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	{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 18039}}		{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 18039}}
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	\|title=Rolex Day-Date 18039 — White Gold President, 1977–1988		\|title=Rolex Day-Date 18039 — White Gold President, Cal 3055, 1977–1988 \| BezelBase
	\|description=The Rolex 18039 is the white-gold fluted 5-digit Day-Date President — caliber 3055, sapphire crystal, circa 1977-1988. White-gold sibling of the 18038, with Stella, wood and dégradé dials and the two-tone Tridor 18039B.		\|description=The Rolex 18039 is the white-gold fluted 5-digit Day-Date President — caliber 3055, sapphire crystal, circa 1977-1988. White-gold sibling of the 18038, with Stella, wood and dégradé dials and the two-tone Tridor 18039B.
	\|keywords=Rolex 18039, Day-Date 18039, white gold President, Tridor, 18039B, caliber 3055, 5-digit Day-Date, Stella dial Day-Date		\|keywords=Rolex 18039, Day-Date 18039, white gold President, Tridor, 18039B, caliber 3055, 5-digit Day-Date, Stella dial Day-Date
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Admin: Trim non-canonical categories to match the Day-Date corpus

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Trim non-canonical categories to match the Day-Date corpus

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	[[Category:Day-Date]]		[[Category:Day-Date]]
	~~[[Category:working-draft]]~~
	~~[[Category:References]]~~

Admin: Import reference 18039 article

2026-08-10T00:40:55Z

Import reference 18039 article

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Day-Date 18039}}
{{#seo:
|title=Rolex Day-Date 18039 — White Gold President, 1977–1988
|description=The Rolex 18039 is the white-gold fluted 5-digit Day-Date President — caliber 3055, sapphire crystal, circa 1977-1988. White-gold sibling of the 18038, with Stella, wood and dégradé dials and the two-tone Tridor 18039B.
|keywords=Rolex 18039, Day-Date 18039, white gold President, Tridor, 18039B, caliber 3055, 5-digit Day-Date, Stella dial Day-Date
|image=Ref 18039 hero.webp
|image_alt=White gold Rolex Day-Date 18039 with fluted bezel and diamond-index dial
|type=Article
|og_type=article
|robots=index,follow,max-image-preview:large
|titlemode=replace
}}
<small>[[Reference:day-date|Day-Date]] -> '''18039'''</small>

The 18039 is the white-gold 18038. Same 36mm President case, same caliber 3055, same sapphire crystal and fluted bezel, and in the 5-digit Day-Date numbering the closing digit is what separates them: 8 for yellow gold, 9 for white. Rolex built it from 1977 to 1988 and sold far fewer than the yellow-gold version, partly because a white-gold Day-Date reads as steel from any distance. That restraint is most of its appeal now. The examples collectors chase pair the quiet case with something loud on the dial — red Stella lacquer, a green dégradé, a wood veneer — or come from the two-tone Tridor branch Rolex numbered 18039B.

[[File:Ref 18039 hero.webp|thumb|right|340px|alt=White gold Rolex Day-Date 18039 with fluted bezel and diamond-index dial|Rolex Day-Date 18039 in 18k white gold: fluted bezel, diamond-index dial, white-gold President bracelet.]]

==Core facts==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! detail
! value
|-
| reference
| 18039
|-
| family
| Day-Date
|-
| production
| circa 1977 to 1988
|-
| movement
| caliber 3055, 27 jewels, 28,800 vph, single quickset (date); hacking seconds
|-
| case
| 36mm 18k white gold President, roughly 13mm thick
|-
| crystal
| sapphire with Cyclops
|-
| bezel
| fluted white gold (yellow gold on the 18039B Tridor)
|-
| bracelet
| President 8385 in white gold, concealed Crownclasp; three-colour Tridor on the 18039B
|-
| dial
| silver and charcoal baton, copper, wood, green dégradé, red Stella, diamond-index, onyx
|-
| crown
| Twinlock screw-down
|-
| siblings
| 18038 (yellow-gold fluted), 18028 (smooth), 18048 / 18049 (diamond), 18078 / 18079 (bark)
|-
| predecessor
| 1803
|-
| successor
| 18239 (caliber 3155, double quickset)
|}

==Where it sits in the line==

The first 5-digit Day-Date generation splits twice: once by bezel finish, once by metal. Finish gives the smooth [[Reference:18028|18028]], the fluted [[Reference:18038|18038]], the factory-diamond [[Reference:18048|18048]] and the bark [[Reference:18078|18078]]. Metal gives the closing digit. Phillips put the rule in a catalogue essay for a white-gold bark example: the last digit of the reference, in that case a 9, indicates 18k white gold. So the 18039 is the fluted 18038 in white gold, the [[Reference:18049|18049]] the diamond-bezel version, the [[Reference:18079|18079]] the bark, with platinum taking a 6.

