The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date was introduced at the Basel Fair in 1956. This is the first model to indicate both the date and the day of the week. Called “watch of presidents », it is a symbol of luxury and prestige, and it has proved popular ever since. Launched in 1959, the iconic ref. 18XX is produced with many variants until 1966. This family of references has become the classic canon that is associated with the Rolex Day-Date. The reference 1804 is introduced in 1961, together with the reference 1803. This particular watch has the distinctive features of having a dial with Eastern Arabic day, date and numerals, in addition to a diamond-set bezel. Rolex began to offer, mainly for their Middle Eastern clientele of the Gulf states, the Day-Date with Eastern Arabic script in the late 1950’s alongside their use of platinum to conform to Islamic requirements that prohibit men from wearing gold. They were often presented by the rulers as diplomatic gifts or token of esteem. It is this specific configuration of the Arabic font combined to platinum and diamond-set bezel, that inspired the collector Pucci Papaleo to nickname this watch the “Scheherazade”, after the famous queen from the One Thousand and One Nights.
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