The Top 5 Rolex References From Iconic Movies: The Rolex Day-Date ref. 18038 from Glengarry Glen Ross

You get the feeling big name actors love appearing in the odd cameo here and there.

Relieved of the responsibility of carrying the entire movie as the lead star, with a cameo there’s a sense of being let off the leash, with directors granting permission for the well-recognized thespian to just come in, chew up the scenery for a few minutes and then disappear again. 

There have been some belters over the years. Christopher Walken delivered a typically bordering-on-menacing performance in Pulp Fiction as he explained an old method of smuggling watches out of Vietnam. Gary Oldman was straight up terrifying in True Romance as the white pimp who thought he was black. And Bill Murray played a version of the comedic actor Bill Murray in Zombieland—a little too well, as it turned out.

But in the annals of memorable cameo roles, top billing is usually given to Alec Baldwin’s corporate ‘motivator’ in 1992’s Glengarry Glen Ross.

Baldwin’s Blake

Alec Baldwin’s blistering monologue in the movie is all the more impressive when you think about what he has to work with. 

Unlike with most iconic performances, where the character is written with complexity and nuance or something for the actor to get their teeth into, with Baldwin’s Blake, there’s no sense of anything deeper. He is the epitome of the blunt instrument, the posturing, superficial being interested in one thing and one thing only—money.

That’s how we come to learn, in the space of just seven-minutes, what car he drives and how much it cost, how much he earned the previous year and, yes, how his watch is worth more than Ed Harris’s Hyundai.  

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The embodiment of capitalist cruelty and toxic masculinity, Blake is demeaning, cold, massively aggressive and almost unbelievably arrogant. In his eyes, a person’s value is measured only in money, success and dominance and those deemed beneath him are treated with utter contempt. And in Baldwin’s pitch perfect performance of intimidation, mockery and belittlement, Blake sums up the movie’s entire thesis on corporate America’s dehumanizing expectations. 

However, as completely without redemption as the character is, you can imagine everyone concerned having fun with it. He’s a vital addition to the film although, strangely, he did not appear in David Mamet’s original stage play. But he is flawlessly judged by Baldwin in every aspect—everything from his alpha male mannerisms to his Wall Street suits to, you guessed it, the only watch such a high achiever could wear. 

Alec Baldwin for President

There’s no doubt that Rolex created the Day-Date specifically with the successful businessman in mind. It was an interesting move back in 1956 considering they already had the Datejust which had been fulfilling pretty much the same role for over a decade by then.

Yet, where the Datejust had broken records in 1945 when it became the first ever automatically winding, waterproof wristwatch with a date function, the soon-to-be-nicknamed President one-upped it by adding the first day of the week written out in full complication in on top.

From the moment of its release, the Datejust subtly shifted position and became a more everyman sort of offering, with the Day-Date immediately taking up the flagship reins. It has remained there ever since.

The President belongs to that core group of Rolex watches which have endured with only the most minimal adjustments to the aesthetics since its debut. From the outset, that gently curved case shape, the precious metal only construction and the relatively conservative dial detailing have remained a constant. There have been a few off the wall outliers scattered throughout its history, but for the most part, if you held a first generation example up next to a current model, there could be no doubt you are looking at nothing more than a gentle evolution.

So, which iteration does Blake wear? Well, that’s the beauty of the Day-Date. 

Glengarry Glen Ross is set in the early ‘90s, which would pinpoint the watch as being in the ref. 182XX series. But insider sources report that Baldwin’s model was actually from the previous transitional collection, the ref. 180XX. Yet, even though the watch is very prominently flaunted in a display of bravado and one-upmanship, there really is no way of knowing which reference it is. In fact, the producers could have gone even further back and outfitted Baldwin with something from the four-digit age and no one would have been any the wiser—except the movie accountants who might’ve wondered how you could pick up Rolex’s most elite creation for so little.

What is sure is that the character wears a full yellow gold piece, making it the ref. 18038.

Recreating the Look

One aspect of the Day-Date which takes most novice collectors by surprise is the accessibility of the watch. While you would never describe any of them as cheap, the fact Rolex has never restricted the allocation of Presidents to their ADs means their price has remained realistic rather than artificially inflated by demand outstripping supply. 

So, where a brand new model straight off the line today, the ref. 128238, goes for $36,500, if you explore the preowned market you can easily find pieces from the previous line, the ref. 118238, for around $10k less. Yes, the latest series comes with an upgraded movement, but the Cal. 3155 running inside the ref. 118238 is still recognized as one of the all-time great mass-produced calibers.

If you wanted to be totally faithful to the movie and get hold of Baldwin’s ref. 18038, you only have to shell out around $15-$17k. And you won’t get much of a Hyundai for that.

With that watch, powered by the short-lived Cal. 3055, you have to forego a Quickset function for the day of the week, but the date numeral can be altered with just the crown. Should that be too much of an inconvenience, the ref. 18238 has the double Quickset and prices starting at $18k or so on the eponymous President bracelet, or much less on a leather strap.  

But the bargain of all time bargains will forever be the ref. 1803. This model, a genuine Rolex President worn by some of the most accomplished and impressive figures in history, can be snapped up for less than $10k. 

That puts it within reach of a wide cross-section of watch buyers, from all walks of life. And it doesn’t even matter if they are true closers or not.