How to Tell the Year of Your Rolex Watch [Complete Guide]

How to Tell the Year of Your Rolex Watch [Complete Guide]

Rolex needs no further information. It’s one of the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious watch brands in the world, and they’ve been manufacturing and refining their watches for more than a century by now. The long life of the Rolex brand and the long history of producing watches means that there are Rolex watches of all ages on the Rolex market.

But if you have a Rolex watch, how can you tell the year of your Rolex? How do you know the exact year it was produced? Was it five years ago or maybe 60 years ago?

Rolex is a brand that is very careful and modest in its watch designs, and the majority of Rolex’s modern models are built on models and designs that were created many years ago. The fact that Rolex has focused more on refining its current models instead of coming up with a bunch of new models has meant that Rolex continuously has been able to refine and improve its watches to the point of perfection, but it has also made it difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish an early Rolex model from a more modern version from the same line.

Because of this, in this article, we’ll teach you how to tell the year of your Rolex watch.

How to tell the year of your Rolex and why it’s important

There are many reasons why you may want to know the year of your Rolex watch. First and foremost, if you are going to estimate the value of your watch, especially if you are in touch with watch retailers that buy watches, it’s crucial that you know the year of your watch since it affects the value of the watch and can do so in a number of different ways. 

Knowing the year of your watch can also be important for the service and maintenance of your watch. Rolex used to recommend that you serviced your watch every five years. Today, that recommendation has been increased to ten years. And this is to ensure that everything is running as it should, to give it new lubricants, and overall just keep it running properly.

By knowing the age of your watch, you can know approximately when your watch should be serviced 

Furthermore, it can also be good to know the year of your Rolex since there may be subtle differences between different models. Now, that watches from the same model had subtle differences was more the case for older watches, but if you have a Rolex watch that is older, the year of your watch can actually mean more to the watch in terms of design other than just the fact that it is a few years older or a few years more modern, etc. For example, one vintage Submariner may have a fat font, whereas another model may have a different font, etc.

These subtle differences can also significantly affect the value of the watch and how attractive it is.

Now, how do you tell the year of your Rolex watch?

Well, if possible, the easiest way to determine the year of a Rolex watch is to look at the certificate and warranty card that comes with the watch. Now, the caveat is that not all Rolex watches have all the accessories that came with the watch when purchased, such as box and certificate, and so if the watch doesn’t have a warranty card, this method can’t be used to identify the year of your Rolex, however, if you do have the warranty card, you’ll easily be able to tell the year of your watch.

To identify the year of your Rolex watch, simply take a look at your warranty card. There, the person who has sold the watch will have written the year and date that the watch was purchased. Now, note that the year that the seller has written on the authenticity card may not be the exact year that the watch was manufactured, however, it will give an estimated date since most watches at the official Rolex retailer tend to be sold within a year, but looking at the warranty card will thus give you a good estimate. of your Rolex’s age.

Now, the most common way to tell the year of a Rolex watch and to identify when it was manufactured is by looking at the watch’s serial number.

Have in mind though, that in 1954, Rolex reached a total of 1,000,000 watches made. This meant that Rolex, instead of continuing sequentially with seven digits, they reset the number to 100,000. Eventually, Rolex came to reach 999,999 again, and this time, Rolex continued the serial number sequence into seven digits.

As a result of this, it tends to be quite some confusion about Rolex serial numbers and how they can be used to date a Rolex watch.

Therefore, if the serial number of your Rolex is between 100,000 and 999,999, you need to take it to an authorized dealer to have them date the exact year of your watch.

Something that is worth having in mind is that insurance companies may want to have your Rolex serial number in order to insure it since this is the only way for them to distinguish your watch from others. Furthermore, if it would be the case that your Rolex watch is lost or stolen, the serial number may be able to help you get it back, and help the police to return it if they find it.

Rolex Random serial numbers

The problem with modern Rolex watches is that they, from 2010 and forward have a so-called ”random serial number”. This means that there is no way to identify the year in which a Rolex was manufactured through its serial number. As such, the only way to tell the year of your Rolex watch made from 2010 and onwards is to look at the warranty card, and fortunately, most modern Rolex watches tend to still have all the accessories when sold since they haven’t had that much time to get lost.

