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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 36 118389}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 36 118389}}
{{#seo:
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Day-Date 118389 — Diamond Bezel & Set Lugs, White Gold | Rolexopedia
|title=Rolex Day-Date 118389: White Gold, Diamond Bezel and Set Lugs, Rolexopedia
|description=The Rolex 118389 is the white-gold gem-set Day-Date 36 — diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs, caliber 3155, from 2000. The white-gold twin of the 118388, with lapis, meteorite and paved dials.
|description=Rolex's 36 mm white-gold Day-Date 118389 has a diamond-set bezel and lugs, caliber 3155, and catalogue-listed Oyster and President bracelets.
|keywords=Rolex 118389, Day-Date 118389, white gold diamond Day-Date, diamond set lugs, gem-set President, lapis lazuli dial, paved dial, caliber 3155
|keywords=Rolex 118389, Day-Date 118389, white gold, diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs, caliber 3155
|image=Ref 118389 hero.webp
|image=Ref 118389 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Day-Date 118389 in white gold with diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs and meteorite dial
|image_alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 reference 118389 in white gold with diamond bezel and meteorite dial
|type=Article
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-08-10T00:41:23Z
|published_time=2026-09-25T00:00:00Z
|modified_time=2026-08-10T00:41:23Z
|modified_time=2026-09-25T22:51:28Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
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}}


<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] › '''118389'''</small>
<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] → '''118389'''</small>


<div class="rp-lead">
<div class="rp-lead">[[File:Ref 118389 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 reference 118389 in white gold with diamond bezel and meteorite dial|Day-Date 36 in 18k white gold, with diamond-set bezel and meteorite dial.]]</div>
[[File:Ref 118389 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 118389 in 18k white gold — diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs, meteorite dial on the President bracelet.|Rolex Day-Date 36 118389 in 18k white gold — diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs, meteorite dial on the President bracelet.]]
</div>
 
The 118389 is the white-gold gem-set Day-Date 36, the gem-set President that does not look like a gold watch. It carries the same setting as the yellow-gold [[Reference:118388|118388]] — a double row of brilliants on the bezel and a further run down the lug flanks — but in white gold the stones and the metal sit at the same temperature, so the case reads as one continuous bright surface instead of gold-with-diamonds-on-it. That changes what the watch is. The 118388 announces money; the 118389 reads as jewellery. Under it all sits an ordinary [[Reference:118239|118239]]: 36mm case, caliber 3155, President bracelet.


The 118389 is the white-gold, diamond-bezel version of the six-digit Day-Date 36. Rolex’s period price lists also show diamonds set into the lugs, and list the reference with several bracelet choices. It uses caliber 3155. Auction records place individual examples in 2003, circa 2006, and 2018; the exact production dates for the reference have not been established here.


==Core facts==
==Core facts==
Line 34: Line 31:
|-
|-
| family
| family
| Day-Date (Day-Date 36, 6-digit)
| Day-Date 36
|-
| production
| from 2000, through the 2010s to about 2019
|-
|-
| movement
| documented examples
| caliber 3155, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h reserve, double quickset
| 2003, circa 2006, and 2018; these are example dates, not production bounds
|-
|-
| case
| case
| 36mm 18k white gold, diamond-set lugs
| 36 mm, 18k white gold
|-
|-
| crystal
| bezel and lugs
| sapphire
| Diamond-set; Rolex’s 2011 list specifies 52 bezel diamonds and 32 diamonds on the lugs
|-
|-
| bezel
| movement
| factory diamond-set
| caliber 3155; 31 jewels, automatic, day and date
|-
|-
| bracelet
| crystal
| President, diamond-set President, or Oyster
| Sapphire, with Cyclops date magnifier
|-
|-
| dial
| bracelets listed
| silver, silver Roman, silver "computer", blue, black diamond, Oxford mother-of-pearl, mother-of-pearl carousel, lapis lazuli, meteorite, paved, paved Arabic
| 73209 or 73859 Oyster; 83209 President; 84209 diamond-set President
|-
|-
| crown
| crown
| Twinlock screw-down
| Screw-down
|-
| close siblings
| 118388 (yellow gold, same gem-setting), 118348 (yellow gold, diamond bezel only), 118346 (platinum)
|-
| plain-bezel equivalent
| 118239
|}
|}


