Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: Rolex Day-Date "President" Ref 18078 with stella Blue diamonds dial T Swiss Made T

Sunday, 19 January 2025

Rolex Day-Date "President" Ref 18078 with stella Blue diamonds dial T Swiss Made T

This is a "President" Blue diamond dial T Swiss Made T, which I think is one of the prettiest dial!

It is commonly known as “Stella Dials.” Although the history isn’t conclusive, it is believed that the dials were named after the famous artist Frank Stella to honor his vibrant paintings or possibly named after the Latin word for star which is also “Stella.” These dials are as rare as they are beautiful. They were produced for a very limited time, in part due to the complexity of these dials. They were handmade by artisans who painstakingly applied many layers of lacquer, which give these dials their iconic depth. The process was so complex, that many dials cracked during manufacturing leading to their rarity.

These dials stand out for their array of luminous, lacquered colours – from fiery reds and deep blues to soft pinks and electric oranges. However, all the paint used on the enamel Stella dials of yesteryear was mixed by hand, so even watches that were purported to be the same color varied slightly between batche. Some Stellas are diamond dials. Others feature baton hour markers. They were spread between Rolex Day-Dates and Datejusts.

During the early years in the 1980s-90s, Rolex service Center actually will sell dials to their customers and allow their customers to change dials or upgrade their watches. I remembered I have managed to buy a special dial for Melissa's white gold Rolex several years ago.

This is a series 3 with T Swiss Made T

Just serviced the watch

I have been slowly building up my Rolex Day Date collection and my Rolex Day date collection consists of the following : Rolex 18239bic Tridor, Rolex 1803 yellow gold, Rolex 1803 white gold with diamonds markers, Rolex 1803 Rose gold, , Rolex 18038 Jubilee dial and the latest Rolex 18078 Stella blue dial.

Photos of damaged dial from the net :

According to the Italian Watch Spotter, there are 4 series: Please see details as follows: https://italianwatchspotter.com/rolex-stella-dials-history/?lang=en

Depending on the structural characteristics and the text present at 6 o’clock, there are four production series:

The first, introduced in the 1970s, is characterized by a pan-shaped dial with the minute track on the inclined part, the wording “T Swiss T” at 6 o’clock and the reference 180X;

The second, towards the end of the 1970s, without angled edge, always with the text “T Swiss T” at 6 o’clock and references 180X and 1803X;

The third, contemporary with the second, was produced until the end of the 1980s, but the text changed to “T Swiss Made T” and the reference to 180XX;

The fourth and last, in production until the 90s, has the text unchanged but there is the addition of the minute track with Roman numerals every 5 minutes.

Other examples: