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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 36 118388}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 36 118388}}
{{#seo:
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|title=Rolex Day-Date 118388 — Diamond Bezel & Set Lugs, Yellow Gold | Rolexopedia
|title=Rolex Day-Date 118388: Diamond Bezel and Set Lugs, Rolexopedia
|description=The Rolex 118388 is the yellow-gold gem-set Day-Date 36 — diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs, caliber 3155, from 2000. The set lugs are what separate it from the 118348. Jade carousel and Bull's Eye dials.
|description=Reference 118388 is a 36 mm yellow-gold Day-Date with a 52-diamond bezel, 32-diamond lugs, caliber 3155, and President or Oyster bracelet options.
|keywords=Rolex 118388, Day-Date 118388, diamond bezel Day-Date, diamond set lugs, gem-set President, jade carousel dial, Bull's Eye dial, caliber 3155, 118348 vs 118388
|keywords=Rolex 118388, Day-Date 118388, diamond-set bezel, diamond-set lugs, caliber 3155, 118348, Day-Date bracelets
|image=Ref 118388 hero.webp
|image=Ref 118388 hero.webp
|image_alt=Rolex Day-Date 118388 in yellow gold with diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs and champagne Roman dial
|image_alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 in yellow gold with diamond bezel and set lugs
|type=Article
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|og_type=article
|published_time=2026-08-10T00:41:19Z
|published_time=2026-09-25T00:00:00Z
|modified_time=2026-08-10T00:41:19Z
|modified_time=2026-09-25T22:34:29Z
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
|titlemode=replace
|titlemode=replace
}}
}}


<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] › '''118388'''</small>
<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] → '''118388'''</small>


<div class="rp-lead">
<div class="rp-lead">
[[File:Ref 118388 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 in 18k yellow gold — diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs, champagne Roman dial on the President bracelet.|Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 in 18k yellow gold — diamond bezel, diamond-set lugs, champagne Roman dial on the President bracelet.]]
[[File:Ref 118388 hero.webp|thumb|center|640px|alt=Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 in yellow gold with diamond bezel and set lugs|Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 in yellow gold with diamond bezel and set lugs.]]
</div>
</div>


The 118388 is the yellow-gold high-jewellery Day-Date 36, the one where Rolex sets the lugs as well as the bezel. Underneath the stones it is an ordinary [[Reference:118238|118238]]: the same 36mm case, the same caliber 3155, the same President bracelet. What separates it is a double row of brilliants around the bezel and a further run of stones down the lug flanks, so the diamonds wrap the case instead of sitting in a ring on top of it. That single detail is also what distinguishes it from the 118348, its plain-lugged sibling, and the two get confused constantly. The dial catalogue is the other reason to look: the gem-set references carry configurations that never appear on the plain Day-Dates, including jade carousel dials in green and lavender.
The 118388 is a 36 mm yellow-gold Day-Date with a diamond-set bezel and diamond-set case lugs. Rolex’s 2011 US price list specifies 52 diamonds in the bezel and 32 across the lugs. Its 118348 entry lists a diamond bezel; the 118388 entry also lists the 32 lug diamonds, which distinguishes the two yellow-gold references in the catalogue.
 
It belongs to the six-digit Day-Date generation and uses caliber 3155. Christie's dates individual examples to circa 2000 and 2001, and Rolex lists the reference in 2011 and 2012. The final production year remains uncertain.


==Core facts==
==Core facts==
Line 33: Line 35:
|-
|-
| family
| family
| Day-Date (Day-Date 36, 6-digit)
| Day-Date 36, six-digit generation
|-
|-
| production
| documented by
| from 2000, through the 2010s to about 2019
| circa 2000 in a Christie's lot; listed in Rolex's 2011 US price list
|-
|-
| movement
| movement
| caliber 3155, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h reserve, double quickset
| caliber 3155, automatic, 31 jewels
|-
|-
| case
| case
| 36mm 18k yellow gold, diamond-set lugs
| 36 mm, 18 ct yellow gold
|-
| bezel and lugs
| 52-diamond bezel; 32-diamond case lugs, per Rolex's 2011 US list
|-
|-
| crystal
| crystal
| sapphire
| synthetic sapphire, per Rolex's price list
|-
| bezel
| factory diamond-set
|-
| bracelet
| President, diamond-set President, or Oyster
|-
| dial
| champagne Roman, champagne "computer", black, white, silver diamond, mother-of-pearl, meteorite, Bull's Eye, green and lavender jade carousel
|-
| crown
| Twinlock screw-down
|-
|-
| close siblings
| bracelet options
| 118389 (white gold, same gem-setting), 118348 (yellow gold, diamond bezel only), 118346 (platinum)
| President 83208; Oyster 73208 or 73858; diamond-set President 84208
|-
|-
| plain-bezel equivalent
| crown and back
| 118238
| screw-down crown and screw back, documented on Christie's circa-2000 example
|}
|}


