Rolex 118238 Day-Date

Day-Date › 118238

The 118238 is the yellow-gold Day-Date 36 of the six-digit generation, documented from 2000 through about 2019. It keeps caliber 3155 and double quickset from the late 18238 period while changing the case and bracelet: broader polished lugs, solid centre links, and a concealed Crownclasp. Later examples add a Parachrom hairspring and an engraved rehaut. The 128238 replaced it with caliber 3255 in 2019.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	118238
family	Day-Date
production	2000–about 2019
movement	caliber 3155, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h power reserve, double quickset (day + date both independent)
case	36mm 18k yellow gold President, fluted bezel
crystal	sapphire
crown	Twinlock screw-down
bracelet	President with solid centre links + concealed Crownclasp
sister refs	118239 white gold, 118235 Everose, 118205 Everose Oyster smooth, 118206 platinum, 118138 / 118135 / 118139 leather (2013)
predecessor	18238
successor	128238 (cal 3255, 2019)

Where it sits in the line

The 118238 is the yellow-gold fluted member of the six-digit Day-Date generation. The 18238 carried the 36 mm Day-Date through the 1990s with the same caliber family. The 118238 has broader polished lugs, solid centre links, and a concealed Crownclasp.

The 118238 uses caliber 3155, as did late 18238 examples, with double quickset for the day and date. The caliber number alone therefore does not separate the two references; bracelet and case details are more useful when identifying an individual watch.

The 118 generation covers the full Day-Date metal range:

118238: 18k yellow gold, fluted bezel, President bracelet.
118239: 18k white gold, fluted bezel, President bracelet.
118235: 18k Everose gold, fluted bezel, President bracelet; introduced with the Everose range in the mid-2000s.
118205: 18k Everose gold, smooth bezel, Oyster bracelet.
118206: 950 platinum, smooth domed bezel, President bracelet.
118138: 18k yellow gold, fluted bezel, leather strap; catalogued from 2013.
118135: 18k Everose gold, fluted bezel, leather strap; catalogued from 2013.
118139: 18k white gold, fluted bezel, leather strap; catalogued from 2013.

The cited catalogues do not list 118288 or 118289. Those numbers are often confused with the 18288 and 18289 Tridor-era references; an individual listing needs its case and papers checked.

The platinum 36 mm Day-Date in this generation is the 118206, with a smooth domed bezel. The 118208 is the yellow-gold smooth-bezel reference; listings that mix the two should be checked against the case and dial.

Some secondary sources stop the 118238 at 2009. That date conflicts with later catalogued examples and the 2019 transition to the 128238. Serial format is a dating clue, not proof of a reference's production end.

Production outline

2000 — Basel launch

The 118 generation appeared around 2000. The 118238, 118239, and 118206 cover yellow gold, white gold, and platinum; the Everose 118235 followed later. Compared with the 18238, the documented case and bracelet changes include broader lugs, polished flanks, and solid centre links.

2005 — Parachrom Blu hairspring rollout

Rolex introduced the blue Parachrom hairspring across the catalogue from about 2005. Later 118238 examples can carry it, but the cited sources do not establish a transition serial for this reference.

2006-2007 — engraved rehaut

The engraved rehaut appears on 118238 production around 2006–07. Sources differ on the exact introduction date; by the later 2000s it is common. Earlier watches place the serial between the lugs, while later watches show it on the inner ring.

2010 — random scrambled serial rollover

Rolex moved from letter-prefix serials to random alphanumeric serials around 2010. The 118238 spans that change, so the serial format helps date an example but does not replace caseback, rehaut, and paperwork checks.

2013 — leather-strap subset

The 2013 range added 118138, 118135, and 118139 Day-Date 36 references on leather straps with deployant clasps. Catalogues show several strap and dial combinations; the cited catalogues do not establish how common the subset was.

2019 — discontinuation

The 128238 replaced the 118238 around 2019 with caliber 3255, a longer stated power reserve, and the Superlative Chronometer specification. The exact final delivery date for an individual 118238 should be checked against its papers and serial evidence.

Movement notes

Caliber 3155 carried over from the late-run 18238 and provides double quickset.

Specifications:

28.5mm × 6.0mm
31 jewels
28,800 vph / 4 Hz
Approximately 48-hour power reserve
Double quickset (day and date both advance independently via the crown)
Hacking seconds
Free-sprung Microstella balance
KIF Elastor shock absorbers
Nivarox hairspring on early production; Parachrom Blu hairspring on late production (rolled out from 2005)
COSC chronometer certified on earlier examples; later examples may carry Rolex's tighter Superlative Chronometer specification

Rolex introduced the tighter ±2 seconds-per-day Superlative Chronometer standard in the mid-2010s. It is a production-period and certification question, not a guarantee for every serviced 3155; check the watch's certificate and movement history.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown notes

The 118238 keeps the 36mm three-piece Oyster case. Compared with the 18238, documented changes include broader fully polished lugs, whereas the 18238 has narrower lugs with brushed sides, and solid bracelet centre links that add weight.