Everything behind the metal is 18038. Antiquorum catalogued a 1981 example as the successor to the [[Reference:1803|1803]], with the same single quickset that defines the generation, and the [[Reference:18038|18038]] entry carries the shared account of the case, the movement and the bracelet. What white gold changes is the audience. A yellow-gold President announces itself; the 18039 does not, and buyers who wanted a Day-Date without the announcement bought this one.

==Production outline==

The 18039 arrives with the rest of the 180XX group in 1977, when sapphire crystals and the caliber 3055 replaced the acrylic-and-1556 4-digit references, and runs until 1988 and the arrival of the caliber 3155. Sotheby's dates the generation's introduction to 1977 in its catalogue notes; Antiquorum gives the same year for the 18039 specifically.

Documented case numbers track the run cleanly. Antiquorum has catalogued white-gold examples at 5,257,859 and 5,302,014 around 1977 to 1978, 5,507,421 in a set whose punched warranty records a German retail sale in November 1980, 6,724,084 around 1981, 6,739,240 in 1981, 7,522,088 in 1983, 8,651,110 in 1985 and 9,586,820 in 1986. No Rolex production figure has surfaced for the reference, and the scarcity collectors talk about rests on how seldom it appears rather than on factory data.

One sub-reference sits inside the run. Antiquorum catalogues the two-tone Tridor watches as 18039B and states they were produced for only three years, from 1985 to 1988, though the same house has dated Tridor examples to circa 1984, so the opening of that window is soft.

==Movement notes==

The 18039 runs the caliber 3055, the first quickset Day-Date movement: 27 jewels, 28,800 vph, rhodium-plated with oeil-de-perdrix decoration, a free-sprung Microstella balance, hacking seconds and chronometer certification. The quickset works on the date only. The day still has to be walked round by running the hands through midnight, and it stays that way until the caliber 3155 and its double quickset arrive in 1988. Nothing about the movement changes for white gold. The [[Reference:Movements]] page holds the caliber lineage and the [[Reference:18038|18038]] entry covers the 3055 in detail.

==Dial map==

[[File:Ref 18039 stella.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=White gold Rolex 18039 with red Stella lacquer dial|A 1983 white-gold 18039 with a red Stella lacquer dial and diamond indexes — the reference at its loudest, and its strongest auction result.]]

White gold gave Rolex a neutral ground, and the dials it carried run from severe to loud.

The everyday configurations are silvered and charcoal-grey with applied white-gold baton indexes, which is what Antiquorum catalogued on the 1981 example that anchors the reference's standard specification. Diamond-index dials on light grounds are common enough to count as a second standard. Colour turns up from the start of the run: a copper-toned dial on a circa-1977 example, and a green dégradé with diamond indexes on a circa-1978 example that took HKD 300,000 in Hong Kong in 2021 against an estimate a fraction of that.

[[File:Ref 18039 wood dial.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=White gold Rolex 18039 with wood dial and German day disc|A circa-1978 wood-dial 18039 with a German day disc, sold with its original box, booklets and punched warranty.]]

Two branches carry the reference's reputation. Wood dials appear early, and Antiquorum sold a circa-1978 wood-dial 18039 complete with box, booklets and a punched warranty from a German retailer, its day disc printed in German. Red Stella lacquer is the other, and it appears twice in the auction record: a circa-1977 example with diamond indexes catalogued as an Oman-market dial, and a 1983 example with a diamond-set red Stella that is the strongest documented result for the reference.

The Tridor watches carry their own dial roster, covered below. The dial taxonomy that spans the whole President line sits on the [[Reference:1803|1803]] entry.

==Case, bezel, crystal, and crown==

The case is the 36mm three-body white-gold Oyster shared across the 5-digit Day-Date, catalogued at roughly 13mm thick, with polished and brushed surfaces, curved lugs, a screw-down caseback, a Twinlock screw-down crown and a sapphire crystal with Cyclops. The bezel is fluted, cut from solid white gold on the standard reference.

White gold is the diagnostic that matters and the one that gets missed. A polished white-gold Day-Date is easy to mistake for steel or for a Rolesor Datejust at a glance, so hallmarks, the case number between the lugs and the weight do the work. A complete white-gold 18039 on its President bracelet has been weighed at 137 grams, well above what a steel watch of the same size would read.

==Bracelets, end links, and clasps==

The standard fitment is the white-gold President 8385 with the concealed Crownclasp and the solid links of the 5-digit era. As with any President, a clasp date code dates the bracelet rather than the watch head, and decades of service can put a later bracelet on an earlier case; the cross-family detail sits on [[Reference:Bracelets]].

