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R ole x Serial Numbers
Details
Every genuine Rolex watch has a uniq ue serial
Ser ial Numbers
numb er. It also helps you to find the appr oxima te
Model References age of a Rolex watch. The ser ial number engraved
Clasp Cod es on the case b etw een the lugs at 6 o' clock position.
The b racelet must be removed to check. With new
Country C odes
cases the serial number is also engraved on the
Secur ity Featur es crystal ring near the d ial (that’ s the p art betw een
Luminous Mater ial dial and crystal) and c an be seen through the
crystal. The serial number can be found on the
Access ories
guarantee cer tificate as well.
Sp ec ials
Ad vertisements Sinc e Rolex does not publish offic ial inform ation
Books about the a ge of their watches, watch collectors
gathered lists of seria l numbers, from w hich the
Wallpapers age can be estimated. Unfortuna tely there are different lists in the inter net, which tend to
be s imilar , b ut in the d etail never theles s d ifferences do exist. By usag e of the list a r ough
Se lling & Buying estimation of the age is possib le. However , the accur acy cannot b e guaranteed. It’s
imp ortant to know that the da ta refers to the yea r of manufactur e only. The sales d ate of
L inks the watch can deviate subs tantially fr om it.
The following table is a simp lified and modified list, which is essentially based on the list on
Gue stbook Hannes’ Oys terw orld:
Year No Ye ar No Ye ar No
1925 1955 30634 1985 8624000
A ward s
1926 1956 139400 1986 9290000
1927 20190 1957 216821 1987 9863279
1928 23969 1958 353343 1987 / 1988 R
P ower ed b y 1929 28290 1959 399000 1988 / 1989 L
1930 29312 1960 511687 1989 / 1990 L
1931 1961 646900 1990 / 1991 E
1932 29312 1962 763663 1991 / 1992 X/N (from Nov.)
1933 29933 1963 950000 1992 / 1993 C
1934 30823 1964 997436 1993 / 1994 S
1935 34336 1965 1193000 1994 / 1995 W
1936 36856 1966 1289727 1995 / 1996 W
1937 40920 1967 1554000 1996 / 1997 T
1938 43793 1968 1720977 1997 / 1998 U (from A ug.)
1939 71224 1969 2060000 1998 / 1999 A (from Nov.)
1940 99775 1970 2504211 1999 / 2000 A
1941 106047 1971 2728000 2000 / 2001 P (from Jan.)
1942 143509 1972 3050000 2001 / 2002 K (fr om Sept.)
1943 230878 1973 3523678 2002 / 2003 Y (fr om Sept.)
1944 269561 1974 3761535 2003 / 2004 F (fr om Sept.)
1945 302459 1975 3886050 2004 / 2005 F
1946 367946 1976 4155863 2005 / 2006 D (from Ap r.)
1947 529163 1977 5008000 2006 / 2007 Z (fr om May)
1948 628840 1978 5238376 2006 / 2007
1949 1979 5952834 2007 / 2008
1950 1980 6434000
1951 709249 1981 6594000
1952 726639 1982 7129351
1953 793930 1983 7862000
1954 976195 1984 8338000
Important to know is, that a serial number sta rting w ith 44 or 47 is used for a chang ed case
by r olex.
The following very interesting cha rt is pr ovid ed by the watch collector Georg e Burger . He p ut
all w ell known ser ial numbers in this chart s o it’s p ossible to d o an analysis and a
cla ssifica tion of the serial num ber pla n with the help of this cha rt:
http://oysterinfo.de/en/detailinfos/seriennummern/index.php 27-11-12

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This dia gram show s one characteristic of the serial numbers:
In the mid dle of the 50' s Rolex r eached serial number 999,999 and decided - from tod ay's
view not com prehensibly - to begin aga in w ith 100,000. This decision p rob ably ha d to be
ta ken very q uickly a nd because of the alr eady existing tooling it was the wa y of the "least
resista nce".
It is w orth mentioning that the serial numb ers from 100.000 to 999,999 occur in two time
period s. If you w ant find out the da te of manufacture it is ab solutely necess ary to chec k the
serial numb er and the model. You can often find wrong ass ignments in descr iptions of items
offered on the internet.
An example: A GMT 1675 w ith serial numb er 510xxx was not manufactured in the year 1947,
but in (app roximately) the year 1960, because this mod el was still not availab le to the
market in 1947.
