Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Rolex · Day-Date
Rolex Day-Date 39 mm Blue 18k
Reference 55988OR.49
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Rolex
- Collection
- Day-Date
- Model
- Rolex Day-Date 39 mm Blue 18k
- Reference number
- 55988OR.49
- Year / era
- 1980 · 1980s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Moon phase
- Movement
- In-house manual-winding
- Case material
- 18k white gold
- Dial type
- Blue "Grande Tapisserie"
- Strap / bracelet
- Integrated steel bracelet
- Water resistance
- 500 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 39 mm
- Case thickness
- 8.1 mm
- Case material
- 18k white gold
- Bezel
- Emerald-set
- Crystal
- Flat sapphire with Cyclops lens
- Dial
- Blue "Grande Tapisserie"
- Hands
- Faceted dauphine hands, polished by hand
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- Integrated steel bracelet
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 500 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 34D — In-house manual-winding
- Movement type
- High-frequency automatic
- Frequency
- 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 72 hours
- Number of jewels
- 37 jewels
- Complications
- Moon phase
- Functions
- Perpetual calendar, leap year
- Watchmaker
- Finishing, assembly and timing are carried out in the manufacture's own atelier.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1980 – 1986
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Values have stabilised after the 2022 correction; condition and box-and-papers drive the premium.
Designer
Emmanuel Gueit
Emmanuel Gueit came from a family of Geneva jewellers and was barely into his twenties when he drew the oversized Royal Oak Offshore in 1993 — a watch the house's traditionalists resisted and collectors turned into an icon.
Historical significance
Rolex Day-Date 39 mm Blue 18k sits within Rolex's Day-Date line, introduced in 1980. It carries the house codes established since 1905 — 18k white gold case, blue "grande tapisserie" dial and in-house manual-winding — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The movement's bridges are decorated even where they will never be seen once the watch is cased.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
Rolex
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1905
- Founder
- Hans Wilsdorf
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Luxury
- Major collections
- Submariner, Daytona, GMT-Master II, Datejust, Day-Date, Yacht-Master, Sky-Dweller, Explorer, Oyster Perpetual, Sea-Dweller, Air-King, 1908, Milgauss
- Signature technologies
- Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Composite and ceramic case materials
- Famous movements
- In-house automatic, chronometer certified · In-house automatic chronograph · In-house automatic, Superlative Chronometer · In-house manual-winding
- Notable watches
- Rolex Submariner 44 mm Skeletonised Platinum (1978) · Rolex Submariner 36 mm Ice 18k (1981) · Rolex Submariner 42 mm Meteorite Quartz (1982) · Rolex Submariner 38 mm Silvered 18k (1989)
Brand history
Rolex has spent more than 121 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Submariner, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Hans Wilsdorf established Rolex in 1905, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Rolex calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1905
Hans Wilsdorf founds Rolex in Switzerland.
1969
The quartz era forces Rolex to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Rolex enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Rolex continues to produce Submariner, Daytona, GMT-Master II and other icons in limited numbers.