Famous as the “The President’s Watch”, it has been worn by heads of state and captains of industry than just about any other since Lyndon Johnson’s favored timepiece in 1965, An instant success when it was launched nearly a decade earlier, it’s considered the final crowning achievement of replica Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf.
Its long association with the great and the powerful has meant, traditionally, the replica Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date has often had more than just a whiff of the establishment about it. Soon, it entered the mainstream. The likes of Justin Timberlake and LeBron James have been seen sporting yellow gold versions, and it has proved its versatility as a unisex model by adorning the likes of Nicki Minaj, Victoria Beckham, and the Kardashians. 
The appeal of the modern Day-Date is now as universal as it’s possible to be—what was once found mostly in the Oval Office or around the boardroom table is today also the preferred watch of the Dalai Lama.
Together with the bigger case, 2015’s 40mm Day-Date introduced a new caliber, the 3255. It’s an in-house movement, very loosely based on the 3155 still found in the watch’s smaller brother, but with 90% of the components reworked and upgraded. It contains Rolex’s own nickel-phosphorus Chronergy escapement that’s impervious to magnetic interference as well as an optimized blue Parachrom hairspring that offers 10 times greater shock resistance than traditional mechanisms. All the modifications to the 3255 add up to a power reserve of 70 hours, as against the 48 of its predecessor.
It’s the movement that gives any watch its heart, and it’s especially true for the Day-Date. The ‘miracle at midnight’, the nickname was given to that instantaneous jump in the two calendar windows every 24 hours, is as impressive today as it’s always been. In an age of digital wizardry, seeing the date in the 3 o’clock aperture and the day at 12 o’clock tick over in milliseconds and knowing it’s a machine-driven process is a bit like going to the movies.
There’s no doubt the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date replica is a statement watch, and its vast range of styles gives wearers an almost unlimited amount of control over just how loud that statement is. And the relatively small variation in the sizes—36mm to 40mm—makes a disproportionately large difference.
A platinum or white gold 36mm piece remains an under-the-radar, subtle declaration of someone who has left their mark on the world, while 40mm of yellow or Everose gold with diamond indexes and bezel says something completely different.
Even the bracelet choice speaks volumes. Now available on the Oyster band or with a leather strap, originally the fake Rolex Day-Date was launched with the specifically designed ‘President’s Bracelet’, from where it gained its unofficial nickname. Supremely flexible, the three precious metal links on the President’s band contain ceramic inserts to increase durability.