Watch Paparazzi

Singer Macklemore spotted wearing Rolex

Macklemore was recently spotted on the wrist wearing a vintage Rolex Day-Date reference 18238 in 18k yellow gold, fitted with a rare brown wood-radica dial and the brand's signature President bracelet — a combination that sits firmly at the intersection of horological history and collector desire.

The Rolex Day-Date 18238 was produced from 1988 through the late 1990s and represents a pivotal chapter in the Day-Date lineage. Powered by the Rolex Calibre 3155 — a self-winding movement with 31 jewels, a Parachrom hairspring precursor, and an instantaneous day-date mechanism — the 18238 sits in a 36mm case machined entirely from 18k yellow gold. The reference was available exclusively in precious metals, either 18k gold variants or platinum, a rule that Rolex has maintained since the model's 1956 debut, reinforcing its positioning as the brand's uncompromising prestige flagship.

The dial on Macklemore's example is what elevates this particular watch into genuine collector territory. Wood-radica dials — sliced from the burled root of the briar tree — are prized for their organic, unrepeatable grain patterns. No two are identical. Rolex offered an array of exotic dial materials on the Day-Date 18238, including meteorite, onyx, and various hardstones, but wood-radica remains among the most visually distinctive and emotionally resonant. Condition of these dials is critical to value, as wood is susceptible to moisture and UV degradation over decades.

Macklemore has long demonstrated a genuine interest in watches rather than purely symbolic consumption — his on-record affection for vintage American culture and considered personal style makes a 1990s Rolex Day-Date a coherent, well-calibrated choice. The Presidential bracelet, with its three-piece semi-circular links, frames the piece with the kind of quiet authority that has made the Day-Date the watch of choice for heads of state and industry figures since Eisenhower's era.

On the current grey market, a Rolex Day-Date 18238 in yellow gold with a wood-radica dial in solid condition commands approximately $25,000 — a figure that reflects strong and consistent collector demand for exotic-dial references from this generation. With no current retail equivalent, the vintage 18238 occupies a unique space: historically significant, visually irreplaceable, and appreciating steadily.