Reference:18078: Difference between revisions

==Core facts==

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==Where it sits in the line==

The 18078 is the bark member of the first 5-digit Day-Date generation, the sapphire-crystal continuation of the bark line that runs from the 4-digit [[Reference:1807|1807]]. The 5-digit references split by metal and finish: the [[Reference:18038|18038]] is the yellow-gold fluted reference, the [[Reference:18048|18048]] carries the diamond bezel, and the bark appears in yellow gold as the 18078 and in white gold as the 18079. The bark is a coarse vertical texture, distinct from the finer cross-hatched Florentine of the 1806 and the watered moiré Morellis of the 1811.

==Production outline==

The 18078 ran from the late 1970s, when the 5-digit references took over with sapphire crystals and the caliber 3055, until 1988, when the caliber 3155 arrived. Bark-finished Day-Dates continued into the caliber-3155 era, so the 18078 should be kept separate from the later 18248. No Rolex production figure has surfaced. The surviving auction record shows variation in dial material, markers and special-order markings.

==Movement notes==

==Dial map==

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

The case is the 36mm yellow-gold Oyster shared across the 5-digit Day-Date, with a sapphire crystal and Cyclops, a Twinlock screw-down crown and a screw-down caseback. The defining feature is the bark finish, a coarse vertical woodgrain worked into the bezel. The case flanks and lugs stay polished, so the texture reads as a deliberate band around the dial rather than an all-over treatment.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The 18078 wears the President bracelet, reference 8385, with the concealed Crownclasp and the solid links of the 5-digit era. The bark carries onto the bracelet's centre links, so the texture runs unbroken from the bezel down the length of the bracelet. That continuity is a useful inspection point. A bracelet with plain replacement centre links should be recorded as such, since clasp and bracelet dates apply to the bracelet rather than automatically to the watch head. As with any President, a clasp date code dates the bracelet, which may be older or newer than the head, and the cross-family detail sits on [[Reference:Bracelets]].

==Special branches==

===Bark with an exotic dial===

Auction catalogues show the bark case paired with several dial types. Wood and burl dials recur in the cited records, while other lots document hardstone, Stella and special-order dials. These lots establish configurations of individual watches, not a complete factory option list.

===The Omani Khanjar===

Phillips catalogued a bark 18078 at the Geneva Watch Auction XVIII in 2023 with a green Omani Khanjar emblem and an Arabic day disc. The lot documents that individual configuration; it does not establish how many such watches were made.

==Auction record==

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* [[Reference:18028|Day-Date 18028]], 1977–1988

* [[Reference:18038|Day-Date 18038]], caliber 3055 President (1977–1988)

== Sources ==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra

* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080223/96 Phillips, "Rolex Ref. 18078 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with Omani Khanjar emblem and Arabic day disc — Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XVIII, lot 96", Phillips, 2023]