A Birthday Present to Itself: 1945

Rolex was founded in 1905, and for its 40th anniversary in 1945 it launched the Oyster Perpetual Datejust. Rolex describes it as the first self-winding, waterproof chronometer wristwatch to show the date in a window at 3 o'clock, and that is where the name comes from. It brought together the three things Rolex had spent two decades perfecting: the waterproof Oyster case, the self-winding Perpetual rotor, and certified chronometer precision. Then it added something new: the date.

It is hard to picture now, when nearly every watch shows the date, but in 1945 a self-winding chronometer that told you the date in a neat little window was a real novelty. The first Datejust was reference 4467, made in 18 ct yellow gold. Rolex designed a new bracelet just for it: the Jubilee. Its five-piece links, two larger satin-finished links on either side of three smaller polished ones, were created to celebrate those 40 years. That is why the bracelet on Mandy's watch is called the Jubilee. It was literally an anniversary present.

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The Details That Became Rolex's Signature

Look closely at the date on Mandy's watch and you'll see the Cyclops, the small bubble lens that magnifies it. Rolex says it introduced the lens in 1953 to make the date easier to read, and by the mid-1950s it sat over the Datejust's date window. It began as plastic and is now virtually scratchproof sapphire with an anti-reflective coating. Today it is so closely tied to Rolex that it may be the brand's most recognisable single feature.

The fluted gold bezel started out as a working part. Rolex says the fluting appeared on the original 1926 Oyster so the bezel could be screwed tightly onto the case to keep water out. Since 1953 the bezel has been friction-fitted instead, so the ridges are no longer needed, but they stayed because they catch light so well. Today, in 18 ct gold, they are pure signature. Mandy's watch is Yellow Rolesor, a name Rolex trademarked in 1933 for pairing steel with gold: Oystersteel for the case, yellow gold for the bezel, crown, and the bracelet's centre links.

The silver dial with Roman numerals is one of the Datejust's most classic looks, and Mandy's version adds a quiet touch of sparkle with diamonds set into the VI. It is a nice example of how the Datejust works as a family. The basic recipe has barely changed since 1945, but the choice of metals, bezels, dials, and bracelets lets each one feel personal.

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A Datejust for Women, and the 31mm in Between

In 1957 Rolex introduced the Lady-Datejust, starting with reference 6517 in yellow gold. It brought the full Datejust recipe into a smaller case: waterproof, self-winding, chronometer-certified, with the date in a window. It was not a jewellery watch with a token movement. It was a real Rolex made smaller, and that was its whole point. Today the Lady-Datejust measures 28mm, and it is still the brand's smallest watch with a date.

Between the small Lady-Datejust and the traditional 36mm Datejust sits the 31mm size, long known among collectors as the mid-size. Rolex now calls it the Datejust 31 and treats it as part of the Datejust family, with its own case, dials, and bracelets. Rolex says this model has carried calibre 2236 since 2018. That is a self-winding movement Rolex developed and makes in-house, with a patented Syloxi silicon hairspring designed to stay regular in any position and to resist shocks, and about 55 hours of power reserve.

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On Famous Wrists

Rolex's own history says that soon after the launch, founder Hans Wilsdorf offered Sir Winston Churchill a Datejust. Churchill chose a rose gold model engraved with his coat of arms on the back. In 1951 Rolex marked its 150,000th certified chronometer by giving it to General Dwight D. Eisenhower: a yellow gold Datejust, reference 6305, on a gold Jubilee. The caseback is engraved with five stars for his rank, his initials, and 12-19-1950, the date he was named NATO Supreme Commander. He became President two years later. When the watch was offered at auction in 2014, it failed to reach its reserve at a top bid of $475,000.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wore a gold Datejust on a Jubilee bracelet, and photographs show it with him at key moments of the civil rights era. Rolex names him among the Datejust's notable wearers. Among women, the closest connection is oceanographer Sylvia Earle, a Rolex Testimonee since 1982 who has led pioneering deep-sea expeditions and is one of the trailblazing women Rolex celebrates through the Lady-Datejust. The story of Rolex and remarkable women goes back even further, to swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, who wore an early Oyster across the English Channel in 1927.

How Rolex Makes It

Rolex is unusual in how much it makes itself. The steel in Mandy's case is Oystersteel, Rolex's own alloy from the 904L family, which it says it has used since 1985. The yellow gold is 18 ct, cast in Rolex's own foundry in Geneva, so the company controls the alloy from molten metal to the finished part. The diamonds in the VI are set by hand: Rolex's gem-setters carve a seat in the gold for each stone, then align and secure it.

The Jubilee is built from those two large satin-finished outer links and three smaller polished centre links, a mix of fluidity and strength Rolex says took years to get right. Once assembled, every watch is tested as a finished watch, not just as a movement, to Rolex's Superlative Chronometer standard: precision of about -2/+2 seconds a day, plus checks on waterproofness, self-winding, and power reserve. Each watch carries an international five-year guarantee.

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Why the Datejust Matters

When people picture a watch, the image is often something very close to a Datejust: a round case, a clean dial, a date at 3 o'clock, a bit of gold catching the light. Rolex calls it the epitome of the classic watch. It has stayed in production for more than 80 years without losing its basic shape, which makes it one of the longest-running designs in modern watchmaking, and the Datejust and Lady-Datejust are among the most varied lines in Rolex's collection, so there is a version for almost every wrist and taste.

Rolex does not publish sales figures, but the Datejust is widely seen as the backbone of the brand; one industry estimate reported by Bob's Watches put it at about a quarter of Rolex's 2024 production. That popularity, and the fact that it never goes out of style, is a big reason Datejusts tend to hold their value well on the pre-owned market, though prices still move with the market. Above all, it is a watch made to be worn every day for decades and then handed down, which is exactly what so many families have done.