Everything that Rolex touches is Jubilee Gold. Specifically, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 unveiled at this year’s Watches & Wonders, which sports a brand-new precious metal: an 18-carat alloy called Jubilee Gold that Rolex developed and produced entirely in-house. Its announcement is significant because it accompanies just four precious metal alloys used across Rolex’s most exclusive lines: yellow gold, white gold, Everose gold (Rolex’s name for rose gold), and platinum. By combining Jubilee Gold with the most prestigious watch to carry the Oyster Perpetual case, Rolex uses this milestone as a nod to the 100th anniversary of the Oyster case.
With its muted, almost beige tones, Jubilee Gold captures the mood of all four precious alloys. While less blindingly gold-toned than the brash yellow gold, it is even more muted than Everrose. Compared to white gold or platinum, it offers a soft hue of grey and tan that varies in brightness, depending on the way the light reaches the contours of the case, the intersecting facets of the Day-Date’s signature fluted bezel, and the contrast between the polished and brushed elements of the President bracelet.
What more prestigious Rolex model, with which to debut Jubilee Gold, than the Day-Date commonly known as the President? Ever since its debut in 1956, every Day-Date has been produced entirely in either 18 ct yellow gold or 950 platinum: a truly indulgent attribute befitting a watch first presented to John F. Kennedy (and popularized by his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson).
Even with this illustrious history, a watch tasked with the weight of introducing an entirely new material still needs to stand out. To that end, Rolex gave the Jubilee Gold debutant a bright, seafoam green aventurine dial, and surrounded by ten baguette-cut diamonds serving as the hour markers. With Rolex injecting more color into its dials (especially among the Oyster Perpetual line), the textured and varying look of aventurine adds another visual dimension to the glossy colors that mark most colored Rolex dials.
Rolex hones the Oyster Perpetual case from a single block of Jubilee Gold, and like all watches with the modern Oyster system, it’s guaranteed to 100 meters of water resistance. For the Day-Date there’s no better option than the President bracelet, which has been intertwined with the Day-Date since the very beginning. Here, it retains Rolex’s hidden Crownclasp that allows for micro-adjustments, and its solid links — each in Jubilee Gold — carry ceramic inserts to minimize wear.
Within the Day-Date 40 is the calibre 3255, an automatic movement that employs Rolex’s exclusive Chronergy escapement and blue Parachrom hairspring to drive efficiency while resisting magnetism or temperature variations. Power reserve is rated at 70 hours, and the movement operates at 28,800 beats/hour. It almost goes without saying that calibre 3255 is a Superlative Chronometer, matching Rolex’s stronger criteria for all 2026 releases.
Adding a new material to the Rolex lineup, especially one as precious as 18 ct gold, is no small feat. Rolex produces all of its metals, precious or not at one state-of-the-art foundry in Plan-Les-Ouates, just outside of Geneva; here, Rolex metallurgists control the exact blend of metals to transform pure 24 ct gold into a stronger 18 ct alloy. The result is a consistency of fit, finish, and water resistance across all Oyster Perpetual cases that remains intact even among different materials.
For now, this Day-Date 40 with its Adventuring dial is a proof of concept, the only Rolex so far to wear Jubilee Gold. As the foundry fires up the new precious alloy, there will inevitably be more watches to sport this most subtle of golds. But for now, Rolex isn’t even placing this Day-Date 40 in its catalog — you’ll have to ask your AD very politely and in hushed tones. The Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 in Jubilee Gold, reference 228235 JG (case) is priced at $62,700 USD. For more information, please visit the Rolex website.