Reference:1811: Difference between revisions

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Day-Date › 1811

The 1811 in yellow gold with a blue dial: the Morellis (moiré) finish on the bezel and the President bracelet's center links

The 1811 is the Morellis-finish Day-Date. It uses the 36mm gold case and caliber 1555/1556 family shared with the fluted 1803, with a watered or moiré texture on the bezel and documented President bracelet center links. The finish places it with the decorated four-digit Day-Date references, including Florentine 1806 and bark 1807. Collector and auction descriptions use Morellis, moiré, and related terms; the reference number and construction remain the basis for attribution.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	1811
family	Day-Date
production	late 1960s into the 1970s (4-digit era)
movement	caliber 1555 (to c. 1965), then caliber 1556; hacking from 1972; no quickset
case	36mm 18k gold President : yellow, white, pink/rose gold
crystal	acrylic
bezel	Morellis (moiré) finish
bracelet	President with Morellis-finished center links
dial	the 4-digit Day-Date catalogue, shared with the 1803
crown	Twinlock screw-down
sibling references	1803 (fluted), 1804 (gem-set), 1806 (Florentine), 1807 (bark)
predecessor	originals-era 6610 / 6611 / 6612 cluster
successor	5-digit 18xxx era

Where it sits in the line

The 1811 is one of the 1803's decorated siblings, the group that split the 4-digit Day-Date by surface finish, on a shared case and movement. The 1803 took the fluted bezel, the 1804 a gem-set bezel, the 1806 the Florentine cross-hatch, the 1807 the coarse bark, and the 1811 the Morellis moiré. Each carried its texture onto the bezel and, on the 1806, 1807 and 1811, onto the bracelet center links so the finish ran the length of the watch.

Collector and trade listings use both Morellis and moiré for the texture, and some listings conflate it with Florentine. The case, bracelet, movement, and dial should be assessed together; the 1803 entry covers the shared four-digit lineage.

Production outline

Documented 1811 examples date from the late 1960s and 1970s and use caliber 1555 or 1556. Rolex does not publish a production total or sales history for the reference. The textured finish is not the same as the bark treatment used on later references such as the 18078.

Movement notes

The 1811 uses the four-digit Day-Date movement family. Reference material places caliber 1555 before caliber 1556, with 19,800 vph on the later movement; hacking was added during 1556 production. Four-digit Day-Date references do not have a quick-set day/date mechanism. Exact fitment should be checked from the movement and case evidence. The Reference:Movements page holds the caliber lineage, and the 1803 entry covers the 1555-to-1556 transition in detail.

Dial map

The 1811 used dials from the four-digit Day-Date catalogue. Auction descriptions document champagne, silver, and special dial configurations, including a champagne dial described as Doorstop. Dial choice is shared across the group and is not, by itself, an 1811 identifier.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The Morellis grain up close: textured bezel and bracelet center links against polished outer links
A yellow gold Morellis 1811 with a champagne dial

The case is the 36mm three-piece gold Oyster shared across the 4-digit Day-Date, with a Twinlock screw-down crown, screw-down caseback and acrylic crystal. The defining feature is the Morellis finish on the bezel, a fine watered moiré, finer than both the Florentine cross-hatch of the 1806 and the coarse bark of the 1807. It came in yellow, white and pink gold to match the case.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

Documented 1811 examples use President bracelets with textured center links. Service or replacement bracelets can have plain links, so original fitment should be checked against the bracelet, clasp, case, and provenance. A clasp date dates the bracelet, not the watch head.

Special branches

The decorated 4-digit references

The decorated four-digit group includes Florentine 1806, bark 1807, and Morellis 1811 treatments. Because the finishes can be confused or altered, attribution should use the reference number between the lugs, case construction, bracelet, and provenance.

Auction record

The Morellis 1811 appears in the cited auction records as an occasional lot. Those records do not establish a complete production total. Antiquorum sold a yellow-gold example in New York on 8 December 2016 (Lot 211): a 1967 piece, cal. 1556, satiné silver dial, 36mm case on a President bracelet with textured center links, complete with its original Chronometer Certificate and booklet. The catalogue text calls the bezel finish "moiré crosshatch," which is the primary-source confirmation behind the collector "Morellis" name. Estimated at USD 8,000-12,000, it sold for USD 17,500.