The Tridor bracelet is the exception and the reason the 18039B exists. Antiquorum describes Tridor as Rolex's trademark for bonding three colours of gold in stripes for bracelet use, and on these watches it means a President whose centre links fuse white, yellow and pink gold, worn with a white-gold case and a yellow-gold bezel. A Tridor 18039B that has lost its Tridor bracelet has lost the point of the reference; one such watch, sold in Geneva in 2013 on a plain gold-plated buckle, brought a small fraction of what the complete examples bring.

==Special branches==

===The Tridor 18039B===

[[File:Ref 18039 tridor.webp|thumb|right|250px|alt=Rolex Day-Date 18039B Tridor with black onyx dial and three-colour bracelet|An 18039B "Tridor" with a black onyx dial: white-gold case, yellow-gold bezel, and a President bracelet whose centre links fuse white, yellow and pink gold.]]

The B suffix marks the Tridor. Antiquorum catalogues these as 18039B alongside the base reference 18000, describes the combination as a white-gold case with a yellow-gold bezel on a three-colour Tridor President bracelet, and dates the run to 1985 through 1988. The dials lean decorative: a matte champagne with applied radial yellow-gold Roman numerals, a Silver Jubilee ground set with eight round and two baguette diamonds, a midnight-blue with ten round diamond indexes, and a black onyx with an Italian day disc sold new by Gobbi in Milan in December 1986. Antiquorum has also offered a Tridor with baguette-cut sapphire, ruby and emerald hour markers, in a three-watch lot that paired two 18039B examples with the caliber-3155 18239B that replaced them.

===Language discs and export markets===

The day disc is where the 18039's export trail shows. Documented examples carry German and Italian day wheels alongside the English standard, and the red Stella example catalogued as an Oman dial places the reference in the Gulf special-order tradition that runs through the [[Reference:1804|1804]] and the [[Reference:18048|18048]]. A language disc reflects the market the watch was sold into, not a separate reference.

==Auction record==

The 18039 trades in two bands. Standard dials sit in the low-to-mid five figures: CHF 20,000 in Geneva in 2015 for a charcoal-grey baton dial, CHF 10,625 for a copper dial in 2019, HKD 118,750 for a diamond-index example in Hong Kong in 2024. That is at or slightly below a comparable yellow-gold 18038. The exotic dials sit far above it. The 1983 red Stella took EUR 55,104 in Monaco in 2025, the green dégradé HKD 300,000 in 2021, and the wood dial EUR 31,250 with its original set. Tridor examples run their own market, from CHF 5,500 for one stripped of its bracelet to HKD 175,000 for a midnight-blue diamond dial on a complete Tridor President.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! date
! house
! configuration
! result
|-
| Dec 2025
| Antiquorum Monaco, lot 147
| red Stella diamond dial, 1983, case 7,522,088
| EUR 55,104
|-
| Dec 2021
| Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 271
| green dégradé diamond dial, c.1978
| HKD 300,000
|-
| Jun 2015
| Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 663
| 18039B Tridor, midnight-blue diamond dial, 1986
| HKD 175,000
|-
| Oct 2024
| Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 197
| diamond-index dial, c.1981, case 6,724,084
| HKD 118,750
|-
| Nov 2018
| Antiquorum Geneva, lot 197
| red Stella diamond dial, c.1977, Oman market
| CHF 35,000
|-
| Jun 2021
| Antiquorum Forte dei Marmi, lot 158
| wood dial, German day disc, c.1978, full set
| EUR 31,250
|-
| May 2015
| Antiquorum Geneva, lot 482
| 18039B Tridor, black onyx dial, Gobbi Milan 1986
| CHF 25,000
|-
| Mar 2015
| Antiquorum Geneva, lot 292
| charcoal-grey baton dial, 1981, case 6,739,240
| CHF 20,000
|-
| Dec 2015
| Antiquorum New York, lot 101
| 18039B Tridor, Silver Jubilee diamond dial, 1986
| USD 13,750
|-
| Nov 2019
| Antiquorum Geneva, lot 171
| copper-coloured dial, c.1977
| CHF 10,625
|-
| May 2013
| Antiquorum Geneva, lot 253
| 18039B Tridor, champagne Roman dial, on a gold-plated buckle
| CHF 5,500
|}

== Related references ==

* [[Reference:18038|Day-Date 18038]] — Cal 3055 President (1977–1988)
* [[Reference:18028|Day-Date 18028]] — 1977–1988
* [[Reference:18048|Day-Date 18048]] — 1977–1988
* [[Reference:18049|Day-Date 18049]] — White-gold diamond bezel (1977–1988)
* [[Reference:18078|Day-Date 18078]] — 1977–1988
* [[Reference:18079|Day-Date 18079]] — White-gold bark (1977–1988)
* [[Reference:1803|Day-Date 1803]] — Fluted President (1960–1977)
* [[Reference:18238|Day-Date 18238]] — 1988–2000

See also the [[Reference:day-date|Day-Date family index]], [[Reference:Movements|movement reference]], [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet & clasp guide]], and [[Reference:Serial-numbers|serial numbers by year]].

