Rolex Datejust 36 vs Datejust 41; Comparison Beyond the Obvious

Rolex Datejust 36 vs Datejust 41used to be a question one would ask while the purchasing a Rolex Datejust. Without being able to see and compare these relatively rare watches side by side, this question is not as simple to answer as one may imagine. As a matter of fact, it is also possible that the owner of DJ36 don’t fully understand how large the 41 size is and vice versa.

Some live by the DJ36 while others ally with the DJ41. Is 36 “Manly” enough or 41 “Bulky” for a classic watch? We dig into this by looking at the differences which are beyond the obvious.

A little History:

Talk about the most iconic watches in the world & there is absolutely no chance you can miss the Rolex Datejust. A watch with close to eight Decades of history, which essentially commenced the journey of the cyclops lens for Rolex. An attribute that pretty much has become a synonym to Rolex, to the point that where while the original submariner didn’t have a date, now a more popular Submariner is the one with not just the date but a cyclops lens on the crystal.

The evolution of size: (or maybe the revolution)

The original size of Rolex Datejust was 36mm and while Rolex have continued to stay true and committed to the size of 36mm, they’ve added more sizes to provide additional variations and choices, it wasn’t until 2009 that Rolex finally increased the size of Datejust to 41mm in the flesh of DJ-II. 

The “Fittest” survive extinction

What’s interesting is that this Datejust 41 doesn’t come at the cost of Datejust 36 and even to-date the DJ36 is still in production and is as popular as the DJ41, if not more. Why this is interesting you ask? Because typically when Rolex add a new size to the watch model the previous size is discontinued. Talk about OP39, Explorer 39, Submariner or Explorer-II in 40mm, all sizes replaced, and these lines permanently discontinued but there is no DJ36 in this extinction.

Rolex Datejust 36 vs Datejust 41? Why is this so hard?

Deciding between the DJ 36 and dj41 can be complex largely because many times you don’t get to try both in the same shop or try either at all. And then if you are able to try, you can’t exactly gauge or ascertain as to why one looks and wears so much different than the other.

To help with this decision, we will highlight some of the main differences as to why these watches wear so differently. Both of the watches in this comparison have a different dial so we will not be looking at the differences in the dial elements.

The hands:

The Datejust 36 hands are not only a little bit smaller than the Datejust 41, but they are also lesser in width. For some this might be a finesse thing, for others it might be a legibility issue. To me they look perfect on both, and the legibility is fine on both as well.

The Bezel:

When you look closely you can also notice that the width of the bezel is also much narrower in the Datejust 36 compared to the Datejust 41 which means that the DJ36 will also be slightly less blingy watch of the two, as that is the “bling-iest” part on the watch face and the smaller width will reflect less light, but that also makes it a bit finer. TOUCHE!!

Crown:

To add a perfect balance to the design while both of these watches come with exactly same water resistance of 100 M the crown is slightly thicker on the DJ41

Case Size: Let the battle commence

Measuring the bezel at the outer extremity on the DJ41, its size is 39.2mm the bezel dimension on the DJ36, it is 35.2mm that is while the case size is 5 mm smaller than the 41 the face of the watch at the bezel is only 4mm smaller

You might be wondering why is it called the DJ41 when the bezel is about 39mm? If you measure the case of DJ41 from 2 to 8 position it is indeed 40.8mm hence the largest size. This is due to the curved profile of the case sides adding to the heft. Interestingly, the 2 to 8 measurement on the case of DJ36 returns the reading of 36.8 mm. I would argue its marketed size and say that technically and arguably it is a 37 mm watch, at least per my caliper.

Dial Size- Surprise-Surprise!!

The DJ41 has the dial dimension of 32mm whereas the dial on the DJ 36 is 30mm. The face of the watch due to the dial here is only 2mm smaller. For reference the dial size on the Rolex Submariner or Yacht-Master is also 30mm, but due to the bezel the size naturally adds up and they look much bigger although their dial size is the same as DJ36.

The Bracelet:

One of the reasons why the DJ36 wears so beautifully and yet manly despite a smaller-ish size is how well Rolex have sized its bracelet. DJ36 comes with a 20 mm bracelet, for reference this is the same width of bracelet that came with the Submariner 40mm, and it is the same bracelet size that still comes with the GMT and Yacht-Master. Even the Explorer 36 or Yacht-Master 37 come with a narrower bracelet than the DJ36 although the Yacht-Master is a 1mm bigger watch on paper, so now you know why the DJ36 is a manly watch but the YM37 isn’t! The DJ41 in this comparison however comes with a 21mm bracelet.

Another interesting character is that both bracelets taper down to the same width of 15.4 mm at the clasp, and this adds to the dressiness of both of these watches.

The Bulk:

The dj41 naturally has much more size and metal around the case as you can see here, it is taller it is wider and that adds to the substance and heftiness of the watch even the lugs are slightly wider on the dj41 as compared to the DJ36.

Rolex Datejust36 vs Datejust41 – Clasp

Weight:

The weight of the DJ36 with all links on is 121 grams. Weight of the DJ41 with all links on is 134 grams.

Lug to Lug:

the lug-to-lug height on DJ36 is 43.1mm which also helps with how the watch wears. The lug-to-lug height on the dj41 is 47.4mm, it is taller, it is wider and that adds to the substance and heftiness of the watch. Even the lugs are slightly wider on the DJ41 as compared to the DJ36

Wearability:

On the wrist the Rolex Datejust 36 wears true to its size but looks slightly bigger than you would think and typically get from a 36mm watch. This is partially due to a slightly larger actual size as I explained earlier but also a wider bracelet of 20mm that really fills the wrist nicely. On the other hand the Rolex Datejust 41 is naturally a much bigger watch and fills the wrist a lot more than the DJ36 while the DJ41 is bigger its size does not come at the cost of wearability and you can easily pull it off, although it may not look as dressy as the DJ36 which may be a positive as it makes it more versatile or a negative as it makes it a touch less formal.

Where Does this lead us to?

In the watch world half a millimeter can sometimes make or break the deal. So, with 5mm of size difference the step up in the size is big. Where the DJ36 offers you a more conventional, formal, classic, iconic and historic look and size; the DJ41 offers a more modern, hefty, substantial and sizable variation to fill the wrist and makes a statement while doing so. If anything, this is the best-case scenario where we get the DJ41 but didn’t see the DJ 36 depart. I mean how can we forget some amazing sizes from the Rolex lineup now a history like OP39, Explorer 39, Explorer-II 40 and even the Sea-dweller 40 — lucky us these examples don’t include a DJ36 … yet.

When we take into account all these measurements and then view the watches on a wrist, it isn’t hard to notice, that both sizes have their own merits. They are sized so perfectly that neither is too big or small. They both look spectacular on the same wrist size. Some might think that because the DJ36 is in the 30s, it is too small while others may believe that DJ41 is in the 40s so it’s too big for a classic dress/formal watch. That is not the case.

Both the 36mm and the 41mm Datejust are available at calibre24.com.au.