off catalogue beauty! The Rolex Daytona 116506 with hindu arabic dial

Bit of a special one today, a rarely seen off-catalogue Rolex with an exceptionally tasty dial - this is the Day-Date 40 “Hindu Arabic”

The Day-Date was first released in 1956, so has been at the peak of the line-up for over 60 years. It is also known as “The President” due to two factors - 1) The bracelet is a “president” as oposed to an Oyster/Jubilee, and 2) The DD has been sitting comfortably on the wrists of presidents, politicians and the titans of industry for over half a century.

This is the larger 40mm model which was launched in 2015 to appeal to those who liked their lumps just that little bit larger but still in proportion.

Modern tastes, and actually the size of human beings has increased since the 50’s so on some wrists the original 36mm piece seems a little diminutive.

The 40 fixes that if needs be.

The Day-Date line, due to its heritage is always precious metal only, and this one, naturellement, is platinum which means that as well as being reassuringly “present” on the wrist is also exceptionally durable.

When platinum “scratches” or marks, the metal is displaced rather than lost so wear rate on platinum pieces is minimised in comparison to other precious metals.

To cut a long waffle short, when you scratch or mark platinum, what you’re actually doing is displacing the metal. It simply moves aside in a furrow without loss. Sounds like a disaster, but is actually a benefit as the material doesn’t age/erode with wear like other metals.

It is much more robust which is why its considered to be boss level.

Not to mention the weight on the wrist, which just feels outright decadent.

The platinum Day-Date’s position at the top of the pile makes it a perfect candiate for Rolex to do something a little different, while still keeping it classy.

The particular twist on standard here is the gorgeous but subtle olive sunburst dial with Hindu Arabic numerals. These particular numerals are specifically made for the Middle Eastern market, and only ever sold through a couple of boutiques in the region.

Due to scarcity, they are highly sought after by collectors who seek something that sets their Rolex apart from the standard references, but scarcity really isn’t the only “plus point” to this one, it’s a really beautiful dial in its own right.

The olive tone is cool rather than warm and Mediterranean which pairs beautifully with platinum.

In flat light its actually closer to sage in my opinion and the olive doesn’t really begin to show itself until light is moving across the sunburst of the dial.

I know this sounds like an incredibly fancy schmancy description worthy of only the tweediest sleeve, but sometimes you have to go that extra mile to fully try and describe something - and standard “Olive” this dial is not.

Its utterly gorgeous.

The Hindu Arabic numerals are applied mirror polished platinum that while unlumed, create a very pleasing glint when the light catches them, and are bold enough to be read at speed in anything but complete darkness.

Obviously being for the M-E market, the day and date wheels are also presented in an arabic script. The date becomes pretty intuitive to read once you translate using the indexes of the dial to learn the jist of the system.

I have to concede that the day can be an absolute mystery but I’d say this was a compromise when enjoying one of the coolest Day-Dates on the block!

Other specs for this reference include a lug to lug length of 47.4mm, 12mm thick, 100m water resistant with a lug width of 20mm meaning that an array of straps are at your disposal should you wish to go “off bracelet” for a while - something that since Rolex have started using ceramic sleeves to protect the inner links from abrasion is entirely unnecessary but collectors do like to switch their look up every now and again.

Powering the watch is the in-house Rolex calibre 3255 which boasts a power reserve of 70 hours and accuracy of +2/-2 seconds per day.

No worries there if you want to leave it off for the weekend, but in fairness this is an absolute candiate for being a 24/7 watch.