The slate ombré Day-Date 40 made its first public appearance at the 96th Academy Awards in March 2024, surfacing in Rolex’s pre-ceremony film and in the Greenroom the brand has hosted for years. Collectors named it before Rolex formally catalogued it, and the “Oscars” tag stuck.

What makes it worth the attention is the dial itself. The centre holds a warm, smoky slate that deepens toward the outer edge until it reads as near-black, so the watch shifts character depending on how the light falls — restrained under office lighting, dramatic under anything directional. Rolex had built ombré dials before, but only for the Day-Date 36, and always with diamond hour markers. This is the first to pair the gradient with faceted, deconstructed Roman numerals and faceted indexes in 18k pink gold. The result is unusually clean for a Day-Date: no stone-setting, no ornament, just tone and geometry.

The 40mm Oyster case, fluted bezel and President bracelet are all 18k Everose gold, Rolex’s proprietary pink gold alloy, which holds its colour rather than fading toward yellow over the decades. Inside is the calibre 3255 with the Chronergy escapement, roughly 70 hours of reserve, and Superlative Chronometer certification to −2/+2 seconds a day. Water resistance is 100 metres.

It’s a watch that reads as formal from across a room and considerably more interesting up close. If you’ve been circling the olive or chocolate 228235 and wanting something with more depth to it, this is the one to try on.

This watch is available to pickup from our boutique in Sydney CBD.

Comes as a full set down to all the links and paperwork.