==Where it sits in the line==
==Where it sits in the line==


The 6-digit gem-set Day-Dates split by metal and by how far the setting runs. The [[Reference:118388|118388]] and the 118389 are the same watch in yellow and white gold, both with the bezel and the lugs set. The 118348 sets the bezel and leaves the lugs polished. The 118346 is the platinum one.
The 118389 shares its bezel-and-lug setting with yellow-gold reference [[Reference:118388|118388]]. Rolex’s 2011 list describes the yellow-gold 118348 with a diamond bezel and no set lugs. The plain-bezel white-gold counterpart is [[Reference:118239|118239]]. The list establishes catalogue specifications; the auction records below describe particular watches.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 75: Line 63:
! reference
! reference
! metal
! metal
! setting
! bezel
|-
! lugs
| 118348
| yellow gold
| diamond bezel, plain lugs
|-
|-
| 118388
| 118388
| yellow gold
| 18k yellow gold
| diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs
| Diamond-set
| Diamond-set
|-
|-
| 118389
| 118389
| white gold
| 18k white gold
| diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs
| Diamond-set
|-
| Diamond-set
| 118346
| platinum
| diamond bezel
|}
|}
White gold does something specific to this design. On the 118388 the stones sit against a warm metal and the contrast does the work, so the eye reads bezel, then lugs, then bracelet as three separate decisions. On the 118389 the diamonds and the case are close enough in tone that the setting reads as texture rather than as ornament, and the watch ends up looking less decorated than it actually is. Whether that is the point or the problem depends on the buyer, and it is why white gold gem-set Presidents tend to be the ones collectors keep coming back to.
Against the plain [[Reference:118239|118239]] nothing mechanical changes.


==Production outline==
==Production outline==


The 118xxx generation arrived in 2000, carrying over the caliber 3155 and the 36mm Oyster case from the 182xx references while the bracelet and clasp were reworked. Monochrome's history records the President bracelet going from hollow to solid centre links and the rehaut picking up the engraved ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX ring with the serial number.
Christie’s catalogued one 118389 as sold in 2003 and another as made circa 2006. A separate Christie’s entry records a watch circa 2018, with its original receipt dated that year. Rolex’s 2011 and 2012 price lists include the reference. Together, these sources show the model in the market across those years, but they do not give its launch or discontinuation dates.
 
The end of the run is less clear than the start. Monochrome closes the 118238 and the generation at 2009, which does not square with the same article's account of the caliber 3155 being re-regulated in 2015 to the Superlative Chronometer standard. The gem-set references ran through the 2010s until the caliber-3255 Day-Date 36 replaced the line, around 2019.


As with any gem-set Rolex, catalogue dates only go so far. Rolex set stones to special order alongside the catalogue, and aftermarket setting on plain cases is common enough that factory origin is the first thing to establish about any example.
The Day-Date 36 moved to caliber 3255 in its 2019 generation update. That change gives a useful boundary for the successor, but does not prove that every 118389 ceased production in 2019. References and catalogue availability can overlap, so this page leaves the end date open rather than assigning one from the successor’s launch.


==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==


Caliber 3155: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, roughly a 48-hour reserve, double quickset from the crown. Monochrome puts it at 31 jewels against the outgoing 3055's 27, with a double bridge for the escapement and a slightly slimmer profile despite the additions.
The 118389 uses caliber 3155, with day and date changing through the crown’s quickset positions. Rolex’s catalogues identify the movement as a chronometer; Fratello’s technical account of caliber 3155 in the earlier Day-Date 18238 gives 31 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour, and an approximate 48-hour reserve. That is movement-family context, rather than a 118389-specific test record. See [[Reference:Movements]] for the caliber index.
 