In the following I put the three most im por tant lists from the Internet together, so that you
can d etermine on a quick viewing , where the differ ences between the lists exist:
Oysterworld Timekee per Charlie J
Year from to Ye ar No Ye ar No
1925 1925 25000 1925 25000
1926 1926 28000 1926 28000
1927 20190 21691 1927 30430 1927 30430
1928 23969 24747 1928 32960 1928 32960
1929 28290 1929 35390 1929 35390
1930 29312 1930 37820 1930 37820
1931 1931 40250 1931 40250
1932 29312 1932 42680 1932 42680
1933 29933 1933 1933 45000
1934 30823 1934 45000 1934 49000
1935 34336 35365 1935 63000 1935 63000
1936 36856 37569 1936 81000 1936 81000
1937 40920 1937 99000 1937 99000
1938 43793 1938 117000 1938 117000
1939 71224 1939 135000 1939 135000
1940 99775 1940 164600 1940 164600
1941 106047 1941 194200 1941 194200
1942 143509 202026 1942 223800 1942 223800
1943 230878 1943 253400 1943 253400
1944 269561 1944 283000 1944 283000
1945 302459 1945 348100 1945 348100
1946 367946 387216 1946 413200 1946 413200
1947 529163 1947 478300 1947 478300
1948 628840 1948 543400 1948 543400
1949 1949 608500 1949 608500
1950 1950 673600 1950 673600
1951 709249 710776 1951 738700 1951 738700
1952 726639 840396 1952 803800 1952 803800
1953 793930 973830 1953 950000 1953 868900
1954 976195 43325 * 1954 999999 1954 934000
1955 30634 1297xx 1955 200000 1955 1012000
1956 139400 217821 1956 400000 1956 1090000
1957 216821 358xxx 1957 600000 1957 1168000
1958 353343 426510 1958 800000 1958 1246000
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1959 399xxx 502683 1959 1100000 1959 1324000
1960 511687 642993 1960 1402000 1960 1402000
1961 6469xx 702xxx 1961 1480000 1961 1480000
1962 763663 894xxx 1962 1558000 1962 1558000
1963 95xxxx 1021800 1963 1636000 1963 1636000
1964 997436 1195238 1964 1714000 1964 1714000
1965 1193xxx 1259699 1965 1792000 1965 1792000
1966 1289727 1557xxx 1966 1871000 1966 1871000
1967 1554xxx 186xxxx 1967 2163900 1967 2163900
1968 1720977 2477152 1968 2426800 1968 2426800
1969 2060xxx 22927xx 1969 2689700 1969 2689700
1970 2504211 2959xxx 1970 2952600 1970 2952600
1971 2728xxx 3037xxx 1971 3215500 1971 3215500
1972 305xxxx 3478400 1972 3478400 1972 3478400
1973 3523678 3741300 1973 3741300 1973 3741300
1974 3761535 4194183 1974 4004200 1974 4004200
1975 3886050 4267100 1975 4267100 1975 4267100
1976 4155863 4538000 1976 4539000 1976 4539000
1977 5008000 5367817 1977 5006000 1977 5006000
1978 5238376 5737030 1978 5482000 1978 5482000
1979 5952834 6122790 1979 5958000 1979 5958000
1980 6434000 1980 6434000 1980 6434000
1981 6594xxx 6910000 1981 6910000 1981 6910000
1982 7129351 7437845 1982 7386000 1982 7386000
1983 7862000 8085072 1983 7862000 1983 7862000
1984 8338000 1984 8338000 1984 8338000
1985 8624000 8734xxx 1985 8814000 1985 8814000
1986 9290000 9764478 1986 9290000 1986 9290000
1987 9863279 1987 9766000 1987 9766000
1987 R 1987.5 9999999 1987 1/2 R000001
1988 L 1987.5 - 1989 R 1988 R999999
1990 E 1989 - 1990 L 1989 L000001
1991 X 1990.5 - 1992 E 1990 L999999
1991 N (Nov) 1991 - 1993 X 1990 1/2 E000001
1992 C 1992 - 1993 N 1991 1/4 E999999
1993 S 1992 - 1994 C 1991 1/2 X000001
1994 W 1993 - 1995 S 1991 3/4 N000001
1996 T 1995 - 1997 W 1992 1/4 C000001
1997 U (Aug) 1996 - 1999 T 1993 3/4 S000001
1998 A (Nov) 1996 - 1999 U 1995 W000001
2000 P (Jan) 1997 - 2000 A 1996 T000001
2001 K (Sep) 2000 - 2001 P 1997 U000001
2002 Y (Sep) 2001 - 2003 K 1998 A000001
2003 F (Sep) 2002 - 2004 Y 1999 A
2004 2003 - 2004 F 2000 P
2005 D (A pr) 2004 - 2005 D 2001 K
2006 2005 - 2006 Until 2.Q. 2002 K
2007 2006 - 2007 Fr om 2.Q. 2002 Y
2008 2007 - 2008 1.Q. 2003 Y
4. Q. 2003 F
http://oysterinfo.de/en/detailinfos/seriennummern/index.php 27-11-12