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


Rolex has always run a gem-set branch alongside the plain Day-Dates. In the 4-digit era that was the [[Reference:1804|1804]], a diamond bezel on the same case as the fluted [[Reference:1803|1803]]. The 6-digit generation splits that branch further, by metal and by how far the setting goes, and the result is four references that look alike in a listing photograph and are not the same watch:
The 118388 shares its basic format with the yellow-gold 118348, but the cases are set differently. Rolex's 2011 list specifies a 52-diamond bezel and 32-diamond lugs for the 118388. Its 118348 entry lists the bezel, while the 118388 entry also describes set lugs. The white-gold 118389 has the same 52-diamond bezel and 32-diamond lugs. The platinum 118346 has a 52-diamond bezel; Rolex listed it with a President bracelet.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 74: Line 67:
! reference
! reference
! metal
! metal
! setting
! documented setting
|-
|-
| 118348
| 118348
| yellow gold
| 18 ct yellow gold
| diamond bezel, plain lugs
| 52-diamond bezel; the 2011 entry describes no lug setting
|-
|-
| 118388
| '''118388'''
| yellow gold
| 18 ct yellow gold
| diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs
| 52-diamond bezel and 32-diamond lugs
|-
|-
| 118389
| [[Reference:118389]]
| white gold
| 18 ct white gold
| diamond bezel plus diamond-set lugs
| 52-diamond bezel and 32-diamond lugs
|-
|-
| 118346
| 118346
| platinum
| platinum
| diamond bezel
| 52-diamond bezel
|}
|}


Set a 118388 next to a 118348 with the same dial and the same bracelet and the difference is obvious: the 118348's lugs are polished gold, the 118388's carry stones running down the flank on both sides. In a cropped dealer photograph it is easy to miss, which is why reference numbers on these get transposed so often. Anyone valuing one should confirm the lugs, not just the bezel.
The plain-bezel yellow-gold reference is [[Reference:118238]]. Calling the 118388 simply a set version of the 118238 misses the bezel and lug work, and the catalogued bracelet choices also differ.
 
Against the [[Reference:118238|118238]] the 118388 is the same watch with a jeweller's brief. Nothing mechanical changes.


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


The 118xxx series arrived in 2000, carrying over the caliber 3155 and the 36mm Oyster case from the preceding 182xx references while the bracelet and clasp were reworked. Monochrome's history records the President bracelet moving from hollow links to solid, which accounts for most of the weight the generation gained, and the rehaut picking up the engraved ROLEX ROLEX ROLEX ring with the serial number.
Christie's dates one 118388 to circa 2000 and another to circa 2001. Rolex's US price list effective May 2011 describes the 36 mm yellow-gold case, its stone counts, caliber, crystal and bracelet choices. A June 2012 Rolex price list repeats the main specification. The latest dated Rolex listing located is from 2012; the final production year remains uncertain.


Dating the end of the run is messier. Monochrome closes the 118238, and with it the generation, at 2009, a date that is hard to reconcile with the same article's account of the caliber 3155 being re-regulated in 2015 to Rolex's Superlative Chronometer standard. The gem-set references ran alongside the plain ones through the 2010s until the caliber-3255 Day-Date 36 took over, around 2019.
The 118388 belongs to the 118xxx Day-Date generation. Rolex introduced the next Day-Date 36 generation with caliber 3255 in 2019. Its 2012 list is the latest dated Rolex catalogue entry for the 118388 located here; the reference's final production year remains uncertain.
 
Gem-set references also complicate their own chronology. Rolex has always set stones to order as well as to catalogue, and dealers have set plenty more after the fact. Factory setting is the whole value of a 118388, so provenance matters more here than on a plain President.


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


Caliber 3155: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, roughly a 48-hour reserve, double quickset so day and date both index from the crown. Monochrome describes it as up from 27 jewels over the outgoing 3055, with a double bridge for the escapement and a slightly slimmer profile.
Rolex listed caliber 3155 as a 31-jewel chronometer movement for the 118388. Christie's independently identifies the 3155 in a circa-2001 example. The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, has about 48 hours of power reserve, and quicksets both calendar displays. See [[Reference:Movements]] for the shared caliber record.
 
Two changes land mid-run and both apply here. The blue Parachrom hairspring rolls across the catalogue from 2005, so late examples carry it. Then in 2015 Rolex re-regulated the 3155 from the COSC standard of −4/+6 seconds a day to its own Superlative Chronometer rating of −2/+2. The caliber lineage sits on [[Reference:Movements]].


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


[[File:Ref 118388 green jade.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118388 with green jade carousel dial|The green jade carousel dial — segments of jade laid around a diamond-set centre, a configuration confined to the gem-set references.]]
Rolex's 2011 list offers the President bracelet with a Jubilee dial set with eight round diamonds and two baguettes. The same list directs buyers to the 118238 entry for the broader additional-cost dial list, so it does not provide a complete 118388 menu.


