Rolex releases video on the 36mm Day-Date in 950 platinum

The 1956 origins of the Day-Date

According to the channel description accompanying the video, the Day-Date has been part of the Rolex catalogue since 1956. When it was introduced, it was the first wristwatch to show the day of the week spelt out in full alongside the date display.

From its introduction, the model has been produced solely in precious metals. The watch is paired with the President bracelet, which was created for this line.

Platinum case and calibre 3255

The watch shown in the November 2026 video features a 36mm case made from 950 platinum. Inside the case is the Rolex calibre 3255. No specific reference number is named in the video description.

What the serial can tell you

On a Rolex watch, the serial number is engraved on the rehaut, the inner bezel ring, at 6 o'clock on pieces made since about 2008, and appears on the warranty card. On watches made before about 2008, it is found between the lugs at 6 o'clock under the bracelet end link, having also appeared on the rehaut from 2005. The reference number sits between the lugs at 12 o'clock under the bracelet, on the warranty card, and on the rehaut since the mid-2000s on some models.

Rolex serial numbers fall into three eras in published tables, which are compiled from dealer charts by Barrington Watch Winders, BeckerTime, Bob's Watches, ECI Jewelers, Omega Forums, and watchexchange.sg because Rolex publishes no official serial-number list. The first era uses a five-to-seven-digit numeric serial up to 1987, and the second uses a letter prefix from R to G followed by six digits from 1987 to spring 2010. In both of those earlier eras, the serial dates the case rather than the sale, and where dealer charts such as Bob's Watches and BeckerTime disagree on numeric boundaries or shift letter boundaries by up to a year, the table shows both values.

Since 2010, Rolex has used random eight-character serials combining digits and letters, though sources disagree on whether this third era began in 2009, spring 2010, or around 2011. Because Rolex assigns these random serials in no date order, no year can be derived from the serial number of a modern Day-Date, leaving the warranty card as the only source of the date. If a reference number from the Day-Date family is entered alongside a serial, a cross-check can compare the serial's era or years with the reference's production years.