A second Antiquorum lot, Hong Kong, 28 May 2022 (Lot 211), catalogues a yellow-gold example from around the same period: case no. 1,672,343 by Genex of Geneva, cal. 1555, on a President bracelet the lot text describes as "hammered" rather than moiré. Both lots record a second number stamped alongside 1811 on the caseback (1803 in the 2016 lot, 1601 in the 2022 lot), without further explanation in the catalogue text. Whether "hammered" and "moiré crosshatch" are two words for the same texture or mark a genuine sub-variant is not settled by these two lots alone. Estimated at HKD 95,000-144,000, the piece sold for HKD 115,000.

The bracelet is part of the provenance and originality assessment in both lots; replacement or service links can change the configuration.

Morellis 1811
Morellis finish and bracelet
Champagne dial example

Related references

Day-Date 1803 : Fluted President (1960–1977)
Day-Date 1804
Day-Date 1806
Day-Date 1807
Day-Date 1831
Day-Date 6510 : 1956–1957

Sources

Wikipedia: Rolex Day-Date — family chronology
Rolex Day-Date technical material — current family terminology
Christie's decorated Day-Date catalogue — comparison for Florentine finish and bracelet evidence

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex 1811 Day-Date}}
 {{#seo:
-|title=Rolex 1811 Day-Date — Morellis (Moiré) Finish President &#124; Rolexopedia
+|title=Rolex 1811 Day-Date : Morellis (Moiré) Finish President &#124; Rolexopedia
 |description=The 1811 is the Morellis (moiré) finish 4-digit Day-Date: a fine watered texture on the bezel and President bracelet center links, the rarest of the decorated trio with the Florentine 1806 and bark 1807. 36mm 18k gold, caliber 1555/1556.
 |keywords=Rolex 1811, Day-Date, Morellis finish, moiré, President, 1803, 1806, 1807, caliber 1556
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 </div>
-The 1811 is the Morellis-finish Day-Date. It is a 4-digit President built on the same 36mm gold case and caliber 1555/1556 movement as the fluted [[Reference:1803|1803]], set apart by a fine watered texture, the moiré or "Morellis" finish, on the bezel and the President bracelet's center links. The finish belongs to the same late-1960s fashion for decorated gold that produced the Florentine 1806 and the bark [[Reference:1807|1807]]. The Morellis is the rarest and least-seen of the three, made in small numbers and easy to misread, which is why it turns up in listings under several different names.
+The 1811 is the Morellis-finish Day-Date. It uses the 36mm gold case and caliber 1555/1556 family shared with the fluted [[Reference:1803|1803]], with a watered or moiré texture on the bezel and documented President bracelet center links. The finish places it with the decorated four-digit Day-Date references, including Florentine 1806 and bark [[Reference:1807|1807]]. Collector and auction descriptions use Morellis, moiré, and related terms; the reference number and construction remain the basis for attribution.
 ==Core facts==
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 |-
 | case
-| 36mm 18k gold President — yellow, white, pink/rose gold
+| 36mm 18k gold President : yellow, white, pink/rose gold
 |-
 | crystal
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 The 1811 is one of the 1803's decorated siblings, the group that split the 4-digit Day-Date by surface finish, on a shared case and movement. The 1803 took the fluted bezel, the 1804 a gem-set bezel, the 1806 the Florentine cross-hatch, the [[Reference:1807|1807]] the coarse bark, and the 1811 the Morellis moiré. Each carried its texture onto the bezel and, on the 1806, 1807 and 1811, onto the bracelet center links so the finish ran the length of the watch.
-The naming is where the 1811 gets slippery. Collector and trade usage settles on "Morellis" for the watered moiré texture, while some listings call it Florentine and conflate it with the 1806. Everything else is 1803: the 36mm gold case, the President bracelet, the caliber 1555/1556 movement and the dial catalogue all carry over, and the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry holds the full account.
+Collector and trade listings use both Morellis and moiré for the texture, and some listings conflate it with Florentine. The case, bracelet, movement, and dial should be assessed together; the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry covers the shared four-digit lineage.
 ==Production outline==
-The Morellis 1811 ran through the late 1960s and into the 1970s alongside the plain 1803, in small numbers. No Rolex production figure has surfaced, and like the other textured references it sold slowly when new, which makes it scarce today. Documented examples cluster in the late 1960s on the caliber 1555 and run into the 1970s on the caliber 1556. The decorated-finish references faded as taste returned to polished and fluted gold, and the texture did not carry into the 5-digit era the way the bark did on the [[Reference:18078|18078]].