The blue Parachrom hairspring rolls across the catalogue from 2005, so late examples carry it and early ones do not. In 2015 Rolex re-regulated the 3155 from COSC −4/+6 seconds a day to its own Superlative Chronometer −2/+2. The caliber lineage sits on [[Reference:Movements]].


==Dial map==
==Dial map==


[[File:Ref 118389 lapis lazuli.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118389 with lapis lazuli dial and diamond markers|Lapis lazuli with diamond markers — the strongest colour Rolex put against this case.]]
The 2011 Rolex list identifies an eight-diamond, two-baguette dial and a “Jubilee” dial option for reference 118389. Rolex directs buyers to the 118239 listing for additional-cost dials, so the list is not a complete dial catalogue for this reference. A third-party configuration index also labels examples with lapis, meteorite, mother-of-pearl, and paved dials. Those entries help identify pictured variants; they do not establish when or where Rolex offered each combination.


Forty-three configurations are catalogued for the 118389, and the white-gold case pushes the dial selection somewhere different from its yellow-gold twin. Where the 118388 runs champagne and jade, the 118389 runs silver, blue, lapis and pavé.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 118389 lapis lazuli.webp|Lapis lazuli dial with diamond markers
File:Ref 118389 paved.webp|Paved dial with blue Arabic numerals
File:Ref 118389 mop carousel.webp|Mother-of-pearl dial with a diamond-set centre
</gallery>


[[File:Ref 118389 paved.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118389 with fully diamond-paved dial and blue Arabic numerals|The paved Arabic dial. Set against a set bezel and set lugs, the whole watch becomes one diamond surface.]]
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==


{| class="wikitable"
Rolex’s 2011 US list specifies a 36 mm 18k white-gold case, a bezel set with 52 diamonds, and 32 diamonds on the lugs. It lists sapphire crystal. Christie’s measured its circa-2006 Oman-signed example at 36.5 mm; that is the auction house’s measurement of one watch, while 36 mm is Rolex’s catalogue specification.
|-
! dial
! description
! bracelets
|-
| silver
| plain silvered ground, applied batons
| President
|-
| silver Roman
| silvered ground, applied Roman numerals
| Oyster
|-
| silver "computer"
| silvered ground with the circuit-board motif, diamond markers
| Oyster, diamond-set President
|-
| silver diamond
| silvered ground with diamond hour markers
| diamond-set President
|-
| blue
| blue ground, applied batons
| Oyster
|-
| black diamond
| glossy black with diamond markers
| Oyster
|-
| Oxford mother-of-pearl
| textured mother-of-pearl
| President, diamond-set President
|-
| mother-of-pearl carousel
| mother-of-pearl segments around a diamond-set centre
| President, diamond-set President
|-
| lapis lazuli
| deep-blue lapis hardstone, diamond markers
| President
|-
| meteorite
| meteorite slice with crystalline banding, diamond markers
| President
|-
| paved
| ground fully paved with diamonds
| diamond-set President
|-
| paved Arabic
| fully paved with applied blue Arabic numerals
| President
|}


Lapis is the one that gives the reference a colour. Everything else on the white-gold side is silver, white or grey, so a lapis dial in a bright case is the only configuration where the watch has a hue at all, and it works better here than the same stone does against yellow gold. At the other extreme the paved dials turn the whole watch into a single set surface, bezel and lugs and dial all stones, with the blue Arabic numerals on the paved Arabic version the only thing interrupting it. The broader hardstone story is set out in Italian Watch Spotter's stone-dial guide, and the cross-family dial taxonomy sits on the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry.
The 2011 list calls out a screw-down crown, but the sources cited here do not identify its lock system. Serial-number placement changed across the six-digit generation; see [[Reference:Serial-numbers]] for dating context. Case serials can help date a watch, but do not by themselves prove its original dial, setting, or bracelet.


