This is commonly known as Rolex Day Date Bark bezel & bracelet ref 18078. Named so for their resemblance to tree bark, these particular textured elements are either on the center links of the bracelet, the bezel, or both.
Produced from the early 1970s until the late 1980s, the bark finish was frequently used on Rolex President watches ref 1807,18078 and also Rolex ref 1607 Datejusts too.
Moving into the details, Day-Date ref. 18078, 18038 series launched in 1978 and stands as something of a transitional reference for the model. Things were moving fairly swiftly for Rolex at the time, as evidenced by the fact that the range was only around until 1988, before the ref. 18238, 18278 family took over.
However, as with many Rolex models, any upgrades taking place were usually confined to the internals. The Day-Date’s aesthetics had been nailed down through previous references, and the incoming five-digit watches shared a virtually identical look to the retiring four-digit ref. 1807,1803,1802 examples which had been in production for more than 20-years.
The Cal. 3055 replaced the Cal. 1556, one of two calibers which had driven the ref. 18XX watches over their two decades of production (the other one being the Cal. 1555 up until 1967).
While the Cal. 3055 carried over many components from the Cal. 1556, it did introduce several key differences, modifications that elevated the Day-Date to new heights of accuracy and convenience.
Firstly, the balance frequency. The outgoing engine had beat at 19,800vph, itself an increase from the Cal. 1555’s 18,000vph. It was the Cal. 3055 which brought the now-standard 28,800vph speed to the President range, giving the familiar eight-ticks-per-second sweep to the seconds hand.
Furthermore, the Quickset feature made its debut, allowing the date numeral in its three o’clock window to be adjusted independently. Now, pulling out the crown to its second position gave free control over the setting process, without having to spin the main hands through 24-hours. However, the day of the week display in the 12 o’clock aperture still had to be changed the longwinded way, and so the Cal. 3055 is known as a Single Quickset. It wouldn’t be until the series was renewed again in 1988 to the ref. 182XX models, powered by the Cal. 3155, that the President received its first Double Quickset mechanism.
The reference 180 indicates a Day-Date with the then-new Cal. 3055 movement. The final numeral, 8, indicates that the watch is made from 18k yellow gold. But it is the 7, the number that denotes the bezel, which signifies this as one of the more unusual variants in the stable.
A couple of other differences with the ref. 180XX series over the ref. 18XX was the shape of the faces themselves. The vintage pie-pan design of old was retired and the new dials came in completely flat as we see them in the contemporary range. sapphire crystal was used to protect everything for the first time, replacing the former acrylic
The Rolex Day-Date ref. 18078 is an unusual model without doubt, very much characteristic of fashions in the 70s and 80s.
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