+Documented 1811 examples date from the late 1960s and 1970s and use caliber 1555 or 1556. Rolex does not publish a production total or sales history for the reference. The textured finish is not the same as the bark treatment used on later references such as the [[Reference:18078|18078]].
 ==Movement notes==
-The 1811 uses the standard 4-digit Day-Date movement, caliber 1555 from the start of the run and caliber 1556 from around 1965. The 1556 raised the beat to 19,800 vph through a gear-train change, carrying over the free-sprung Microstella balance of the 1555; hacking seconds were added to the caliber mid-production in 1972. No 4-digit Day-Date has quickset, so date and day advance only by running the hands through midnight. The [[Reference:Movements]] page holds the caliber lineage, and the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry covers the 1555-to-1556 transition in detail.
+The 1811 uses the four-digit Day-Date movement family. Reference material places caliber 1555 before caliber 1556, with 19,800 vph on the later movement; hacking was added during 1556 production. Four-digit Day-Date references do not have a quick-set day/date mechanism. Exact fitment should be checked from the movement and case evidence. The [[Reference:Movements]] page holds the caliber lineage, and the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry covers the 1555-to-1556 transition in detail.
 ==Dial map==
-The 1811 carried the standard 4-digit Day-Date dials, champagne and silver with applied gold markers most common, and as a catalogue sibling of the 1803 it could take the same special dials. A champagne "Doorstop"-dial 1811 is among the documented examples. The Morellis finish is what defines the reference; dial choice is shared across the 4-digit group, and the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry carries the variant taxonomy.
+The 1811 used dials from the four-digit Day-Date catalogue. Auction descriptions document champagne, silver, and special dial configurations, including a champagne dial described as Doorstop. Dial choice is shared across the group and is not, by itself, an 1811 identifier.
 ==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==
@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 ==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==
-The 1811 wears the President with the Morellis finish carried onto the bracelet's center links, so the moiré runs unbroken from the bezel down the length of the bracelet. As with any vintage President, a clasp date code dates the bracelet, which may be older or newer than the head, and the [[Reference:Bracelets]] page holds the cross-family bracelet detail. Decades of service often replaced textured center links with plain ones, so an 1811 that keeps its full original Morellis bracelet is the harder thing to find.
+Documented 1811 examples use President bracelets with textured center links. Service or replacement bracelets can have plain links, so original fitment should be checked against the bracelet, clasp, case, and provenance. A clasp date dates the bracelet, not the watch head.
 ==Special branches==
@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 ===The decorated 4-digit references===
-The decorated 4-digit group is the Florentine 1806, the bark [[Reference:1807|1807]] and the Morellis 1811, each replacing the 1803's fluting with a worked surface carried from the bezel onto the bracelet center links. Because the textures are easy to mistake for one another, attribution rests on the reference number engraved between the lugs.
+The decorated four-digit group includes Florentine 1806, bark 1807, and Morellis 1811 treatments. Because the finishes can be confused or altered, attribution should use the reference number between the lugs, case construction, bracelet, and provenance.
 ==Auction record==
-The Morellis 1811 shows up at auction now and then rather than as a regular fixture, in line with its small production. Antiquorum sold a yellow-gold example in New York on 8 December 2016 (Lot 211): a 1967 piece, cal. 1556, satiné silver dial, 36mm case on a President bracelet with textured center links, complete with its original Chronometer Certificate and booklet. The catalogue text calls the bezel finish "moiré crosshatch," which is the primary-source confirmation behind the collector "Morellis" name. Estimated at USD 8,000-12,000, it sold for USD 17,500.
