Rolex Day-Date 18168 'Honeycomb Pavé'

Our good friend and collector Mister Zenga brought this to one of our GTGs. After a pleasant exchange about the usual suspects, he reached into his pocket and casually produced something that, quite literally, caught the light and held it. Conversation stopped. We didn’t need long to consider it. Some watches you admire; others you simply know you cannot let leave the room.

For many collectors, vintage Rolex begins with steel sports models; the pragmatic icons. Some remain there. Others, inevitably, drift toward the more ceremonial side of the brand’s history. That path often leads to the Day-Date and its endless variations. Follow it far enough and you enter the rarefied territory of factory gem-set pieces… and, at the very summit, the Crown Collection. This is one of those watches!

The Crown

Reference 18168, produced in the 1980s, is a seldom-seen sub-reference of the 180xx series, distinguished by its factory baguette-set bezel. Twenty-four stones frame the case, most often diamonds, but the configuration seen here elevates things further. A master catalogue from the same year as this watch list a sapphire-set example at $25,350, a significant premium over the roughly $11,000 required for a standard Day-Date at the time.

Honeycomb

Modesty was clearly not part of the brief. The dial is constructed from an 18k yellow gold base and lavishly pavé-set with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires in an intricate honeycomb motif; something between geometry and a field of flowers in full bloom. The brand signature and model designation sit on applied gold cartouches, carefully arranged so as not to disturb the rhythm of the setting. Even the hands received attention: black lacquer in their centres improves legibility against the scintillating backdrop. That’ll be another $17.000 please.

Super Jubilee

No need to stop there with splashing your cash. The bracelet is a so-called “Super Jubilee” with concealed clasp. It is factory-set with diamonds across the centre links. Two hundred and twenty-two stones in total. The bracelet itself, dating to 1986 like the watch, carried a catalogue price of $26,700 on its own.

Add it all together and you begin to understand the scale of the original outlay. Adjusted for inflation, this was comfortably a six-figure indulgence, totalling up to over $200.000 in today’s money. At a time when such sums for a wristwatch were almost inconceivable it makes one wonder about the original owner.

Balls deep pockets

Judging by the conditions - scarcely worn - this was not a daily companion but rather a deliberate statement piece, likely one among several. Whoever commissioned it had both the means and the conviction to order one of the most exuberant Day-Dates Rolex would produce. We can only respect that kind of confidence. Do you have the balls to pull this off? Or better yet, the deep pockets?