Rolex 218235 Day-Date II

A checked version of this page, approved on 27 September 2026, was based on this revision.

Day-Date › 218235

Rolex Day-Date II 218235 in Everose gold with the chocolate Roman dial, the reference's signature configuration. Produced 2008 to 2015 on the caliber 3156.

The 218235 is the Everose-gold Day-Date II, the 41 mm generation produced from 2008 until the 2015 transition to the Day-Date 40. It uses caliber 3156, a fluted Everose bezel, and an Everose President bracelet. Rolex introduced its Everose alloy in the 2000s; the archived model material identifies the 218235's case and bracelet as 18 ct Everose gold. Chocolate Roman dials are one documented configuration among several.

Core facts

detail	value
reference	218235
family	Day-Date (Day-Date II, 41mm)
production	2008 to 2015
movement	caliber 3156, 31 jewels, 28,800 vph, ~48h power reserve, double quickset, COSC chronometer
case	41mm 18k Everose gold Oyster, about 12.1mm thick
crystal	sapphire with Cyclops
bezel	fluted Everose
crown	Twinlock screw-down
bracelet	Everose President, three semi-circular links, concealed Crownclasp
water resistance	100m
dial	chocolate Roman the signature; ivory, black and silver Roman, black Arabic, chocolate wave Arabic, and factory diamond and baguette layouts
metal	Everose, Rolex's fade-resistant 18k pink gold (introduced 2005)
siblings	218238 (yellow gold), 218239 (white gold), 218206 (platinum), 218348 / 218349 (factory diamond bezel)
36mm counterpart	118235, which ran alongside rather than being replaced
successor	228235 (Day-Date 40, caliber 3255, from 2015)

Where it sits in the line

The 218235 is the warm-metal entry in the Day-Date II, the 2008 generation that took the President from 36mm to 41mm. Yellow gold is the 218238, white gold the 218239, platinum the 218206 with its smooth bezel and ice-blue dial, and factory diamond bezels sit on the 218348 and 218349. Everose gets the same fluted bezel as the other gold references and the same caliber; the metal is the whole difference.

One point is easy to get wrong. The 41mm Everose did not replace the 36mm Everose. The 118235 stayed in the catalogue until 2019, so for the whole life of the 218235 a buyer could walk into a dealer and choose between two Everose Presidents in two sizes. The Day-Date II was an addition to the range, and when it was dropped in 2015 the 36mm carried on. That makes the 218235 a seven-year window inside a much longer Everose run, and it is the only period in which the alloy was offered at this size.

Production outline

The Day-Date II launched at Baselworld 2008 alongside the Datejust II, and the 218235 ran with the generation to its 2015 discontinuation, when the Day-Date 40 arrived at 40mm and took the slot. The catalogue window is shorter than the preceding 36 mm generation, but catalogue dates do not establish the exact production date of every case.

The whole run falls in or near Rolex's random-serial era. The company moved to scrambled serial numbers catalogue-wide in 2010, and documented Everose examples carry random serials with warranty cards dated 2012, 2014 and 2015. Rolex has published no production figure for the reference, and none has surfaced from any other quarter, so the honest position is that the 218235 is uncommon relative to the yellow-gold 218238 without a number to put behind the word.

Movement notes

The 3156 is the movement specified for the Day-Date II references in the reviewed technical sources. It is related to the 3155 but was adapted for the larger case. Published specifications give 31 jewels, a 28,800 vph beat, about 48 hours of reserve, double quickset for day and date, and chronometer certification. The balance is Glucydur with Microstella regulating screws, the hairspring is the blue Parachrom, and the Paraflex shock system is fitted. Introduced with the generation in 2008, the 3156 was retired in 2015 and 2016 as the Day-Date 40 moved to the caliber 3255 and its 70-hour reserve.

One caveat for anyone reading listings. The 218235 is occasionally advertised with a caliber 3155, the 36mm movement. Every specification source for the reference gives the 3156, and a 3155 in a 41mm Day-Date II case would be the wrong movement for the case, so treat the claim as a listing error rather than a variant. The Reference:Movements page carries the caliber lineage, and the 218238 entry covers the 3156 in more depth.

Dial map

Silver Roman dial, the coolest-toned of the plain Everose layouts.
Black Arabic dial on Everose. The layout is documented on the market but does not appear in the published Day-Date II dial-code roster.