Sixty configurations are catalogued for the 118388, and the interesting half does not exist on the plain Day-Dates at all. The gem-set references are where Rolex put the hardstone and the decorated dials.
Auction catalogues document several 118388 dials. Christie's described a circa-2001 green-lacquer dial with green Arabic numerals and a pavé diamond chapter ring. A circa-2000 example had a mother-of-pearl dial set with diamonds and rubies. Christie's catalogued a circa-2005 example with a diamond- and emerald-set dial. These are lot descriptions; they establish those individual configurations, not how often they were ordered or whether every setting remained original.


[[File:Ref 118388 bulls eye.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118388 with Bull's Eye banded hardstone dial and diamond markers|The Bull's Eye dial, a banded brown hardstone with diamond markers.]]
The [https://watchbase.com/rolex/day-date 118388 configuration index] lists meteorite, Bull's Eye, and green and lavender jade carousel dials. It is an index for further checking, not a Rolex production ledger. The Rolex list directs readers to the 118238 entry for additional-cost dials, so the full 118388 dial menu remains uncertain.


{| class="wikitable"
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
|-
File:Ref 118388 green jade.webp|Green jade carousel dial
! dial
File:Ref 118388 bulls eye.webp|Bull's Eye dial
! description
</gallery>
! bracelets
|-
| champagne Roman
| champagne ground, applied Roman numerals
| President
|-
| champagne
| plain champagne, applied batons
| Oyster
|-
| champagne "computer"
| champagne ground with the circuit-board motif
| President
|-
| black
| glossy black, applied batons
| President
|-
| white
| white ground, applied batons
| Oyster, President
|-
| silver diamond
| silvered ground with diamond hour markers
| Oyster, diamond-set President
|-
| mother-of-pearl
| white mother-of-pearl with diamond markers
| Oyster, President
|-
| meteorite
| meteorite slice with crystalline banding, diamond markers
| President
|-
| Bull's Eye
| banded brown hardstone, diamond markers
| President
|-
| green jade carousel
| jade segments laid around a diamond-set centre
| President
|-
| lavender jade carousel
| same construction in lavender jade
| President
|}
 
The jade carousels are the ones worth going out of the way for. The dial is built from cut segments of stone arranged around a diamond-set inner ring, giving it the pieced look of marquetry; the green and lavender versions are the most decorated dials Rolex catalogued on a 36mm Day-Date. Meteorite and Bull's Eye cover the harder-edged end of the same idea. The broader hardstone story across the Rolex catalogue is set out in Italian Watch Spotter's stone-dial guide, and the cross-family dial taxonomy sits on the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry.


==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==


[[File:Ref 118388 meteorite.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118388 with meteorite dial showing the diamond-set bezel and lugs|Meteorite dial. The stones running down the lug flank are the 118388's identifying feature against the 118348.]]
The 2011 Rolex price list gives the 118388 a 36 mm 18 ct yellow-gold case, synthetic sapphire crystal, bezel set with 52 diamonds, and lugs set with 32. The 2012 list gives the same stone counts. These are the clearest checks when distinguishing it from the 118348: both have a diamond bezel, while the 118388 is the model whose lugs are specified as set.


The case is the 36mm yellow-gold Oyster of the 6-digit generation, with a sapphire crystal and Cyclops, a Twinlock screw-down crown and a screw-down caseback. The bezel carries a double row of round brilliants. The lugs are set along the flanks, which is the reference's identifying feature and the thing to check before paying gem-set money for one.
Christie's describes a circa-2000 example with a screw-down crown and screw back. Its catalogue measured that individual case at 36 mm; another Christie's 118388 catalogue gives 35 mm. Rolex's specification is 36 mm, so the 35 mm auction measurement should not be used as the reference size. The catalogue wording does not identify the crown-locking system as Twinlock.


Serial placement dates an example the same way it does across the generation: early production carries the serial between the lugs at six o'clock, later production moves it to the engraved rehaut, and from 2010 the letter-prefix serials give way to random alphanumeric strings. On a 118388 the lug engraving sits among the stones, which makes an unset or re-set lug easier to spot than it would otherwise be.
[[File:Ref 118388 meteorite.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex 118388 with meteorite dial showing the diamond-set bezel and lugs|A catalogued meteorite-dial example, with the diamond-set lugs visible.]]


