracelet; those marks date the bracelet, not the watch head. A wood-dial example has a concealed deployant clasp. Sotheby's gives an approximately 185 mm length for its blue-dial watch. The catalogues describe the fitted bracelets; original delivery is unrecorded.

Case and bracelet back of the same Sotheby's example. The image does not show a movement.

Auction records

The table covers six watches. Sotheby's listed the same case in 2018 and 2021, identified by case number 9'342'167. The 2018 listing gives movement number 1'438'362; the 2021 listing gives none.

Date assigned by the catalogue	House and lot	Recorded configuration
circa 1985	Christie's, lot 5841689	18k yellow gold, diamond-set bezel, champagne dial with ruby numerals
circa 1985	Christie's online, lot 67	Black onyx dial and diamond markers; the dial is described as a service dial
circa 1985	Christie's, lot 6042612	Onyx dial, bark President bracelet; clasp stamped 8723 and end links 55
circa 1986	Christie's, lot 2363	Wood dial and bark-finish President bracelet; 36 mm case, caliber 3055
circa 1986	Sotheby's, lot 204 (2018); later listed as lot 2135 (2021)	Same case number, 9'342'167; turquoise in 2018 and blue in 2021, both called “Stella”; 2018 record gives movement 1'438'362, 2021 record omits it
Date not stated	Christie's, lot 6533554	Case 8'961'548; oxblood lacquer dial described as “Stella”; bark-finish bezel and bracelet

• 
  Blue-dial 18108, front view. Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2021, lot 2135.
• 
  The same watch at an angle, showing the case and bracelet finish.
• 
  Movement marked 3055, from the example listed as ref. 18108.
• 
  Case and bracelet back of the same watch; movement not shown.

Sources

• Christie's, "Christie's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, lot 5841689", Christie's
• Christie's, "Christie's Online — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, lot 67", Christie's
• Christie's, "Christie's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, lot 6042612", Christie's
• Christie's, "Christie's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, lot 2363", Christie's
• Sotheby's, "Sotheby's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108A, lot 204", Sotheby's, 2018-12-05
• Sotheby's, "Sotheby's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, lot 2135", Sotheby's, 2021-04-23
• Christie's, "Christie's — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108, oxblood Stella dial, lot 6533554", Christie's
• "Rolex Technical Information, calibers 5035 and 5055", Rolex
• "SwissWatchExpo, item 68037 — Rolex Day-Date ref. 18108", SwissWatchExpo