Datejust 31 Rolesor Yellow Domed / Oyster / Champagne Diamond

About This Watch

The Rolex Datejust 31, in its Rolesor iteration of yellow gold and stainless steel, embodies the quiet authority of a timepiece that has defined elegance for generations. The champagne dial, with its sunburst finish, radiates a warm, subtle luminescence that shifts with the angle of light, while the gem-set indexes add a discreet touch of opulence without overwhelming the eye. The stick hands, paired with the domed sapphire crystal, enhance legibility while preserving the watch’s refined silhouette. This particular reference, 178243-0024, marries the Datejust’s enduring legacy—first introduced in 1945 as a symbol of accessible luxury—with contemporary craftsmanship, its 31mm case striking a balance between presence and wearability. At its core, the watch is powered by Rolex’s in-house Caliber 2235, a self-winding movement celebrated for its precision, reliability, and the brand’s signature attention to detail. The closed caseback, paired with a water resistance rating of 100 meters, underscores the Oyster case’s enduring robustness, a hallmark of Rolex’s engineering since 1926. The Rolesor construction, a blend of yellow gold and stainless steel, reflects the brand’s mastery of metallurgy, ensuring both visual harmony and durability. This watch is for those who value understated sophistication, seeking a piece that transcends trends yet remains instantly recognizable as a Rolex. It suits formal occasions with its timeless design, yet its discreet proportions make it equally at home in everyday wear—a testament to the Datejust’s enduring appeal as a symbol of quiet distinction.

In Context

At 31 mm it is small by current standards, in the range most wristwatches occupied before cases began growing through the 1990s. The case back is closed, so the movement stays out of sight, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. 100 m is genuine swimming resistance — more than the shape of this watch suggests it would need.

The movement winds itself from the motion of your wrist. 48 hours of reserve is enough to set it down on Friday evening and find it still running on Monday. At 28,800 vph the seconds hand advances 8 times a second.

178243-0024 is one of 31 executions of the 178243 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a champagne sunburst dial and a yellow gold, stainless steel case.

Rolex

White

178243-0001 · 31 mm

Rolex

Silver · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0002 · 31 mm

Rolex

Champagne · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0003 · 31 mm

Rolex

White · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0005 · 31 mm

Rolex

Champagne · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0008 · 31 mm

Rolex

Silver · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0016 · 31 mm

Rolex

Silver · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0022 · 31 mm

Rolex

Black · Yellow Gold, Stainless Steel

178243-0025 · 31 mm

+ 22 more variants in this family.

The 2235 is the small Rolex automatic of the six-digit generation, a 20 mm movement with a date. It carried the Datejust 31 and the 26 mm Lady-Datejust from around 2000 until the 2236 replaced it. It powers 733 watches in this library. It has 31 jewels, a 48-hour reserve and a beat of 28,800 vph, and every one is a COSC chronometer. It is the same architecture as the [2236](/calibers/rolex-2236) that followed, without the silicon Syloxi hairspring and with seven hours less reserve; the [2236 piece](/blog/the-rolex-2236-the-most-common-movement-in-this-library) explains what changed. The library finds it almost entirely in the [Datejust 31](/brands/rolex/datejust-31): 682 references, the 1782xx generation, whose 45 base references and hundreds of dial variants make that collection the largest here. The 26 mm [Lady-Datejust](/brands/rolex/lady-datejust) of the 1791xx generation accounts for 29, the [Pearlmaster](/brands/rolex/pearlmaster) 29 mm and 34 mm for 19, and the 35 mm Yacht-Master for 3. A six-digit Datejust 31 reference is a 2235; the seven-digit one is a 2236, as the [reference-number guide](/blog/how-to-read-a-watch-reference-number) explains. The 2231 was its no-date sibling in the Oyster Perpetual, and the [3135](/calibers/rolex-3135) its counterpart in the 36 mm cases.

732 other watches in the library run the Rolex 2235.

Rolex

Datejust 31 Yellow Gold Diamond / Oyster / Black MOP

178158-0056 · 31 mm

Rolex

Datejust 31 Stainless Steel Diamond / Oyster / Pink MOP

178384-0061 · 31 mm

Rolex

Datejust 31 Rolesor Everose Domed / Jubilee / Black MOP

178241-0043 · 31 mm

Rolex

Datejust 31 Yellow Gold Domed / Oyster / Champagne Roman

178248-0079 · 31 mm