==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
==Bracelets and clasps==


The case is the 36mm white-gold Oyster of the 6-digit generation, sapphire crystal with Cyclops, Twinlock screw-down crown, screw-down caseback. The bezel takes a double row of round brilliants and the lugs are set along both flanks, which is what separates the 118389 from the bezel-only references and what a buyer should confirm before paying for the setting.
Rolex’s 2011 list includes Oyster bracelets 73209 and 73859 and President bracelet 83209 for the 118389. The June 2012 list adds President bracelet 84209, described as white gold and set with 300 diamonds, for references 118339 and 118389. This is evidence that Rolex listed the option, not that every 118389 left the factory on it.


Placing an example in the run works the same way as across the generation: serial between the lugs on early production, on the engraved rehaut later, and random alphanumeric strings from 2010. On a set case the lug engraving sits among the stones, so an unset or re-set lug tends to give itself away.
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 118389 gem-set bracelet.webp|118389 on a diamond-set President bracelet
File:Ref 118389 oyster bracelet.webp|118389 on an Oyster bracelet
</gallery>


==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
Clasp codes date the bracelet, not the watch head. For bracelet construction and clasp details, see [[Reference:Bracelets]].


[[File:Ref 118389 gem-set bracelet.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118389 on the fully diamond-set President bracelet with silver computer dial|The diamond-set President. In white gold the setting runs unbroken from bezel to lugs to bracelet.]]
==Notable example==


Three bracelets appear. The standard President with solid centre links and the concealed Crownclasp is the usual fitment. The diamond-set President carries stones down the centre links, and in white gold this is where the reference goes furthest, because there is no tonal break anywhere: bezel, lugs and bracelet read as one set surface. The Oyster is the third and least expected, a flat three-piece bracelet under a fully set case.
Christie’s describes a circa-2006 118389 made for the Sultanate of Oman. The lot has a Khanjar emblem engraved on the case back, a silvered dial with diamond numerals, a diamond bezel, and diamond-set lugs. It is a documented special-order example; one watch does not establish a separate production branch or a standard specification for the reference.


[[File:Ref 118389 oyster bracelet.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118389 with silver Roman dial on the Oyster bracelet|Silver Roman on the Oyster — a set case on the plainest bracelet in the catalogue.]]
==Auction record==


A clasp date code dates the bracelet, not the head. That caution carries more weight on a gem-set reference than a plain one, since a set President is valuable enough to be swapped onto a watch that left the factory on a plain one. The cross-family detail sits on [[Reference:Bracelets]].
Phillips sold case P901751 in November 2025 for CHF 25,400. Its catalogue describes a 36 mm white-gold 118389 with caliber 3155, diamond-set bezel and lugs, a silver dial with a diamond-set sector ring, and a President bracelet. Phillips records an October 2003 warranty stamped by Seddiqi in Dubai. Christie’s had catalogued the same case number and warranty history earlier, so these are two sale records for one watch, not independent examples. This result documents that lot only; it does not set a market range for the reference.


==Market==
==Related references==


The 118389 moves through the jewellery and dealer market rather than the catalogued watch auctions. Factory setting is the first question on any example, because aftermarket stones on Day-Dates are common and worth a fraction of the original; Rolex paperwork and the regularity of the setting are what settle it. After that the dial does the work, which holds across the whole 6-digit generation — Christie's Hong Kong sold a coral-dial [[Reference:118208|118208]] for HKD 525,000 in 2014 and a bloodstone example for HKD 225,000 in 2018, both well clear of a plain-dial example of the same reference. On the 118389 the lapis, the meteorite and the paved configurations sit at that end, and a plain silver dial on a standard President sits at the other.
* [[Reference:118388|Day-Date 118388]], yellow gold, diamond-set bezel and lugs
* [[Reference:118239|Day-Date 118239]], white gold, plain bezel
* [[Reference:118238|Day-Date 118238]], yellow gold, plain bezel
* [[Reference:118235|Day-Date 118235]], Everose gold, plain bezel
* [[Reference:118208|Day-Date 118208]], yellow gold, fluted bezel
* [[Reference:1804|Day-Date 1804]], earlier diamond-bezel Day-Date


== Related references ==
See also the [[Reference:day-date|Day-Date family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet and clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial-number guide]].