Inner caseback stamped with the reference and quarter-year Roman-numeral lot codes. Outer caseback engraved with the Rolex crown.

The fluted bezel is carved from solid 18k yellow gold. The 118239 carries white-gold fluted, 118235 Everose fluted, 118205 Everose smooth-domed paired with Oyster bracelet, and 118206 platinum smooth-domed.

The documented 118238 uses a Twinlock screw-down crown; a replacement crown should be checked against the individual case and service record.

The crystal is sapphire, continuing from the 18038 generation. Day-Date examples with engraved rehauts appear from approximately 2006 or 2007 and are common in later production. The ring repeats “ROLEX” around the inner edge with the serial number at six o'clock; pre-2010 examples generally carry letter-prefix serials, while later examples use random alphanumeric strings.

Bracelet, end-links, clasp

President bracelet with solid centre links, the visible 18238-to-118238 bracelet upgrade. The President's three-piece semicircular construction continues from the 1803 generation; the centre link goes from hollow on the 18238 to solid on the 118238, and the bracelet weight increases proportionally. The clasp moves from the visible folding configuration of the late-1990s 18238 to the concealed Crownclasp, which hides the entire folding mechanism under the centre link. The Rolex coronet appears on the closed clasp cover.

The 118238 bracelet belongs to the Rolex production period of the reference. Clasp date codes date the bracelet component, not the watch head; a service or replacement bracelet can carry a later code.

Dial variants

Documented dials include stick or Roman-numeral indices on champagne, silver, white, and black grounds, along with mother-of-pearl, diamond-set, and selected stone dials. The surviving catalogues do not establish a complete production sequence. Examples include:

Silver luminescent stick, documented standard modern dial.
White "anniversary" Roman, 50th-anniversary Day-Date-line dial introduced approximately 2006.
Champagne stick and champagne Roman, both documented standard layouts.
Mother-of-pearl, with and without diamond hour markers.
Decorated mother-of-pearl, with guilloché or floral patterns on the MOP ground.
Diamond-paved dial, factory pavé Day-Date dial, occasional production-period examples.
Stone dials, documented case by case.
Black dials with age-related color change, which should be separated from an original factory dial.

Tritium is not expected on this post-1998 reference. Later dials use Super-LumiNova or Chromalight markings, but the lume material and service history should be checked on the individual dial.

118238 champagne dial with diamond hour markers

Serial-year correlation

The 118238 production straddles Rolex's 2010 serial-system rollover. Pre-2010 letter-prefix serials follow the catalogue-wide chart:

prefix K: 2001
prefix Y: 2002
prefix F: 2003–04
prefix D: 2005–06
prefix Z: 2006–07
prefix M: 2007–08
prefix V: 2008–09
prefix G: around 2010 (final letter prefix)
random scrambled: late 2010 onward

Later 118238 examples use random rehaut-engraved serials. The serial format helps narrow a date, but the transition was not a single reference-specific cutoff and should be cross-checked with the case, rehaut, and documents.

Auction record

The lots below provide dial, bracelet and provenance details. Their prices belong to those individual watches and do not define a general market range.

date	house and lot	documented configuration	result
circa 2004	Bonhams, lot 152	Silvered sunburst dial with diamond hour markers and diamond bezel; 83208 President bracelet	£16,575 including premium
circa 2009	Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 1331	Champagne Jubilee dial with round and baguette diamond indexes	HK$153,600 (estimate HK$110,000–200,000)

The case prefixes in these two catalogues are F and V. They are consistent with the catalogued dates, but serial prefixes date the case approximately and do not prove original dial or bracelet fitment.

Special branches

Tiffany & Co. double-signed

Double-signed Tiffany examples are reported in the 118238 era, especially in late-2000s material. The signature should be checked against the dial, case, papers, and the documented retailer history; the article does not infer a general price multiple.

Diplomatic / royal-gift commissions

Modern Day-Date 36s also appear in diplomatic and regional-market records, including Oman and Gulf-market commissions. Those inscriptions are provenance claims that require watch-specific documentation.

Related references

Day-Date 118208: 2000–2019
Day-Date 218206: 2008–2015
Day-Date 218238: 2008–2015
Day-Date 118235: 2005–2019
Day-Date 118138: 2013–2019
Day-Date 18208: 1988–2000

118238 yellow-gold Day-Date 36
Champagne dial with diamond markers