Rolex Day-Date II 218206
Day-Date › 218206
The 218206 is the platinum Day-Date II, a 41mm model produced from 2008 to 2015. Rolex paired the platinum case with a smooth bezel, a platinum President bracelet and caliber 3156. The reference was followed by the 40mm 228206 in 2015.
Core facts
| detail | value |
|---|---|
| reference | 218206 |
| family | Day-Date (Day-Date II, 41mm) |
| production | 2008 to 2015 |
| movement | caliber 3156, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h, double quickset, Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex, COSC |
| case | 41mm 950 platinum |
| crystal | sapphire |
| bezel | smooth (domed) — the platinum Day-Date was not offered fluted in this generation |
| bracelet | platinum President with concealed Crownclasp |
| dial | ice-blue (glacier blue, platinum-only) in Roman, Arabic-numeral and diamond layouts; also rhodium, black, white |
| crown | Twinlock screw-down |
| predecessor | 18206 / 118206 (36mm platinum) |
| successor | 228206 (Day-Date 40, caliber 3255, from 2015) |
| siblings | 218238 (yellow gold), 218239 (white gold), 218235 (Everose), 218348 / 218349 (diamond) |
Where it sits in the line
The 218206 is the platinum member of the Day-Date II, the generation that scaled the President to 41mm from 2008 to 2015. It stands in a platinum lineage of its own, running from the 36mm 18206 of the 5-digit 18208 era through the 36mm 118206 to this 41mm reference, and on to the 40mm 228206 that replaced it. The yellow-gold Day-Date II is the 218238, with white gold the 218239, Everose the 218235, and factory diamond bezels on the gold 218348 and 218349. The cited 218206 records use a smooth bezel; Rolex introduced a fluted platinum Day-Date later, in 2023.
Production outline
The 218206 ran for the Day-Date II's full 2008–2015 life. The 41mm case defined the Day-Date II generation, which ended when the 40mm Day-Date 40 replaced it in 2015. The ice-blue dial appears in later examples, often dated around 2013, but Rolex has not published a serial boundary for the change. No production figure for the 218206 has surfaced.
Movement notes
The 218206 runs the caliber 3156, the 41mm derivative of the caliber 3155: 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, a roughly 48-hour reserve, double quickset for day and date, and COSC certification, with the Parachrom hairspring and Paraflex shock protection of the period. It is the same movement as the gold 218238, so what separates the two is the case metal and the dial. The Reference:Movements page holds the caliber lineage, and the 218238 entry covers the 3156 in detail.
Dial map
Rolex uses an ice-blue or glacier-blue dial on its platinum Day-Date models. The cited 218206 examples include concentric Roman, Arabic-numeral and diamond-set layouts. Auction catalogues also record rhodium, grey, black and white dials; these are individual configurations rather than a complete factory dial register. The deep dial taxonomy that spans the President line sits on the 1803 entry.
Case, bezel, crystal, and crown
The case is 41mm in 950 platinum, with a sapphire crystal and a Twinlock screw-down crown. The bezel is the smooth, gently domed platinum bezel; the fluting that the gold and Everose Day-Date II references carried was not offered on the platinum in this generation, and the platinum fluted bezel did not arrive until 2023. The 41mm case is larger than the 36mm President cases that preceded it.
Bracelets, end links, and clasps
The 218206 wears the platinum President bracelet, the three-piece semi-circular-link bracelet with the concealed Crownclasp, scaled to the 41mm case. The bracelet is solid platinum and contributes substantially to the watch's weight. 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
The Royal Khanjar
A platinum, diamond-set 218206 with an ice-blue dial was catalogued as delivered to the Diwan of the Royal Court in Oman around 2012. Sotheby's catalogued it with the royal Khanjar emblem engraved on the caseback, placing the 218206 at the modern end of the Gulf-commission tradition that runs back through the platinum 1831 and the 6612B "Lone Star."
Auction record
The cited auction record includes a 2025 Royal Khanjar lot whose result was not published, a standard ice-blue example sold by Antiquorum for CHF 45,000, and an ice-blue Arabic example sold by Bonhams for £32,000. These watches differ in dial, provenance and completeness, so the results should not be treated as a current price range or a general premium for any one configuration.
| date | house | configuration | result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sotheby's | platinum "Royal Khanjar", diamond-set, ice-blue, Oman, c.2012 | result not published |
| 2025 | Antiquorum Geneva, lot 768 | platinum, ice-blue dial, c.2008, full set | CHF 45,000 |
| 2025 | Bonhams London, lot 8 | platinum, ice-blue Arabic dial, c.2010 | £32,000 |
Related references
- Day-Date 218238, 2008–2015
- Day-Date 118235, 2005–2019
- Day-Date 118208, 2000–2019
- Day-Date 118239, 2000–2019
- Day-Date 118138, 2013–2019
- Day-Date 18208, 1988–2000
See also the Day-Date family index, movement reference, bracelet & clasp guide, and serial numbers by year.
Sources
- The Vintage Rolex Field Manual — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
- Bonhams Watches Department, "Bonhams 218206 Platinum c.2010 production-spec", Bonhams
- Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 218206 Day-Date II, platinum with ice-blue dial — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 768", Antiquorum, 2025
- Sotheby's Watches Department, "Sotheby's Origins 2025 — Day-Date II Royal Khanjar 218206 Sultan of Oman commission", Sotheby's, 2025
- Watchbase editorial, "Rolex Caliber 3156 — Watchbase Reference Entry", Watchbase
- Millenary Watches editorial, "Rolex Caliber 3156 — Millenary Watches", Millenary Watches
- aBlogtoWatch editorial, "Rolex Datejust II + Day-Date II Review", aBlogtoWatch
- Monochrome editorial, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Day-Date, The Presidential Watch", Monochrome Watches
- Watchbase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date II — Watchbase Reference List", Watchbase
- SwissWatchExpo editorial, "Rolex Day-Date: the platinum fluted bezel", SwissWatchExpo, 2023
- David SW, "Rolex 218206 Day-Date II Platinum with Ice Blue Concentric Roman Dial", David SW
- Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of the Rolex Day-Date", Italian Watch Spotter