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Deep correctness and anti-slop audit: Everose, 3156, dial, case-size, gem-setting, market, and auction claims qualified.
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The 218235 is the Everose Day-Date II, the rose-gold member of the only 41mm President Rolex has built. It ran from 2008 to 2015 on the caliber 3156, with a fluted Everose bezel and a solid Everose President bracelet. Everose is Rolex's own pink-gold alloy, introduced in 2005 and mixed to hold its colour where ordinary rose gold drifts, and the 218235 is the reference that put it on the largest Day-Date case ever made. The chocolate dial is the one collectors picture, and on warm metal at 41mm it is the most confident-looking watch in the generation.
The 218235 is the Everose-gold Day-Date II, the 41 mm generation produced from 2008 until the 2015 transition to the Day-Date 40. It uses caliber 3156, a fluted Everose bezel, and an Everose President bracelet. Rolex introduced its Everose alloy in the 2000s; the archived model material identifies the 218235's case and bracelet as 18 ct Everose gold. Chocolate Roman dials are one documented configuration among several.


==Core facts==
==Core facts==
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==Production outline==
==Production outline==


The Day-Date II launched at Baselworld 2008 alongside the Datejust II, and the 218235 ran with the generation to its 2015 discontinuation, when the Day-Date 40 arrived at 40mm and took the slot. Seven years is short by Day-Date standards, and it is the reason every 218235 sits inside a narrow date band.
The Day-Date II launched at Baselworld 2008 alongside the Datejust II, and the 218235 ran with the generation to its 2015 discontinuation, when the Day-Date 40 arrived at 40mm and took the slot. The catalogue window is shorter than the preceding 36 mm generation, but catalogue dates do not establish the exact production date of every case.


The whole run falls in or near Rolex's random-serial era. The company moved to scrambled serial numbers catalogue-wide in 2010, and documented Everose examples carry random serials with warranty cards dated 2012, 2014 and 2015. Rolex has published no production figure for the reference, and none has surfaced from any other quarter, so the honest position is that the 218235 is uncommon relative to the yellow-gold 218238 without a number to put behind the word.
The whole run falls in or near Rolex's random-serial era. The company moved to scrambled serial numbers catalogue-wide in 2010, and documented Everose examples carry random serials with warranty cards dated 2012, 2014 and 2015. Rolex has published no production figure for the reference, and none has surfaced from any other quarter, so the honest position is that the 218235 is uncommon relative to the yellow-gold 218238 without a number to put behind the word.
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==Movement notes==
==Movement notes==


The caliber 3156 is the Day-Date II's own movement and was used in nothing else. It is the caliber 3155 rebuilt for the larger case, with a main plate roughly 2.5mm wider than the 3155's, and it carries 31 jewels, a 28,800 vph beat, about 48 hours of reserve, double quickset for day and date, and COSC certification. The balance is Glucydur with Microstella regulating screws, the hairspring is the blue Parachrom, and the Paraflex shock system is fitted. Introduced with the generation in 2008, the 3156 was retired in 2015 and 2016 as the Day-Date 40 moved to the caliber 3255 and its 70-hour reserve.
The 3156 is the movement specified for the Day-Date II references in the reviewed technical sources. It is related to the 3155 but was adapted for the larger case. Published specifications give 31 jewels, a 28,800 vph beat, about 48 hours of reserve, double quickset for day and date, and chronometer certification. The balance is Glucydur with Microstella regulating screws, the hairspring is the blue Parachrom, and the Paraflex shock system is fitted. Introduced with the generation in 2008, the 3156 was retired in 2015 and 2016 as the Day-Date 40 moved to the caliber 3255 and its 70-hour reserve.


One caveat for anyone reading listings. The 218235 is occasionally advertised with a caliber 3155, the 36mm movement. Every specification source for the reference gives the 3156, and a 3155 in a 41mm Day-Date II case would be the wrong movement for the case, so treat the claim as a listing error rather than a variant. The [[Reference:Movements]] page carries the caliber lineage, and the [[Reference:218238|218238]] entry covers the 3156 in more depth.
One caveat for anyone reading listings. The 218235 is occasionally advertised with a caliber 3155, the 36mm movement. Every specification source for the reference gives the 3156, and a 3155 in a 41mm Day-Date II case would be the wrong movement for the case, so treat the claim as a listing error rather than a variant. The [[Reference:Movements]] page carries the caliber lineage, and the [[Reference:218238|218238]] entry covers the 3156 in more depth.
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The published dial-code roster for the Day-Date II runs to seventeen codes across the whole generation, four of them on the 218235. At least five further Everose layouts are documented in the market, which means the roster is a useful floor rather than a complete list. Anyone working from the codes alone will conclude that dials such as the black Arabic do not exist, and they do.
The published dial-code roster for the Day-Date II runs to seventeen codes across the whole generation, four of them on the 218235. At least five further Everose layouts are documented in the market, which means the roster is a useful floor rather than a complete list. Anyone working from the codes alone will conclude that dials such as the black Arabic do not exist, and they do.


Factory gem-setting matters more here than on most references. Everose Presidents attract aftermarket work, and diamond-paved dials, custom-set bezels and fully diamond-set President bracelets turn up on 218235 cases regularly. The better listings label this honestly, and the distinction is worth insisting on: a factory diamond or baguette dial is a Rolex configuration with a catalogue code behind it, while an aftermarket paved dial is jewellery added later that carries no Rolex warranty and reads differently in the market. The stone cut, the prong style and the evenness of the setting are the tells.
Factory and aftermarket gem-setting should be kept separate. A factory diamond or baguette dial is supported by a Rolex model code or strong catalogue record; an aftermarket dial, bezel, or bracelet requires separate disclosure and should not be assigned a factory code from appearance alone.


