Rolex vs. Tudor: A Tale of Two Vintage Day Dates
Which one is better?
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With vintage watches, it's the little details that matter: Two may look nearly identical from across a room, but a few key differences visible up close can make one of them far rarer—and perhaps an incredible value—for the astute collector. This Rolex Day-Date and Tudor Date+Day are textbook examples.
In 1956, Rolex started selling the Day-Date, the very first watch to show the day of the week fully spelled out on the dial. It was essentially a souped-up version of the Datejust, available only in precious metals. (Originally just in 18 karat yellow gold and platinum, then expanding to include pink and white gold.) Only a handful were ever made in stainless steel, and these are about as collectable as Rolex watches can get.