Is Rolex Warranty Transferable? Complete Guide
Today, Rolex offers a five-year international warranty for all its watches. Of course, there are a set of rules and terms for the warranty to be valid, like with all warranties. But what if a Rolex changes owners? What if you plan to buy or sell a secondhand Rolex watch? Is the warranty still valid and will you have to transfer the warranty?
All of these questions and more are exactly what we’re going to answer in this article.
About Rolex warranty
The Rolex warranty is today 5 years and covers all Rolex watches. Some of the most important terms that Rolex has set out for the validity of the warranty are:
“The Rolex guarantee excludes normal wear-and-tear (notably the wear-and-tear of non-metal bracelets and straps), loss, theft, or damage due to misuse. The substitution of components with, or the addition of, components or accessories not manufactured by Rolex will invalidate the guarantee. The guarantee is valid only if
(1) the watch has been sold by an Official Rolex Retailer
(2) the guarantee card has been completed in full by the Official Rolex Retailer at the time of purchase; and
(3) the guarantee card is presented with the watch, either to an Official Rolex Retailer or to an Official Rolex Service Centre. Any work carried out by third parties will render the guarantee null and void.”
Rolex’s warranty is international, meaning that you are not limited to the specific store from which it was originally purchased. If you have any issues with your Rolex watch, you can go into any Rolex official retailer around the world and they will be obligated to help you, assuming that your issue is covered under warranty and not caused by external factors, such as normal wear-and-tear.
In 2015, Rolex extended the warranty of its watches to five years from the industry-standard 2 years. Having a long warranty is a great testimony to the quality of Rolex watches and the fact that they are confident in their longevity. The 5-year warranty started for all Rolex watches sold from July 1 2015. And watches sold within two years also get an extended warranty of one year. Rolex watches sold from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2015, got this extension. Of course, by now, it is already passed as these warranties have already expired.
Is Rolex warranty transferable?
The short answer to that question is yes! Rolex warranties are transferrable. The fact is that Rolex’s warranty is connected to the watch and warranty card, and not a person. Since the Rolex warranty is not personal, it means that no transfer of warranty needs to be done if a Rolex changes owners. As long as you have the original warranty card that is provided by the Retailer at the original point of sale, together with the watch, the warranty is valid.
Some Swiss watch brands have made their warranties personal, meaning that you have to register a watch to your personal account online. And when the watch changes owners, the new owner needs to register it to their profile. But this is not the case for Rolex watches.
Rolex has changed its warranty card designs several times over the years. Originally, Rolex didn’t use plastic cards but instead guarantee papers. On these, the name and address of the buyer were also filled out.
Later on, Rolex changed to a new style of plastic card, and later an updated version of this but with a similar purpose. These plastic warranty cards contain the name of the original buyer. And something that can cause confusion about the transferability is the fact that there is a name on the warranty card. What happens if I take the watch to a Rolex retailer and the warranty card has a different name than mine?
The answer is that it doesn’t matter. Since the Rolex warranty is not connected to a person, the name on the warranty card makes no difference to the validity of the warranty. It was more of a way to personalize the buying experience for Rolex’s customers.
But in 2020, Rolex updated its warranty card design once more, and this time, they removed the name on the warranty card. This further emphasizes the fact that Rolex warranties are not personal. And Rolex understood that the names on the warranty cards actually didn’t serve a purpose. They just made it more complicated for the retailers as they had to fill out the card each time.
There you have it! The Rolex warranty is transferable. If you sell or buy a Rolex watch, you don’t have to do anything in regards to the warranty. As long as you have the warranty card (and the warranty period hasn’t ended), the warranty is valid.