==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
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The case is 41mm in 18k Everose, roughly 12.1mm thick, with a sapphire crystal, a Cyclops over the date and a Twinlock screw-down crown, rated to 100m. The bezel is fluted, the format the Day-Date has worn since the 4-digit era, and on Everose the fluting catches light in a warmer register than on yellow gold.
The case is 41mm in 18k Everose, roughly 12.1mm thick, with a sapphire crystal, a Cyclops over the date and a Twinlock screw-down crown, rated to 100m. The bezel is fluted, the format the Day-Date has worn since the 4-digit era, and on Everose the fluting catches light in a warmer register than on yellow gold.


The 41mm proportions are the thing to try before buying. This is the largest case the Day-Date has ever used, and contemporaneous coverage of the generation read it as substantial, with wide lugs and a long profile that gives the watch more presence than any 36mm President. In Everose that presence is amplified, because pink gold reads warmer and heavier to the eye than yellow. Collectors are genuinely divided on it, and Rolex's own answer was to step back to 40mm in 2015.
The 41 mm case has broader proportions than the 36 mm Day-Date references. The 2015 successor moved to the 40 mm Day-Date 40 case; size comparisons should be made from the individual case and wrist fit rather than from collector preference.


==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
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===Everose and the chocolate dial===
===Everose and the chocolate dial===


The chocolate dial and the Everose case belong together, and the 218235 is where the pairing landed at 41mm. The combination arrived on the 36mm [[Reference:118235|118235]] and carried into the Day-Date II, where the larger dial gives the brown ground more room to shift under light. Chocolate with Roman markers is the configuration that defines the reference in the secondary market, and it is the layout most often reached for when the 218235 is described at all.
Chocolate Roman dials are documented on both the 36 mm [[Reference:118235|118235]] and the 41 mm 218235. They are one of the reference's catalogued layouts, alongside ivory, black, silver, pink, Arabic, wave, and gem-set examples.


===Gem-set and aftermarket examples===
===Gem-set and aftermarket examples===
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==Market and auction record==
==Market and auction record==


The Day-Date II's saleroom history belongs to the platinum [[Reference:218206|218206]]. Bonhams sold an ice-blue platinum example in London in June 2025 for £32,000, and the commissioned Gulf examples sit well above that. No 218235 lot surfaced in the research for this entry, though the searchable listings at the major houses cover upcoming sales rather than full archives, so that is a gap in the record rather than proof of absence. What is clear is that the Everose changes hands as a secondary-market watch rather than a saleroom one, which says nothing about desirability.
The reviewed auction evidence is stronger for the platinum [[Reference:218206|218206]] than for the 218235. No 218235 lot was confirmed in the records checked here; that is a research limit, not proof that no such lot exists. Dealer and certified-pre-owned listings are not a substitute for a complete auction census.


On the secondary market in 2026, plain factory-dial 218235s on the standard fluted bezel ask roughly USD 43,500 to 45,500, with the chocolate Roman at the upper end of that band. Factory baguette-diamond dials ask around USD 62,500. Rolex's own Certified Pre-Owned programme has carried an Everose 218235 at USD 50,750, which is the usual authorised-channel premium over the open market. Examples with aftermarket diamond dials, bezels and bracelets are asked at USD 65,000 to 68,000, and those figures should be read as the price of the stones rather than of the reference. Across the generation the Everose sits above the yellow-gold 218238 and below the platinum 218206.
On the secondary market in 2026, plain factory-dial 218235s on the standard fluted bezel ask roughly USD 43,500 to 45,500, with the chocolate Roman at the upper end of that band. Factory baguette-diamond dials ask around USD 62,500. Rolex's own Certified Pre-Owned programme has carried an Everose 218235 at USD 50,750, which is the usual authorised-channel premium over the open market. Examples with aftermarket diamond dials, bezels and bracelets are asked at USD 65,000 to 68,000, and those figures should be read as the price of the stones rather than of the reference. Across the generation the Everose sits above the yellow-gold 218238 and below the platinum 218206.
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== Related references ==
== Related references ==


* [[Reference:218239|Day-Date 218239]] — 2008–2015 — white gold Day-Date II
* [[Reference:218239|Day-Date 218239]]: 2008–2015 — white gold Day-Date II.
* [[Reference:218238|Day-Date 218238]] — 2008–2015 — yellow gold Day-Date II
* [[Reference:218238|Day-Date 218238]]: 2008–2015 — yellow gold Day-Date II.
* [[Reference:218206|Day-Date 218206]] — 2008–2015 — platinum Day-Date II
* [[Reference:218206|Day-Date 218206]]: 2008–2015 — platinum Day-Date II.
* [[Reference:118235|Day-Date 118235]] — 2005–2019 — the 36mm Everose President
* [[Reference:118235|Day-Date 118235]] — 2005–2019 — the 36mm Everose President
* [[Reference:118238|Day-Date 118238]] — 2000–2019
* [[Reference:118238|Day-Date 118238]]: 2000–2019.
* [[Reference:118208|Day-Date 118208]] — 2000–2019
* [[Reference:118208|Day-Date 118208]]: 2000–2019.


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]].
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]].
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