While we have seen a decent amount of color from Rolex in more recent years, the famous Swiss watch manufacturer has historically adhered to a rather sober and traditional design language. However, the Day-Date has always been Rolex’s creative playground, and decades before you could even get a green bezel on the Submariner, Rolex was producing variations of the Day-Date with a vast assortment of unusual dials. Some of the more rare and collectible offerings produced throughout the years have been the ones constructed using slices of semi-precious stones, and Rolex has recently started to bring stone dials back into the spotlight. Introduced among Rolex’s novelties at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023 were three new stone dials for the 36mm Day-Date, and alongside a carnelian dial for the yellow gold model are dials made from turquoise and green aventurine that will be offered for the Everose gold, white gold, and platinum versions of the Rolex Day-Date 36.

This latest generation of Rolex Day-Date 36 watches was first introduced in 2019, and these most recent stone dial releases for 2023 are essentially novel configurations for the same flagship models that have already been staples within Rolex’s collection for the last several years. At the present time, the green aventurine dial is exclusively available for the Everose gold version of the Rolex Day-Date 36, although it remains an option for both fluted bezel and diamond bezel configurations of the model. Meanwhile, the turquoise stone dial was already available for the yellow gold Day-Date 36, although Rolex has now made it an option for the white gold, Everose gold, and platinum 36mm models, which means that you can now get a turquoise stone dial for any version of the Day-Date 36, regardless of its materials or the type of bezel that is fitted to the watch.

Below are a list of Rolex Day-Date 36 references that are available with the green aventurine and turquoise stone dials (as of December 2023).

Green Aventurine Stone Dial

• Ref. 128235 (Everose gold, fluted bezel)
• Ref. 128345RBR (Everose gold, diamond bezel)

Turquoise Stone Dial

• Ref. 128238 (yellow gold, fluted bezel)
• Ref. 128348RBR (yellow gold, diamond bezel)
• Ref. 128239 (white gold, fluted bezel)
• Ref. 128349RBR (white gold, diamond bezel)
• Ref. 128235 (Everose gold, fluted bezel)
• Ref. 128345RBR (Everose gold, diamond bezel)
• Ref. 128236 (platinum, fluted bezel)
• Ref. 128396TBR (platinum, diamond bezel)

As for the dials themselves, the green aventurine and turquoise stone dials for the Rolex Day-Date 36 both follow the same design and layout, which includes large diamond-set indexes with Roman numerals at the 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock locations to offer visual balance against the day and date displays that appear at the other two cardinal points. Rather than having a full set of Roman numerals, which can sometimes appear cluttered or unbalanced, the index markers that appear throughout the rest of the dial have a prominent serif to their design, and this complements the lone pair of Roman numeral markers at the cardinal points to create a cohesive design with far greater aesthetic balance than if Rolex had tried to fit an entire set of diamond-set Roman numeral markers on the dial of a 36mm watch.

Given that the hour markers are entirely adorned with diamonds and don’t have any luminous material on them, the hands fitted to both the green aventurine and turquoise stone dial Rolex Day-Date 36 watches are also completely devoid of luminous material, and they instead feature completely polished surface for a more refined and luxurious overall appearance. While the green aventurine dial has rose gold text set against its finely crystallized surface, the printing on the turquoise stone dial appears in black to complement the natural striations in the material. Additionally, as you would expect, the applied hour markers (along with the polished frames for the pair of calendar windows) are crafted from either 18k white or rose gold to match their respective cases, and the diamond-settings that appear throughout them have been meticulously carried out and are exceptionally well-executed.

Aside from their stone dials, the new Rolex Day-Date 36 models are otherwise very much the same watches that have been available at retailers for the last several years, and they measure 36mm in diameter with fully polished lugs and sapphire crystals protecting their dials. Similarly, all of the models from this latest generation of the Day-Date 36 are powered by Rolex’s Caliber 3255 automatic movement, which runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with a power reserve of 70 hours, and they are fitted with screw-down crowns and casebacks that help create 100 meters of water resistance. Lastly, all of the stone dial Day-Date 36 watches are fitted with Rolex’s iconic President style bracelet, which features a rounded three-link construction and is completed by the brand’s Crownclasp, which lacks any type of integrated extension system but offers a seamless and highly refined design.

Creating stone dials can be challenging, as each hole cut in the surface increases the possibility that the dial will break. Along with the three large holes for the hands and calendar windows, attaching the applied diamond-set markers requires numerous additional holes for all of the tiny connecting pins that are used to secure the marker to the reverse side of the dial. That said, the large diamond-set indexes cover a fairly significant portion of the dial’s stone surface, and this represents a significant contrast compared to vintage Rolex stone dials that often omitted the hour markers entirely in order to keep the visual emphasis on the stone itself. Additionally, since Rolex only offers the green aventurine and turquoise stone dials with diamond-set indexes, these dials each cost an additional premium of around five-figures compared to standard Day-Date 36 watches, and this serves as a clear statement that Rolex intends for these dials to be premium options within its catalog.

Given that opting for one of these stone dials will cost you roughly the same price as purchasing an entire separate stainless steel Submariner, I’d personally opt for one of the standard Day-Date 36 models if I had my heart set on one of Rolex’s precious metal flagship creations. However, I absolutely love that Rolex is bringing stone dials back into the spotlight, simply because of what they represent within the greater context of the brand and the products that it produces. Rolex is all about achieving consistency in everything that it does, and the inherent nature of working with natural materials means that no two stone dials will be entirely identical. The Day-Date collection has always been Rolex’s creative space, where the brand could let its hair down a bit and do something that was truly un-Rolex, and producing natural stone dials can almost be seen as Rolex’s way of embracing the beauty that comes with the inevitable variability that exists within life.

At the time of writing, prices for the green aventurine dial Rolex Day-Date start out at $46,800 USD for the standard fluted bezel model and top out at $112,000 USD for the version that is fitted with a diamond-set bezel and a matching President bracelet that has diamond-encrusted center links. Meanwhile, the turquoise stone dial costs slightly more than its green aventurine counterpart, with prices starting out at $48,200 USD for both the white gold and Everose gold versions that are fitted with fluted bezels and standard President bracelets. Additionally, since the platinum version of the Day-Date 36 isn’t available with a diamond-adorned bracelet, it is actually the white gold and Everose gold models with diamond-set bezels and bracelets that represent the most expensive turquoise stone dial Day-Date 36 watches, and they are both accompanied by an official retail price of $113,400 USD. Both beautiful and expensive, stone dials are an important part of the Day-Date’s history, and they represent an even more statement-worthy take on what is already the world’s most universally recognizable statement watch. For more information on the Rolex Day-Date 36 collection, please visit the brand’s website.