There’s a New Rolex President in Town That Wants Everyone’s Vote

For Baselworld 2019, Rolex unveiled the latest generation of its famed President watch with a new Day-Date 36 collection, complete with a new movement and new dial executions. With these new models, it’s clear that Rolex is further blurring gender lines and jumping right into the unisex watch trend by going after both a male and female audience.

New Engine for the Latest Generation Rolex Day-Date 36

The new crop of Day-Date 36 models marks a new chapter in the six-decade history of the Rolex President. While these timepieces still retain the traditional 36 mm Oyster cases, duo of calendars on the dial, and iconic semi-circular President bracelets, Rolex has equipped them with its latest Caliber 3255.

As some of you may remember, the self-winding Caliber 3255 made its debut in the then-new Day-Date 40 collection in 2015. This new Rolex day-date movement differs from the preceding Caliber 3155 (introduced in 1988) in several ways. First, it offers an increased power reserve of 70 hours compared to the previous 48 hours. Also, Cal. 3255 benefits from Rolex’s patented Chronergy escapement, which offers better protection against magnetism and shocks, in addition to better precision. As a result, Rolex now guarantees a precision rating of −2 /+2 seconds per day for the new Day-Date 36 models—twice that required of an official chronometer.

New Dials and Diamond Treatments for the Latest Generation Rolex Day-Date 36 

Style-wise, Rolex celebrated the revealing of the new Day-Date 36 watches with plenty of color, gemstones, and even some semi-precious stone dials. As is tradition, the new Rolex President watches are available in yellow gold, rose gold, and white gold. Each metal is paired with a wide assortment of dial options. Some standout ones include the “ombré” dials with a concentric gradient colorway, the turquoise stone dial, and of course, the diamond pavé dials with rainbow-colored baguette-cut sapphire hour markers.

It’s interesting to note that almost all of the new Day-Date 36 models include some type of diamond embellishments—whether that’s in the form of indexes, gem-set bezels, or bracelet adornments. Thankfully, for those who prefer a more understated approach to Rolex President watches, there are still a couple of non-diamond Day-Date 36 watches in the current catalog with classic champagne or silver dials housing simpler baton indices. We also won’t be surprised if Rolex continues to add more non-gem-set versions to the lineup in the near future.

It’s no secret that Day-Date 36 watches were once predominately marketed as men’s watches—which, we would like to point out, did not deter women from wearing them in the slightest! But now, Rolex is obviously positioning the latest generation Day-Date 36 watches as ones that can be enjoyed by both genders without being boxed in by unnecessary labels.