The Everose 218235 was offered across a wider spread of dials than its short run suggests, and the documented layouts split into plain-marker dials and factory gem-set ones.

dial	markers	code where documented	notes
chocolate	Roman	218235-0035	the signature Everose pairing and the most recognised 218235
ivory	Roman	218235-0033	the lightest of the plain dials
black	Roman	218235-0034	Everose applied markers and hands
pink	diamond	218235-0008	factory diamond hour markers on a pink ground
silver	Roman	not in the published roster	documented on the market
black	Arabic	not in the published roster	documented on the market
chocolate wave	Arabic	not in the published roster	wave-pattern ground, an Everose reading of a Day-Date II dial texture
black	baguette diamond	not in the published roster	factory baguette markers, the top of the standard-bezel range
pink	Roman	not in the published roster	the warmest of the plain layouts

The published dial-code roster for the Day-Date II runs to seventeen codes across the whole generation, four of them on the 218235. At least five further Everose layouts are documented in the market, which means the roster is a useful floor rather than a complete list. Anyone working from the codes alone will conclude that dials such as the black Arabic do not exist, and they do.

Factory and aftermarket gem-setting should be kept separate. A factory diamond or baguette dial is supported by a Rolex model code or strong catalogue record; an aftermarket dial, bezel, or bracelet requires separate disclosure and should not be assigned a factory code from appearance alone.

Case, bezel, crystal, and crown

The case is 41mm in 18k Everose, roughly 12.1mm thick, with a sapphire crystal, a Cyclops over the date and a Twinlock screw-down crown, rated to 100m. The bezel is fluted, the format the Day-Date has worn since the 4-digit era, and on Everose the fluting catches light in a warmer register than on yellow gold.

The 41 mm case has broader proportions than the 36 mm Day-Date references. The 2015 successor moved to the 40 mm Day-Date 40 case; size comparisons should be made from the individual case and wrist fit rather than from collector preference.

Bracelets, end links, and clasps

The 218235 wears the Everose President, the three-piece semi-circular-link bracelet scaled up to the 41mm head, with the concealed Crownclasp that shows only the coronet on the closed cover. In solid Everose it accounts for a large share of the watch's weight. As with any President, a clasp date code dates the bracelet rather than the watch head, and a bracelet can be older or newer than the case it is on. The cross-family detail sits on Reference:Bracelets.

Special branches

Everose and the chocolate dial

Chocolate Roman dials are documented on both the 36 mm 118235 and the 41 mm 218235. They are one of the reference's catalogued layouts, alongside ivory, black, silver, pink, Arabic, wave, and gem-set examples.

Gem-set and aftermarket examples

Factory black baguette-diamond dial, the top of the standard fluted-bezel range.
Factory pink diamond dial, catalogued as 218235-0008. Factory gem-setting carries a Rolex dial code; aftermarket stones do not.

Everose 218235s appear with factory diamond and baguette dials and, separately, with aftermarket stones on the dial, bezel and bracelet. The two are worth keeping strictly apart. Factory gem-set dials such as the pink diamond and the black baguette configurations are catalogue variants and trade as Rolex product. Aftermarket-set examples ask higher numbers than plain factory watches, but that premium is the value of the stones and the labour rather than the value of the reference, and it does not follow the watch through a knowledgeable sale.

Market and auction record

The reviewed auction evidence is stronger for the platinum 218206 than for the 218235. No 218235 lot was confirmed in the records checked here; that is a research limit, not proof that no such lot exists. Dealer and certified-pre-owned listings are not a substitute for a complete auction census.

On the secondary market in 2026, plain factory-dial 218235s on the standard fluted bezel ask roughly USD 43,500 to 45,500, with the chocolate Roman at the upper end of that band. Factory baguette-diamond dials ask around USD 62,500. Rolex's own Certified Pre-Owned programme has carried an Everose 218235 at USD 50,750, which is the usual authorised-channel premium over the open market. Examples with aftermarket diamond dials, bezels and bracelets are asked at USD 65,000 to 68,000, and those figures should be read as the price of the stones rather than of the reference. Across the generation the Everose sits above the yellow-gold 218238 and below the platinum 218206.

Related references

Day-Date 218239: white-gold Day-Date II, 2008–2015.
Day-Date 218238: yellow-gold Day-Date II, 2008–2015.
Day-Date 218206: platinum Day-Date II, 2008–2015.
Day-Date 118235 — 2005–2019 — the 36mm Everose President
Day-Date 118238: 2000–2019.
Day-Date 118208: 2000–2019.