The history of the Rolex Day-Date

In 1956, Rolex introduced one of its most successful and beloved watches: the DAY-DATE. This was the first automatic wristwatch that was waterproof and displayed both the date and the day of the week spelt in full. The Day-Date was a groundbreaking innovation: it was the first watch to show the date at 3 o'clock and the day of the week at 12 o'clock.
According to a Rolex catalogue from 1963, the calendar was available in eleven languages. Those raised to 24, as reported in a 1979 Rolex brochure, and then to 25 by 1985. Today, Rolex Day-Date’s calendar is available in no less than 26 languages.
The President bracelet was specifically designed for this model: a three-piece, rounded-link bracelet, created in 1956 for the launch of the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date and made exclusively in 18-karat gold and platinum. The first versions of the Day-Date launched on the international market were the references 6510 and 6511...
You can learn all about the Day-Date models in the book “ROLEX DAY-DATE.”
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