What is Rolex White Tag? Complete Guide

What is Rolex White Tag?

Have you ever heard the term “Rolex white tag”, or “Rolex white hang tag” and wondered what it is? Or have you perhaps seen a photo of a white hang tag together with a Rolex?

In this article, we will clarify what the Rolex white tag means.

 

What is Rolex white hang tag?

A Rolex white hangtag is exactly what it sounds like. It is a white plastic hang tag that includes some information and is delivered with the watch when Rolex sends it from the factory.

Rolex introduced the white hangtag in 2015 with the introduction of its new warranty card. Prior to this, Rolex used a green plastic hangtag that had a sticker on it that included some basic information.

On the white Rolex hangtag, the information is “engraved”, or etched, which means that the hangtags cannot be made generic simply by removing the sticker, like on the older, green tag.

The white Rolex tag includes the following information on the backside:

• Barcode (used internally by Rolex before shipping it to the retailer)
• Complete reference number, including the end reference code which denotes the exact dial configuration
• The serial number of the watch
• The correct box for the model (small, medium, large, or XL)

The white hangtag has the following on the front side:

• Rolex logo
• Whitespace which is meant to be the place where the retailer puts the price tag 

The old green hangtags included:

• barcode
• Serial number
• Reference number (not denoting the dial configuration)
• The reference number of the bracelet

Whilst the serial number makes the old hangtag personal, the information was only added via a sticker, meaning you could remove the sticker and have a generic hangtag. But as already mentioned, this is not possible on the new hangtags.

Essentially, the purpose of the white hangtags is 1. for internal tracking within the Rolex factory. And 2. for the retailer to keep track of their stock, but also to present the price by adding a price tag to it. If you take a look at the factory coffin in which Rolex ships the Rolex watches to the retailers, you can see that they are designed to hold the hangtag. This is to make it possible to identify the watch without having to unpack it. They make it easier to quickly see which model it contains. This is particularly important if you have them stored in the coffins inside of a safe.

Do you get the white hangtag when buying a new Rolex watch?

A few years ago, you used to get most things when buying a Rolex watch. This included the stickers, the outer cardboard box, the factory coffin, the bezel protector, and hangtag.

But in recent years, Rolex and retailers have become more and more strict with this type of item. With that said, most Rolex retailers these days tend to keep the white hang tags. Furthermore, they have never been considered a part of a “full set”, although they can be a nice bonus.

You cannot demand that you should get the hangtag, but if you buy a new Rolex and they don’t automatically include it, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you can take it with you.

The hang tags can help identify if the dial is the original

Thanks to the fact that the hangtag indicates the full reference number, the hangtag can tell us whether the dial that is in the watch is the one it was originally delivered with. For example, if it is a Daytona 116508 with a special green dial, some people prefer to have the hangtag included as this can work as “proof” that the watch was originally delivered with the green dial.