The Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0012 ice blue Roman keeps the platinum-only dial colour and swaps stones for applied Roman numerals, which makes it the most restrained of the ice blue 40 mm cards. Rolex has offered Roman markers on the Day-Date for decades, and against a pale blue sunray ground they read as texture rather than contrast: white metal on cool blue, catching light only when the wrist turns. Baton markers complete the hour track, a blue seconds hand crosses the dial, and the fluted 950 platinum bezel frames all of it.

Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0012 Ice Blue Roman Specifications

• Reference: 228236-0012
• Case diameter: 40 mm
• Case material: 950 platinum
• Bezel: fluted platinum
• Dial: ice blue sunray with applied Roman numerals and batons
• Seconds hand: blue
• Day display: full day-of-week window at 12 o’clock
• Date display: Cyclops-magnified at 3 o’clock
• Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating
• Bracelet: President three-piece link in platinum, concealed Crownclasp
• Movement: clone Cal. 3255 automatic (super clone) or Japanese automatic (A-grade)
• Power reserve: 70 hours (clone Cal. 3255)
• Water resistance: 100 m

The case weighs more than a gold Day-Date of the same diameter, which is usually the first thing an owner notices before the dial registers at all. Two options are stocked: $349 for the A-grade with a Japanese automatic movement, and $849 for the super clone with the clone Cal. 3255.

Why Roman Numerals Are the Harder Dial

An applied Roman numeral is a solid metal part pinned through the dial rather than printed on it, and every facet has to be polished separately. On a pale ground any softness in those facets shows at once, which makes this layout less forgiving than a black or champagne Roman dial and worth a look under angled light before the watch ships. Set beside the stone-set -0006, the same platinum case reads a full step quieter here. Every platinum dial we carry for it is in the Day-Date 40 catalogue.

Movement and Calendar

The super clone carries a clone Cal. 3255 with a 70-hour power reserve, the figure Rolex quotes for the genuine movement, and the day and date discs both snap over at midnight rather than drifting across an hour. EW and BP are the factories known for this A3255 clone; the Day-Date President replica buying guide on our blog sets out what changes between them.

Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0012 Ice Blue Roman Replica FAQ

Why does the 228236-0012 use Roman numerals on an ice blue dial?

Because the -0012 is Rolex’s Roman-numeral layout for the ice blue platinum dial: the colour is tied to the metal and the markers are the variable. The numerals are applied in white metal on a pale blue ground, so the dial stays tonal, and batons finish the hour track where numerals would crowd the day and date windows.

How do you tell a real 228236-0012 from a fake?

Start at the calendar and the dial printing: on a genuine piece both discs jump instantly at midnight and the small chronometer text stays crisp under a loupe. This super clone matches the 40 mm case proportions, the instant jump and the printing, and differs where it has to, because the movement is a clone of Cal. 3255 rather than Rolex’s own. The Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0012 ice blue Roman is built to hold up at wrist level, not on a watchmaker’s bench.

Other versions of this model in stock: Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0006 ice blue baguette, Rolex Day-Date 40 228236-0024 blue ombre and Rolex Day-Date 40 228236 black dial.