* [[Reference:118388|Day-Date 118388]] — yellow gold, same gem-setting
==Gallery==
* [[Reference:118239|Day-Date 118239]] — white gold, fluted
* [[Reference:118238|Day-Date 118238]] — 2000–2019
* [[Reference:118235|Day-Date 118235]] — 2005–2019
* [[Reference:118208|Day-Date 118208]] — 2000–2019
* [[Reference:1804|Day-Date 1804]] — the 4-digit diamond-bezel President


See also the [[Reference:day-date|Day-Date family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 118389 hero.webp|White-gold 118389 with meteorite dial
File:Ref 118389 lapis lazuli.webp|Lapis lazuli dial
File:Ref 118389 paved.webp|Paved dial with blue Arabic numerals
File:Ref 118389 mop carousel.webp|Mother-of-pearl carousel dial
File:Ref 118389 gem-set bracelet.webp|Diamond-set President bracelet
File:Ref 118389 oyster bracelet.webp|Oyster bracelet
</gallery>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==


* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://minus4plus6.com/RolexPricelist/2011/2011_usa_price_list.pdf Rolex, "Rolex US price list, effective May 10, 2011", Rolex, 2011-05-10]
* [https://www.puccipapaleo.com/bookstore/day-date ''Day-Date — The Presidential Rolex'' — Pucci Papaleo, Pucci Papaleo Editore, 2015]
* [https://www.minus4plus6.com/pdf/Rolex_Price_List_June-1-2012.pdf Rolex Deutschland, "Rolex Germany price list, June 2012", Rolex Deutschland, 2012-06]
* [https://www.mondanibooks.com/rolex-day-date-history ''Rolex Day-Date'' — Giorgia Mondani and Guido Mondani, Guido Mondani Editore]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-day-date-1956-present-president-watch-in-depth-review/ Monochrome editorial, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Day-Date, The Presidential Watch", Monochrome Watches]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-day-date-1956-present-president-watch-in-depth-review/ Monochrome editorial, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Day-Date, The Presidential Watch", Monochrome Watches]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-day-date-a-complete-collectors-guide Sotheby's editorial, "The Rolex Day-Date: A Complete Collector's Guide", Sotheby's]
* [https://italianwatchspotter.com/the-history-of-the-rolex-day-date/?lang=en Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of the Rolex Day-Date", Italian Watch Spotter]
* [https://italianwatchspotter.com/watch-guide-rolex-stone-dials/?lang=en Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "Watch Guide: Rolex Stone Dials", Italian Watch Spotter]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/exploring-evergreens-the-rolex-day-date-18238/ Fratello editorial, "Exploring Evergreens: The Rolex Day-Date 18238", Fratello Watches]
* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/exploring-evergreens-the-rolex-day-date-18238/ Fratello editorial, "Exploring Evergreens: The Rolex Day-Date 18238", Fratello Watches]
* [https://www.swisswatchexpo.com/thewatchclub/2024/01/25/generations-rolex-president-day-date/ SwissWatchExpo editorial, "Generations of the Rolex President Day-Date", SwissWatchExpo, 2024]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/day-date WatchBase, "Rolex Day-Date 36 118389 — configuration index", WatchBase]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/caliber/3155 WatchBase, "Rolex caliber 3155 (registry page)", WatchBase]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5892978 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118389, case Z806367, Christie's lot 169", Christie's]
* [https://watchbase.com/blog/2015/02/21/rolex-day-date-history WatchBase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date History", WatchBase, 2015-02-21]
* [https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6584503 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118389, case 2K1734N9, Christie's lot 159", Christie's]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/day-date WatchBase, "Rolex Day-Date 36 118389 — factory configuration registry", WatchBase]
* [https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/watches-online-dubai-edit/rolex-day-date-ref-118389-gold-diamond-set-wristwatch-diamond-set-dial-225/165859 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118389, case P901751, Christie's Dubai lot", Christie's]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/224200 Phillips, "Rolex Day-Date 118389, case P901751, Phillips lot 187", Phillips, 2025-11-08]


[[Category:Day-Date]]
[[Category:Day-Date]]
[[Category:published]]
[[Category:References]]
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