==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
Rolex's 2011 list pairs the 118388 with President bracelet 83208 and Oyster bracelets 73208 or 73858. It also lists bracelet 84208 set with 300 diamonds for the 118388 and related models. A June 2012 list again records these bracelet families. The list documents offered combinations; it does not prove which bracelet left the factory on a particular watch.
Christie's circa-2000 and circa-2001 lots show the 118388 on a yellow-gold President bracelet. The 2011 list confirms the Oyster option, so an Oyster-bracelet example is not automatically a mismatch. For any individual watch, check the bracelet reference, end links, clasp and service history. A clasp code dates the bracelet, not the watch head; see [[Reference:Bracelets]].


<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Ref 118388 gem-set bracelet.webp|alt=Rolex 118388 on the fully diamond-set President bracelet|The diamond-set President, with stones carried down the centre links — the top of the catalogue.
File:Ref 118388 gem-set bracelet.webp|Diamond-set President bracelet
File:Ref 118388 oyster bracelet.webp|alt=Rolex 118388 with mother-of-pearl dial on the Oyster bracelet|Mother-of-pearl on the Oyster bracelet — the gem-set case on the plainest bracelet Rolex offered for it.
File:Ref 118388 oyster bracelet.webp|Oyster bracelet
</gallery>
</gallery>


Three bracelets appear against this reference. The standard President with solid centre links and the concealed Crownclasp is the common one. Above it sits the diamond-set President, with stones running down the centre links so the setting continues from bezel to lugs to bracelet without a break. Below both, and the surprise, is the plain Oyster: a flat three-piece bracelet under a diamond bezel and set lugs, which is an odd combination and a genuinely catalogued one.
==Documented auction examples==


As with any President, a clasp date code dates the bracelet and not the head, and this matters more than usual here: a gem-set bracelet is expensive enough to be added later, and a swap between a plain and a set President changes the value of the watch far more than it changes the look. The cross-family detail sits on [[Reference:Bracelets]].
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! source and date
! catalogued details
! limit
|-
| Christie's, case P906547, circa 2000
| 36 mm; caliber 3155; mother-of-pearl dial with diamond and ruby setting; President bracelet
| Describes one example; the lot page does not establish the broader dial range
|-
| Christie's, case K596962, circa 2001
| Green lacquer dial, green Arabic numerals, pavé diamond chapter ring; diamond-set bezel and lugs; President bracelet
| Christie's gives a 35 mm case measurement, unlike Rolex's 36 mm specification; its sale-room notice clarifies the dial description
|-
| Christie's, case K589998, circa 2005
| Diamond- and emerald-set dial; 36 mm case; diamond-set President bracelet
| Catalogued description only; it does not by itself establish original delivery or later service history
|}


==Market==
These lots document individual configurations. Three examples are too few to establish a reference-wide price range or a premium over plain-dial models.


The 118388 mostly changes hands through jewellers and specialist dealers, with only occasional appearances at the catalogued watch auctions, and it is valued differently from a plain Day-Date. Two things drive it. The first is whether the setting is factory, since aftermarket stones are common on Day-Dates and carry a fraction of the value; Rolex paperwork and the quality and regularity of the setting are what settle it. The second is the dial, which is the pattern 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 several multiples over a plain-dial equivalent of the same reference. On the 118388 the jade carousels, the Bull's Eye and the meteorite occupy that position, and a champagne Roman on a plain President sits at the other end.
==Related references==


== Related references ==
* [[Reference:118238|Day-Date 118238]], yellow gold, fluted bezel
* Day-Date 118348, yellow gold, diamond bezel; the 2011 entry describes no lug setting
* [[Reference:118389|Day-Date 118389]], white gold, diamond bezel and set lugs
* Day-Date 118346, platinum, diamond bezel
* [[Reference:day-date|Day-Date family index]]


* [[Reference:118389|Day-Date 118389]] — white 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 118388 green jade.webp|Green jade carousel dial
File:Ref 118388 bulls eye.webp|Bull's Eye dial
File:Ref 118388 meteorite.webp|Meteorite dial and set lugs
File:Ref 118388 gem-set bracelet.webp|Diamond-set President bracelet
File:Ref 118388 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://newsroom-content.rolex.com/-/media/project/rolex/newsroom/rolex/rolex-newsroom-int/watches/new-watches/new-watches-2019/en_02_2019_presentation_oyster_english.pdf Rolex, "Rolex Baselworld 2019 Day-Date 36 presentation", Rolex]
* [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.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5834894 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118388, case K596962, lot 75", Christie's]
* [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://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6259912 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118388, case P906547", Christie'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://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6500258 Christie's, "Rolex Day-Date 118388, case K589998", Christie's]
* [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 118388 — configuration index", WatchBase]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/caliber/3155 WatchBase, "Rolex caliber 3155 (registry page)", WatchBase]
* [https://watchbase.com/blog/2015/02/21/rolex-day-date-history WatchBase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date History", WatchBase, 2015-02-21]
* [https://watchbase.com/rolex/day-date WatchBase, "Rolex Day-Date 36 118388 — factory configuration registry", WatchBase]


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