+The Morellis 1811 appears in the cited auction records as an occasional lot. Those records do not establish a complete production total. Antiquorum sold a yellow-gold example in New York on 8 December 2016 (Lot 211): a 1967 piece, cal. 1556, satiné silver dial, 36mm case on a President bracelet with textured center links, complete with its original Chronometer Certificate and booklet. The catalogue text calls the bezel finish "moiré crosshatch," which is the primary-source confirmation behind the collector "Morellis" name. Estimated at USD 8,000-12,000, it sold for USD 17,500.
 A second Antiquorum lot, Hong Kong, 28 May 2022 (Lot 211), catalogues a yellow-gold example from around the same period: case no. 1,672,343 by Genex of Geneva, cal. 1555, on a President bracelet the lot text describes as "hammered" rather than moiré. Both lots record a second number stamped alongside 1811 on the caseback (1803 in the 2016 lot, 1601 in the 2022 lot), without further explanation in the catalogue text. Whether "hammered" and "moiré crosshatch" are two words for the same texture or mark a genuine sub-variant is not settled by these two lots alone. Estimated at HKD 95,000-144,000, the piece sold for HKD 115,000.
-An original Morellis bracelet carries much of the value in both cases, since service swaps to plain links are common on surviving examples.
+The bracelet is part of the provenance and originality assessment in both lots; replacement or service links can change the configuration.
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
+Ref 1811 hero.webp|Morellis 1811
+Ref 1811 morellis detail.webp|Morellis finish and bracelet
+Ref 1811 champagne dial example.webp|Champagne dial example
+</gallery>
 == Related references ==
-* [[Reference:1803|Day-Date 1803]] — Fluted President (1960–1977)
+* [[Reference:1803|Day-Date 1803]] : Fluted President (1960–1977)
 * [[Reference:1804|Day-Date 1804]]
 * [[Reference:1806|Day-Date 1806]]
 * [[Reference:1807|Day-Date 1807]]
 * [[Reference:1831|Day-Date 1831]]
-* [[Reference:6510|Day-Date 6510]] — 1956–1957
+* [[Reference:6510|Day-Date 6510]] : 1956–1957
 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]].
 == Sources ==
+* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolex_Day-Date Wikipedia: Rolex Day-Date] — family chronology
+* [https://www.rolex.com/watches/day-date Rolex Day-Date technical material] — current family terminology
+* [https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/watches-online-dubai-edit/rolex-rare-gold-oyster-perpetual-day-date-florentine-finish-case-86/115989 Christie's decorated Day-Date catalogue] — comparison for Florentine finish and bracelet evidence
-* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
+* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' : Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
 * [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/ Sotheby's editorial, "The Rolex Day-Date: A Complete Collector's Guide", Sotheby's]
-* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/rolex-day-date-historical-overview-of-rolexs-flagship/ Fratello editorial, "Rolex Day-Date — Historical Overview Of Rolex's Flagship", Fratello Watches]
+* [https://www.fratellowatches.com/rolex-day-date-historical-overview-of-rolexs-flagship/ Fratello editorial, "Rolex Day-Date : Historical Overview Of Rolex's Flagship", Fratello Watches]
 * [https://watchbase.com/blog/2015/02/21/rolex-day-date-history WatchBase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date History", WatchBase, 2015-02-21]
 * [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.thebeautifulwatch.com/blogs/news/a-brief-history-of-the-rolex-day-date The Beautiful Watch editorial, "A Brief History of the Rolex Day-Date", The Beautiful Watch]
-* [https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2010/09/1956-very-first-rolex-day-date.html Jake Ehrlich, "1956 — The Very First Rolex Day-Date", Rolex Magazine (Jake's Rolex World), 2010-09]
+* [https://www.rolexmagazine.com/2010/09/1956-very-first-rolex-day-date.html Jake Ehrlich, "1956 : The Very First Rolex Day-Date", Rolex Magazine (Jake's Rolex World), 2010-09]
 * [https://ottuhr.com/index/rolex/day-date-president/rolex-day-date-1803/ Ottuhr editorial, "Rolex Day-Date 1803 Reference Report", Ottuhr]
-* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=679606 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums — 1803 Presidential Unusual Finishes", Rolex Forums]
+* [https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=679606 Rolex Forums community, "Rolex Forums : 1803 Presidential Unusual Finishes", Rolex Forums]
 * [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-1811-1803-lot-304-211 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 1811/1803, moiré crosshatch finish", Important Watches & Jewelry, New York, 2016-12-08, Lot 211]
 * [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-1811-1601-oyster-perpetual-day-date-superlative-chronometer-officially-certified-lot-351-211 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 1811/1601, hammered finish", Hong Kong, 2022-05-28, Lot 211]