Rolex

Reference 18038 Day-Date | A yellow gold automatic wristwatch with day, date and bracelet, Owned by Coach Tom Landry, Circa 1979

Auction Closed

December 7, 07:12 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 60,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Dial: champagne

Caliber: cal. 3055 automatic, 27 jewels

Case: 18k yellow gold, screw down case back

Case number: 5'905'552

Closure: 18k yellow gold Rolex President bracelet with folding clasp

Size: 36 mm diameter, bracelet circumference is approximately 195 mm

Signed: case, dial and movement

Box: yes

Papers: yes

Accessories: Rolex presentation box, Official Chronometer Certification dated August 10, 1979, booklets. A blue suede sport coat, white shirt, and blue tie worn by Tom Landry while coaching the Super Bowl XII, a game worn Fedora, a 1988 press photo, a Dallas Cowboys Wilson football autographed by Tom Landry, a Tom Landry memorial poster, a copy of Tom Landry's autobiography, and a photograph of Tom Landry with Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Don Meredith, Danny White, Eddie LeBaron, and Craig Morton (signed by each individual)

The Rolex Day-Date has many nicknames, and while one of them is ‘The President’, this one should be ‘The Coach’, for it was seen on the sidelines of NFL games for over a decade on the wrist of legendary Coach Tom Landry.

One of the most important men to ever play – and coach – in the game of football. While serving as the New York Giants defensive coordinator he developed the now ubiquitous ‘4-3 defense’. In 1960 though, he was tapped to become the head coach of a new team – the Dallas Cowboys. Landry continued to innovate leading the Cowboys to a record 20 straight winning seasons with five Super Bowl Appearances and two Lombardi trophies in 1971 & 1977. It should come as no surprise that in 1990 Coach Landry was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

Coach Landry was known as much for his strategy as he was his incredible leadership, and polished appearance. Ever stoic on the sidelines with his jacket, tie, and famous signature fedora. Not unlike his two Lombardi trophies, this watch too is a Superbowl trophy of sorts. Coach Landry led the Cowboys to a Superbowl victory in 1977 at Superbowl XII, and a consecutive Superbowl appearance in 1978. Coach Landry’s wife Alicia, whom he married in 1949, knew this was worth memorizing and opted to do-so with a solid gold Rolex Day-Date. Fitting, given that it was the watch preferred by another famous Texan, President Lyndon Johnson. “She didn’t want to just put it on his charge card”, remembers Tom Landry Jr., “so she worked part-time for her father and bought dad the watch herself.” As such, the papers are made out to ‘Mrs. Tom Landry’.

Starting in that 1979 season – Coach Landry and the Day-Date were inseparable. “They said that dad was the first NFL coach to wear a Rolex Day-Date” remarks Tom Landry Jr. In photographs, videos, championship wins, and the occasional defeat, the Day-Date can prominently be seen on Landry’s wrist, The Day-Date can even be seen as he packed up his desk for last time after 29 seasons as the Cowboy’s only head coach. Coach Landry’s Day-Date has been memorialized not just in those iconic sideline photographs, but also in the statue of him outside Cowboys Stadium.

Consigned by his son, Tom Landry Jr., this is the first time that the watch has been seen in public since Coach Landry’s passing in 2000 at age 75. In addition to the watch, which bears the marks of a legendary coaching career, it is accompanied by its original box and papers made out to Mrs. Tom Landry, period photographs, a Tom Landry autographed Cowboys football – the Superbowl XII Landry’s worn outfit complete with - of course - one of his signature game-worn fedoras that can be instantly seen in numerous photographs.