Reference:118389

A checked version of this page, approved on 25 September 2026, was based on this revision.

Day-Date → 118389

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.

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

detail	value
reference	118389
family	Day-Date 36
documented examples	2003, circa 2006, and 2018; these are example dates, not production bounds
case	36 mm, 18k white gold
bezel and lugs	Diamond-set; Rolex’s 2011 list specifies 52 bezel diamonds and 32 diamonds on the lugs
movement	caliber 3155; 31 jewels, automatic, day and date
crystal	Sapphire, with Cyclops date magnifier
bracelets listed	73209 or 73859 Oyster; 83209 President; 84209 diamond-set President
crown	Screw-down

Where it sits in the line

The 118389 shares its bezel-and-lug setting with yellow-gold reference 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 118239. The list establishes catalogue specifications; the auction records below describe particular watches.

reference	metal	bezel	lugs
118388	18k yellow gold	Diamond-set	Diamond-set
118389	18k white gold	Diamond-set	Diamond-set

Production outline

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 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

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.

Dial map

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.

Lapis lazuli dial with diamond markers
Paved dial with blue Arabic numerals
Mother-of-pearl dial with a diamond-set centre

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

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.

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.

Bracelets and clasps

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.

118389 on a diamond-set President bracelet
118389 on an Oyster bracelet

Clasp codes date the bracelet, not the watch head. For bracelet construction and clasp details, see Reference:Bracelets.

Notable example

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.

Auction record

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.

Related references

Day-Date 118388, yellow gold, diamond-set bezel and lugs
Day-Date 118239, white gold, plain bezel
Day-Date 118238, yellow gold, plain bezel
Day-Date 118235, Everose gold, plain bezel
Day-Date 118208, yellow gold, fluted bezel
Day-Date 1804, earlier diamond-bezel Day-Date

Gallery

White-gold 118389 with meteorite dial
Lapis lazuli dial
Paved dial with blue Arabic numerals
Mother-of-pearl carousel dial
Diamond-set President bracelet
Oyster bracelet

Sources