Rolex Platinum Day-Date 40 with NEW fluted bezel - 228236
This is the big-daddy of the Day-Dates.
A new release model in 40mm, platinum, with ice blue dial and roman numerals.
Rolex call this a “biographical piece” and state quite firmly that won’t take an “expression of interest”. In other words, unless you’ve purchased the equivalent of a small country with them already - no chance.
The heavy metal giveaway on these watches is always the ice blue dial which is reserved solely for Rolex platinum pieces. If you see a white gold or steel Rolex sporting an ice blue dial.. its aftermarket.
Ice blue is reserved for the cream of the precious metal crop.
Platinum is an incredible metal to wear and own. It has a silvery whiteness to it that is fairly instantly recognisable and much brighter than white gold. Its also exceptionally dense which creates an unmistakable weight on the wrist. It is also one of the purest metals comprising of 95% platinum and 5% cobalt.
One of the most interesting properties of platinum is that despite being a precious metal it is exceptionally durable, more so than gold. The difference between the two is the way that each metal behaves when scratched, and lets face it, if you wear and love a watch, its going to get scratches.
When you scratch or mark platinum, what you’re actually doing is displacing the metal. It simply moves aside in a furrow without loss. Sounds like a disaster, but with a gold counterpart, you’ll lose metal to scratches and over time (a lot of time, granted) the surface will eventually wear down.
Not so with platinum, the amount you get, is pretty much the amount you’ll be left with despite scuffs and marks. It is much more robust which is why its considered to be boss level precious metal.
I add the caveat here that you’ll damage any metal if it suffers a dramatic accident, but in that case id hope you’d be more concerned about your wrist than the watch.
The ice blue dial matches perfectly with the silvery finish of platinum and the way the whole piece works together as it shifts in the light is just, perfect. It is absolute cool in every sense.
If theres one thing that Rolex does exceptionally well its knowing how and where to match dial colours to metal. Ice blue and platinum is one example of this, the other that immediately comes to mind is the olive dial of the Everose Day-Date which is a much warmer pairing and also works exceptionally well.
The bracelet is the default President” which is has been hanging gloriously from Day-Dates since 1956. It is absolutely iconic and sports a concealed clasp so that you don’t lose any of the luxuriously draped effect.
The Day-Date is often referred to as “The Rolex President” due to being regularly in favour with political figures of the last century when “gifting” was much more politically permissible than it is today.