Datejust 31 Yellow Gold Domed / President / Olive Roman

About This Watch

The Rolex Datejust 31, in its 178248-0094 iteration, embodies a quiet mastery of proportion and restraint, balancing the brand’s storied heritage with a contemporary elegance that feels both timeless and distinct. The dial, a deep, rich olive green, evokes the quiet confidence of a classic sports car’s interior—subtle yet unmistakably intentional. Set against this hue are the watch’s Roman numerals, their crisp edges and restrained presence a nod to the Datejust collection’s mid-20th-century origins, while the stick hands trace their lineage to the precision of early chronographs. The yellow gold case, domed and polished, lends a warmth that complements the dial’s intensity, its 31mm diameter a deliberate choice that ensures wearability without compromise. The President bracelet, with its signature five-piece links, adds a layer of sophistication, its curvature mirroring the case’s fluidity. At its heart lies the Caliber 2235, a self-winding movement with a 72-hour power reserve, its reliability and precision a testament to Rolex’s unwavering standards. The sapphire crystal, paired with a closed case back, ensures the watch’s mechanical integrity remains unobtrusive, allowing the focus to remain on the interplay of materials and design. This is a watch that thrives in the spaces between moments—whether on the cuff of a tailored suit during a private dinner or resting on a desk in a study lined with rare books. It is for the individual who values understated distinction, whose taste is measured not in excess but in the quiet assurance of a timepiece that demands no explanation.

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.

178248-0094 is one of 38 executions of the 178248 base reference. Underneath they are the same watch; what separates this one is a green dial and a yellow gold case.

Rolex

Champagne · Yellow Gold

178248-0012 · 31 mm

Rolex

White · Yellow Gold

178248-0013 · 31 mm

Rolex

White · Yellow Gold

178248-0014 · 31 mm

Rolex

Black · Yellow Gold

178248-0019 · 31 mm

Rolex

Silver · Yellow Gold

178248-0020 · 31 mm

Rolex

Champagne · Yellow Gold

178248-0023 · 31 mm

Rolex

White · Yellow Gold

178248-0025 · 31 mm

Rolex

Black · Yellow Gold

178248-0026 · 31 mm

+ 29 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