Passions Watch Exchange

About This Watch

Vintage. Comes with a Rolex box set and no papers.

This is the real deal. What you are looking at is the ultre-rare Rolex Day-Date 1803 with the Stella pie-pan dial in turquoise with diamond hour markers. This configuration featuring two baguettes for the quarters and brilliant-cut for the rest is known as A-dial under factory code. It does not have the bracelet, no quick-set calendar except days and plastic crystal. A 1967 watch by production nos.

It is fitted with the genuine factory supplied Stella dial with tritium and you may read up more on such dials from WatchTime here and A Collected Man here.

We acquired this watch from our friend in Chicago some twenty years ago which explains the Italian calendar on it. Imagine some fifty years ago, an ever dapper Italian American would've purchased this from a Rolex dealer and strap it on his wrist with one of the most flamboyant coloured Rolex in white gold no less.

For an interesting read on the relationship between Italians living in Chicago, please read here & here.

Watch was polished once so lugs are thick and has some light wear to the case while the fluted bezel remains untouched and sparkles. There are no deep gashes nor dents except for a tiny ding on the edge of the bottom @ 10 o'clock to the case but nothing else to be of concern. The movement works flawlessly.

This is possibly the only such watch in the region and do be aware of fakes as the value and popularity of these Stella dials rise dramatically, there will be unscrupulous dealers who would attempt to deceive while others would simply commission new colours known as Custom dials just for the fun of it to be different. Our watch here was acquired two decades ago before Stella dial was known and we have sold several such dials for under S$1000 before anyone knew what they were. Their history, rarity and value of these quirky dials were only discovered in recent years by collectors and researchers.

And unless you have been living away from internet then you would know the recent auction of the Patek Philippe Tiffany & Co Nautilus featuring the Tiffany Blue dial was sold for a staggering US$6.5million by Phillips 2 weeks ago. Elsewhere, the prices of steel Rolex Oysters OP36 & 41mm with the Tiffany Blue dial has risen to a maddening S$120,000 making our original here looking quite like a bargain and in white gold.

This is the first known version of Rolex making such a colour on their dials. Our watch is the Tipo Uno, Mark 1 of the series. The next were the Turqouise stone dial watches then made famous by the Millennium edition white gold Daytona known as the Beach Blue and the current base OP models with those colourful dials. We are pleased to share this watch with you for viewing pleasure.