The Rolex Day-Date Emoji — A Case Of Heart Or SMH?
If you thought that the new Oyster Perpetual Celebration models were funky, the Rolex Day-Date Emoji is texting, “Hold my beer.” This is a case of Rolex making something a bit crazy, but of course, there’s some nice handcraft at work too. Shall we begin?
Look, I’ll go ahead and get to it. A lot of people are cranky about the new Rolex Day-Date Emoji that sits before you in this article. As you’ll see, it doesn’t do a good job of delivering on its model name — i.e. telling us the day or the date. In fact, even the legibility is also a bit of a mess for timekeeping. However, these watches are distinctive, colorful, and a bit different. Finally, almost no one reading this article will be getting one of these, so why not just enjoy it for what it is — expensive fun?
Exotic dials and crazy themes — this isn’t new
Before we get into the Rolex Day-Date Emoji, I thought I’d at least try to level-set things for our faithful and active comments crew. I am sure we will get our fair share of “oh Rolex, where have you gone and what have you become?” type jabs. Or perhaps we will read, “I can’t even get a Submariner, Rolex, and you waste your time with this stuff?” And then there’s the whole, “Rolex, I see you’re pandering to the gaudy influencer crowd with this; I’m out!” theme. I say bring those comments, but you should recall that Rolex has been here many times before. Think of the vintage Day-Date “Stella” dials and before you say they’re classic, they were LOUD when they were released. Furthermore, how about the Daytona Leopard?! Good luck timing anything with that watch! Rainbow Daytona, anyone?
The Rolex Day-Date Emoji
Okay, now that I’ve suitably diffused all your anger, it’s time to really soften you up with all sorts of hearts and smiley faces because the Rolex Day-Date Emoji seems to have those in spades! Essentially, Rolex has come with three versions of this watch, and all are 36mm. Yellow gold (128238), white gold (128239), and Everose (128235) are all on offer. Each features a champlevé enamel dial (where a metal surface is cut out and filled with enamel) with multi-colored jigsaw puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces, if you’re wondering, are there to symbolize the key moments of life. The white and yellow gold pieces are dominated by light blue enamel. The rose gold model uses orange.
Note the use of ten baguette sapphires for the hour markers on the Rolex Day-Date Emoji. Rolex chose six different colors and arranged them to work well with the dial colors. There is no lume to speak of on this watch! The windows, however, are where it gets interesting. Instead of normal days of the week and numerals for the date, we have emojis and emotions. For the day window, “Happy”, “Eternity”, “Gratitude”, “Peace”, “Faith”, “Love”, and “Hope” make the list. For the date itself, there are 31 different emojis. Hey, if you’re full of emotion, the day and date are apparently of little use.
Other bits
Generally speaking, everything functional on the Rolex Day-Date Emoji is consistent with the mainstream models. This means that you can stare into the jigsaw-like abyss while diving down to 100 meters. You can also change the “day” or “date” with ease via the chronometer-certified caliber 3255. For now, the watches will only come with fluted bezels and the legendary President bracelet.
Final thoughts
You can come after me with angry emotions, but I actually like the Rolex Day-Date Emoji models. They’re beautifully crafted (I’m sure) and something a little different. Yes, the chances are extremely high (like 100%) that you’ll see these on a bunch of cheesy celebrities who are wearing designer sweatpants and luxury “athletic” shoes, but that’s life. For now, I’m content to enjoy these for what they are — something fun and a bit different, if not entirely practical.