== Sources ==

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-stella-dial-white-gold-lot-383-147 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date, 18k white gold with red Stella diamond dial — Antiquorum Monaco, lot 147", Antiquorum, 2025-12-12]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-lot-345-271 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date, 18k white gold with green dégradé diamond dial — Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 271", Antiquorum, 2021-12-05]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-lot-340-158 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date with wood dial and German day disc, 18k white gold — Antiquorum Forte dei Marmi, lot 158", Antiquorum, 2021-06-26]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-lot-317-197 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date, 18k white gold with red Stella dial and diamond indexes — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 197", Antiquorum, 2018-11-11]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-18038-lot-289-292 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039/18038 Day-Date, 18k white gold with charcoal-grey baton dial — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 292", Antiquorum, 2015-03-15]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-lot-324-171 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date, 18k white gold with copper-coloured dial — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 171", Antiquorum, 2019-11-10]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-day-date-lot-373-197 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039 Day-Date, 18k white gold — Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 197", Antiquorum, 2024-10-26]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039b-18000-lot-272-253 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039B/18000 Day-Date "Tridor", 18k white and yellow gold with champagne Roman dial — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 253", Antiquorum, 2013-05-12]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039b-lot-291-482 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039B Day-Date "Tridor" with black onyx dial, box and guarantee — Antiquorum Geneva, lot 482", Antiquorum, 2015-05-10]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-b-18000-lot-292-663 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039B/18000 Day-Date "Tridor" with midnight-blue diamond dial — Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 663", Antiquorum, 2015-06-27]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039-b-18000-lot-296-101 Antiquorum, "Rolex Ref. 18039B/18000 Day-Date "Tridor" with Silver Jubilee diamond dial — Antiquorum New York, lot 101", Antiquorum, 2015-12-15]
* [https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/rolex-ref-18039b-18039b-18239b-day-date-tridor-lot-323-340 Antiquorum, "Rolex set of three Day-Date "Tridor", refs 18039B and 18239B with gem-set indexes — Antiquorum Hong Kong, lot 340", Antiquorum, 2019-10-27]
* [https://www.phillips.com/detail/rolex/CH080115/56 Phillips, "Rolex Ref. 18079 Day-Date, 18k white gold bark with burgundy Stella diamond dial — Phillips Glamorous Day-Date, Geneva, lot 56", Phillips, 2015]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/important-watches-part-i-ge2504/day-date-reference-18079-a-white-gold-and Sotheby's, "Rolex Day-Date Reference 18079, a white gold and diamond-set wristwatch with bark bracelet — Sotheby's Important Watches Part I, Geneva, lot 119", Sotheby's, 2025-11-09]
* [https://www.mondanibooks.com/rolex-day-date-history ''Rolex Day-Date'' — Giorgia Mondani and Guido Mondani, Guido Mondani Editore]
* [https://www.puccipapaleo.com/bookstore/day-date ''Day-Date — The Presidential Rolex'' — Pucci Papaleo, Pucci Papaleo Editore, 2015]
* [https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-rolex-day-date-a-complete-collectors-guide Sotheby's editorial, "The Rolex Day-Date: A Complete Collector's Guide", Sotheby's]
* [https://monochrome-watches.com/history-rolex-day-date-1956-present-president-watch-in-depth-review/ Monochrome editorial, "In-Depth: The History of the Rolex Day-Date, The Presidential Watch", Monochrome Watches]
* [https://italianwatchspotter.com/the-history-of-the-rolex-day-date/?lang=en Italian Watch Spotter editorial, "The History of the Rolex Day-Date", Italian Watch Spotter]
* [https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/resources/quickset-vintage-day-date-models.html Bob's Watches editorial, "Quickset Vintage Day-Date Models", Bob's Watches]
* [https://watchbase.com/blog/2015/02/21/rolex-day-date-history WatchBase editorial, "Rolex Day-Date History", WatchBase, 2015-02-21]

[[Category:Day-Date]]
[[Category:working-draft]]
[[Category:References]]

Reference:18039 - Revision history

Admin: SEO: clickable title + og:image + timestamps

Admin: Trim non-canonical categories to match the Day-Date corpus

Admin: Import reference 18039 article