One of Rolex's major new creations for 2024 includes the Day-Date 40, which is most impressive for the Everose gold 228235 with a gradient slate grey dial. However, this is really just the tip of the iceberg of the new Day-Date 40 facelift, as the brand has made a larger facelift for both the Day-Date 40 and Day-Date 36, and the aforementioned 228235 can already give a glimpse of some of the highlights of this year's innovations, but a closer look at the various new models in the Rolex Presidential Collection reveals that there are many more notable changes.
The following is a summary of the three major changes that must be known this year for the two sizes of Day-Date, and after reading it, you will have a deeper understanding of the new work in this series, rather than a sense of déjà vu, as if something has changed and nothing has changed.
▲左为旧式Day-Date 36、右为新式Day-Date 36，细看它们的罗马数字时标造型有变。
★Important change to Day-Date 1: 36mm Roman numerals have been updated
There are three types of current hour marker designs in the Day-Date series, namely rectangular hour markers, Roman numeral hour markers, and luxurious diamond-encrusted hour markers, among which the 36mm is equipped with Roman numeral hour markers, and the previous style with Day-Date 40 Roman numeral hour markers presents a dual-track system, and the 40mm Roman numeral hour markers belong to the new style (the first time it was used back to 2015) design, but the previous 36mm Roman numeral hour markers are still the design of the previous generation, and there is no synchronization between the two. It wasn't until 2024 that Rolex finally introduced the late Roman numerals into the 36mm model. The old and new designs were originally in the form of three-dimensional inlays (the old-fashioned Roman numerals are also printed), but the new design emphasizes the three-dimensional sense, and the hour markers themselves have three-dimensional facets, such as VI, VIII, X and other numbers will have a sense of overlapping, which is not the same as the flat style of the previous generation of hour markers, and the design with a little extension line at the upper and lower ends of the numbers.
▲Day-Date 40 has more slate gray, green and blue gradient dishes this year.
★Day-Date important change 2: 40mm increase gradient dial design
This part is represented by the 228235 mentioned above, Rolex has added a gradient plate that has become popular in high-end brands in recent years in addition to the sunburst pattern and lacquer, so we can see that the Everose gold model of the Day-Date 40 has added a slate gray gradient, the yellow gold model has a green gradient, and the white gold and platinum models have also added a blue gradient for the market to choose from. In the past, there were gradient dials on the Day-Date, but at that time Rolex was applied to the Day-Date 36, and the gradient dials were often paired with diamond hour markers, and now the Day-Date 40 also "reversely" draws the gradient dial elements from the 36mm model, and matches them with Roman numerals, which gives the watch a subtle visual novelty, and it is a very pertinent move for collectors.
▲Day-Date 40 This year, whether it is white gold, yellow gold, Everose gold or platinum, there are new mother-of-pearl plate options.
★Day-Date重要变化三：40mm加入珍珠母贝搭配钻石时标组合
This year, Day-Date 40 not only added a gradient plate, but also a mother-of-pearl plate, which seems to echo the Daytona series. In the case of the Day-Date 40 228239 (white gold), for example, this is the first new attempt to introduce mother-of-pearl in this combination of sizes and materials. In addition to the white gold version, the Day-Date 40 is available in yellow, Everose and platinum with a mother-of-pearl dial this year, which is basically a pair of diamonds, and collectors can also consider whether they want a fluted bezel or a diamond-set bezel straight up.
These are the three must-know innovations for the 2024 Rolex Day-Date collection, none of which are overall, some of them are already in another size, but they are also familiar to the brand, because their watch designs are already mature, classic and deeply ingrained, even if they are only tweaked in small places, enough to attract interest in new watches. It should be noted that although this new batch of Day-Dates will be announced at the 2024 Geneva Watch and Wonder Exhibition, because they are all precious metal cases, when Rolex raised prices for the second time in June, these Day-Dates also immediately followed up again, such as the 228235 of the gradient slate gray dial, the price has increased by about 4% from the price when the show was first announced, and the purse has to be slimmed down a little when buying a watch.