Rolex Day-Date 18248
Day-Date › 18248
The 18248 is the bark-finish Day-Date of the caliber 3155 era and the successor to the caliber 3055 bark 18078. Its yellow-gold bezel and bracelet centre links carry the coarse vertical "bark" texture, called écorce in French, while caliber 3155 allows independent setting of both the day and date. It is generally dated from 1988 to about 2000. The diamond-bezel reference in this generation is 18348; a watch's reference, case, bezel, and provenance should be checked together. Auction records also document the 18248 with several special dials.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 18248 |
| family | Day-Date |
| production | 1988 to about 2000 |
| movement | caliber 3155, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, double quickset (day and date), ~48h, COSC |
| case | 36mm 18k yellow gold President |
| crystal | sapphire |
| bezel | bark (écorce) finish |
| bracelet | President 8385 with bark-finished centre links, hidden Crownclasp, solid links |
| lume | tritium ("T SWISS MADE T") for most of the run, Luminova near 2000 |
| dial | champagne and silver stick; ferrite/meteorite, dégradé Stella, onyx and hardstone, Roman, diamond-set |
| crown | Twinlock screw-down |
| siblings | 18238 (fluted), 18239 (white-gold fluted), 18249 (white-gold bark), 18348 (diamond bezel), 18346 (platinum diamond) |
| predecessor | 18078 (caliber-3055 bark) |
| successor | 118xxx 6-digit Day-Date generation |
Where it sits in the line
The 18248 is the bark member of the caliber-3155 Day-Date generation and the textured sibling of the fluted 18238. The 18348 has a factory diamond bezel, while 18248 and 18249 are the yellow- and white-gold bark references. Case, movement, crystal, bracelet, and dial fitment should be checked on each watch; the bark texture follows the treatment used on the 18078.
Production outline
The 18248 is generally dated from 1988 to about 2000. Rolex does not publish reference-level production totals or a complete change register. Auction and specialist examples show tritium-marked dials and later non-tritium service or delivery configurations; dial, case, bracelet, and movement should be inspected individually.
Movement notes
The 18248 runs the caliber 3155, the double-quickset Day-Date movement: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, a roughly 48-hour reserve and COSC certification, with both the day and the date set from the crown. That double quickset is the substantive advance over the 18078, whose caliber 3055 quicksets only the date and leaves the day to be advanced by running the hands. The 3155 was used across the fluted and bark references of this generation and continued into later Day-Date references, with individual service history still relevant. The Reference:Movements page holds the caliber lineage, and the 18238 entry covers the 3155 in detail.
Dial map
Documented examples include champagne or silvered stick dials, ferrite or meteorite-effect dials, blue dégradé Stella dials, onyx and hardstone dials, wood-effect dials with Chinese-calendar displays, Roman dials, and diamond-set configurations. These are catalogue and auction observations, not a complete factory dial list. The dial taxonomy that spans the whole President line sits on the 1803 entry.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
The case is the 36mm yellow-gold Oyster used across the caliber-3155 Day-Date generation, with sapphire crystal, Cyclops, Twinlock crown, and screw-down caseback. The bark texture is worked into the bezel and, on documented examples, the bracelet centre links; caseback markings and polished or textured surfaces should be checked on the individual watch.
Bracelets, end links, and clasps
Documented 18248 examples use a President bracelet with bark-finished centre links and concealed clasp. Bracelet reference, clasp date, link construction, and service history should be checked separately from the watch head; replacement plain links are possible.
Special branches
Bark with an exotic dial
Auction descriptions often distinguish 18248 examples by case finish and dial combination. Ferrite, meteorite-effect, Stella, onyx, hardstone, and wood-effect dials appear in the cited records; no complete reference-wide dial census is asserted.
Auction record
The cited auction table records individual 18248 examples with different dials and results. Condition, originality, bracelet completeness, provenance, venue, and currency affect each result; no current reference-wide price range or ranking is asserted here.
| date | house | configuration | result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Christie's Hong Kong, lot 2337 | wood-effect dial, Chinese calendar | HKD 214,200 |
| 2023 | Phillips Geneva XVII, lot 148 | ferrite Roman dial | CHF 31,750 |
| 2022 | Sotheby's Cologne | diamond-set onyx dial, Arabic 6/9 | result not published |
| 2020 | Sotheby's Hong Kong, lot 103 | blue dégradé Stella diamond dial | result not published |
| 2017 | Sotheby's Geneva, lot 317 | blue Stella dial | CHF 12,500 |
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Bark 18248 -
Blue Stella dial -
Onyx dial
Related references
- Day-Date 18208 : 1988–2000
- Day-Date 18238 : 1988–2000
- Day-Date 18348 : 1988–2000
- Day-Date 19018 : Oysterquartz President (1977–2001)
- Day-Date 18028 : 1977–1988
- Day-Date 18038 : Cal 3055 President (1977–1988)
See also the Day-Date family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Rolex Day-Date — family chronology
- Rolex Day-Date technical material — current family terminology
- Christie's 18248 wood-effect dial catalogue — individual auction evidence
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual : Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
- Phillips, "Rolex Ref. 18248 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with ferrite Roman dial : Phillips Geneva Watch Auction XVII, lot 148", Phillips, 2023
- Christie's, "Rolex Ref. 18248 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with wood-effect Chinese-calendar dial : Christie's Hong Kong, lot 2337", Christie's, 2024
- Sotheby's, "Rolex Ref. 18248 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with blue dégradé Stella diamond dial : Sotheby's Watches Weekly, Hong Kong, lot 103", Sotheby's, 2020
- Sotheby's, "Rolex Ref. 18248 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with diamond-set onyx dial : Sotheby's Cologne, Fine Jewels, Watches & Handbags", Sotheby's, 2022
- Sotheby's, "Rolex Ref. 18248 Day-Date, 18k yellow gold bark with blue Stella dial : Sotheby's Important Watches, Geneva, lot 317", Sotheby's, 2017
- Sotheby's editorial, "The Rolex Day-Date: A Complete Collector's Guide", Sotheby's
- Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of the Rolex Day-Date", Italian Watch Spotter
- WatchBase, "Rolex caliber 3155 (registry page)", WatchBase
- Fratello editorial, "Exploring Evergreens: The Rolex Day-Date 18238", Fratello Watches
- Monochrome editorial, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Day-Date, The Presidential Watch", Monochrome Watches
- WatchBase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date History", WatchBase, 2015-02-21