The Day-Date 40 is Rolex’s flagship dress watch, showing the date at 3 o’clock and the day of the week spelled in full through an arced aperture at 12 o’clock. Reference 228235 is the version cased in 18 kt Everose gold, Rolex’s in-house pink gold alloy, with a fluted bezel and the President bracelet.
The Day-Date 40 line was introduced at Baselworld 2015, replacing the earlier 40 mm Day-Date II (ref 218xxx) and the 36 mm Day-Date generation as Rolex’s principal Day-Date offering. The launch also marked the debut of the caliber 3255, the first movement in Rolex’s Chronergy generation.
This example carries a chocolate sunray dial set with baguette-cut diamond hour markers, catalogued by Rolex under the m228235-0003 dial suffix. It sits in the precious-metal, gem-set tier of the Day-Date range rather than the plain-marker configurations.
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The dial is chocolate brown with a sunray finish, a brushed treatment that sends fine grooves outward from the center and shifts tone as the watch moves under light. The hour track is set with ten baguette-cut diamonds serving as applied markers.
Two apertures interrupt the marker ring: the day of the week in full across the top at 12 o’clock, and the date at 3 o’clock under the Cyclops lens. The ten diamond markers occupy the remaining hour positions. The hands are 18 kt Everose gold in a baton style, matching the case and bracelet.
Printed dial text reads ROLEX beneath the coronet at 12 o’clock, then OYSTER PERPETUAL DAY-DATE, with SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED above 6 o’clock and SWISS MADE at the base of the dial.
The case is the 40 mm Oyster form in solid 18 kt Everose gold, built on Rolex’s monobloc middle case with a screw-down case back and screw-down winding crown. The profile is a rounded case with polished lugs and flanks, sized between the 36 mm and 41/42 mm ends of the Day-Date range.
The crystal is scratch-resistant sapphire with a Cyclops lens over the date at 3 o’clock. The winding crown uses Rolex’s Twinlock double waterproofness system and screws down against the case tube. The case back is solid and screw-down, without a display window. Water resistance is 100 metres.
The bezel is fluted and machined from 18 kt Everose gold. On the Day-Date it is fixed and decorative rather than a working scale: the fluting is a finishing signature, originally a functional screw-down element on early Oyster cases and now purely aesthetic.
The watch is fitted with the President bracelet in solid 18 kt Everose gold, built from semi-circular three-piece links. The President bracelet was created in 1956 for the original Day-Date and is the bracelet most associated with the model.
The links are polished across their visible surfaces, giving the bracelet a continuous reflective run from case to clasp. The lug width at the case is 20 mm.
The clasp is the concealed folding Crownclasp, which hides the closure inside the bracelet so the links appear uninterrupted around the wrist. The clasp cover is stamped with the Rolex coronet and folds flat into the bracelet line when closed.
The movement is the Rolex caliber 3255, a self-winding mechanical movement made in-house by Rolex. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) and holds a power reserve of approximately 70 hours.
Winding is bidirectional through the Perpetual rotor. The escapement is Rolex’s Chronergy design, made of nickel-phosphorus for resistance to magnetic fields, paired with a paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring and high-performance Paraflex shock absorbers. Rolex states the caliber is protected by 14 patents.
Functions are central hours, minutes, and seconds, an instantaneous day display in the 12 o’clock aperture, and an instantaneous date in the 3 o’clock aperture, both with secure rapid setting. The movement includes a stop-seconds function for precise time setting.
The caliber is certified as a Superlative Chronometer, combining official COSC chronometer certification with Rolex’s own post-casing certification to a precision of minus 2 to plus 2 seconds per day.
The case, bezel, bracelet, clasp, and hands are 18 kt Everose gold, Rolex’s patented pink gold alloy introduced in 2005 and cast in the brand’s own foundry. Everose was developed to hold its pink hue over time.
The crystal is synthetic sapphire, with an integrated Cyclops magnifier over the date. The dial base carries a chocolate sunray finish, and the hour markers are baguette-cut diamonds. The clasp is Everose gold, matching the bracelet.
The overall material specification is a solid precious-metal build throughout, with diamond dial furniture and no steel or plated components.
A full set for a 2023 example of this reference includes:
Precious-metal Day-Date models ship in Rolex’s higher-tier presentation packaging rather than the standard Oyster box used for steel models.
Older version
Newer version
A 2023 watch is correct with the Gen 2 dark-green wave-pattern box. A Gen 1 box on a 2023 watch is too early, and a Gen 3 box indicates a later service return or a swapped box rather than the original packaging. A box generation that does not match the guarantee date is a point to check when assessing a full set.
A 2023 example was sold with Rolex’s five-year international guarantee, which has applied to new Rolex watches purchased since July 1, 2015. Coverage is against manufacturing defects and runs from the date of sale registered by the authorised dealer.
The guarantee is documented on a fully green plastic card. On a 2023-era card the model, serial number and purchase date are carried on the reverse, purchaser and retailer identification are not printed on the card, and activation and registration are handled electronically by the retailer at the point of sale.
Older version
Newer version
On a 2023 example the original five-year guarantee remains active into 2028 from its sale date, and the era-correct paper is the Gen 2 fully green card with electronic registration. A serviced example may also carry Rolex service documentation issued under the service warranty terms current at the time of service. The guarantee card carrying the matching serial number is the primary authenticity document for a full set.
Reference 228235 remains a current catalogue reference in 18 kt Everose gold. Rolex rotates the dial and gem-setting configurations offered under the reference over time, so a given dial suffix may enter or leave the active lineup while the reference itself continues.
The 40 mm case wears true to its diameter, with a lug-to-lug span measured at around 47 mm and a case thickness measured at around 12 mm. On the President bracelet the watch sits close to the wrist and the concealed clasp keeps the bracelet line unbroken.
The solid Everose gold case and bracelet give the watch substantial weight relative to a steel watch of the same size, which is characteristic of a precious-metal Day-Date. The fluted bezel and diamond dial place it toward the dressier, more formal end of the range.
It suits medium to larger wrists and formal or business settings. The diamond markers and gold construction make it a dress watch rather than a daily tool watch.
Every example of reference 228235 shares the same core build: a 40 mm Oyster case in 18 kt Everose gold, a fluted Everose bezel, an Everose President bracelet with concealed Crownclasp, and the caliber 3255. What changes across the reference is the dial and its marker and gem configuration, catalogued under different dial suffix codes.
Dials
Hour markers and gem settings
Neighbouring references not to confuse with this one: the Day-Date 40 is also produced in yellow gold (228238), white gold (228239), and platinum (228206), each with its own dial range. The 36 mm Day-Date in Everose gold is reference 128235. These are separate references and their specifications do not carry across.
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