The only way to identify the exact date on which your Rolex watch was manufactured is to take it to an authorized dealer if you don’t have a warranty card. Also, when you see your watch has a random serial number, you will be able to draw the conclusion that it was made after 2010.

How to find your Rolex serial number to identify the year of your watch

If you are going to use the serial number to tell the year of your Rolex, you need to identify the serial number of your watch. You can either look at the warranty card where the serial number of your watch will be listed, or you can also look at the watch, where the serial number is engraved.

On Rolex watches that were produced before 2007, the serial number is engraved between the lugs on the 6 o’clock side of the watch’s case. This means that the engraving is to be found behind where the bracelet is attached, and so to find your serial numbers, you need to remove the bracelet first.

Between the years of 2006 and 2007, Rolex started engraving the serial number on the rehaut of the watch at 6 o’clock, which is the inner ring of the watch between the dial and the crystal, beneath the crystal. Some models during this time have both engravings on the rehaut and on the case. Rolex began stopping with their serial number on the case between 2008 and 2010 and in that sense, by looking at your watch and seeing where on the watch, you can tell whether or not your watch was manufactured before or after the years 2006 and 2010.

Now, the good news is that with Rolex watches that are produced from 1926 until 1987, the serial numbers are sequential, as such, you can take help from this chart below to find the exact year of your Rolex watch.  Note, however, that the years may not be exact since components of your watch may have been stored for a while before being assembled, however, expect that the serial number will be accurate within 1-2 years, and completely accurate most of the time.

• 1925 25,000
• 1926 28,000
• 1927 30,430
• 1928 32,960
• 1929 35,390
• 1930 37,820
• 1931 40,250
• 1932 42,680
• 1933 49,000
• 1934 45,000
• 1935 63,000
• 1936 81,000
• 1937 99,000
• 1938 117,000
• 1939 135,000
• 1940 164,600
• 1941 194,000
• 1942 224,000
• 1943 253,000
• 1944 283,000
• 1945 348,000
• 1946 413,200
• 1947 478,300
• 1948 543,400
• 1949 608,500
• 1950 673,600
• 1951 738,700
• 1952 804,000
• 1953 869,000
• 1954 935,000
• 1955 1,010,000
• 1956 1,095,000
• 1957 1,167,000
• 1958 1,245,000
• 1959 1,323,000
• 1960 1,401,000
• 1961 1,485,000
• 1962 1,557,000
• 1963 1,635,000
• 1964 1,713,000
• 1965 1,791,000
• 1966 1,870,000
• 1967 2,164,000
• 1968 2,426,000
• 1969 2,689,000
• 1970 2,952,000
• 1971 3,215,000
• 1972 3,478,000
• 1973 3,741,000
• 1974 4,000,000
• 1975 4,265,000
• 1976 4,535,000
• 1977 5,005,000
• 1978 5,481,000
• 1979 5,959,000
• 1980 6,430,000
• 1981 6,910,000
• 1982 7,366,000
• 1983 7,860,000
• 1984 8,388,000
• 1985 8,814,000
• 1986 9,300,000
• 1987 9,760,000
• 1987 1/2 9,999,999
• 1987 1/2 R 000,000
• 1988 R 999,999
• 1989 L 000,001
• 1990 L 999,999
• 1990 1/2 E 000,001
• 1991 1/4 E 999,999
• 1991 3/4 N 000,001
• 1991 1/2 X 000,001
• 1992 1/4 C 000,001
• 1993 3/4 S 000,001
• 1995-1998 W 000,001
• 1996-1998 T 000,001
• 1997 1998 U 000,001
• 1998 A 000,001
• 1999 A 000,001

Conclusion

Knowing the year of your Rolex watch is important for many reasons, but telling the year of your Rolex can be done in a number of different ways depending on which watch you have and when it was made. Use these methods to identify the year of your Rolex and you’ll have a better understanding of your watch and its value.