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Brief Explanation of the Rolex Serial Numbering System... In 1927, Rolex began issuing every Rolex Oyster case a unique serial number to distinguish them from one another. Around 1953, the numbers reached the 999,999 mark, at which time Rolex decided against adding a 7th digit, thus continuing into the "millions"--Instead, they started the sequence aver at 100,001. Around this ame time, Rolex had initiated another dating system--They stamped the inside of the case back with a code consisting of a Roman numeral and two numbers. The Roman numerals were I, II, III, IV, which represented which quarter of the year the watch was produced. The numbers simply represented the two-digit year in which the watch was produced. Therefore, the code III 53 would represent the 3rd quarter (i.e. July-September) of 1953--this code continued until around 1970. In the early 1960s, Rolex once again reached the 999,999 mark, but this time added a 7th digit and continued until mid 1987, when the numbering reached 9,999,999. At this time, Rolex elected to start numbering with a letter prefix (e.g. R000001). The system started with the letter "R", which was then subsequently followed by L-E-X. Thus spelling out the word "ROLEX" with the "O" being omitted, to help avert any possible confusion with the number "0". This sequence continued through November 1991, when a new numbering system was introduced utilizing the letters N, C and S, which took them through 1993. In 1994, Rolex started yet another sequence with the letters: W, T and U, then A, P, and K in subsequent years. To add to
the confusion, many of these prefixes have run concurrently over the past
few years, giving the appearance of a random numbering system.
Therefore, only Rolex knows exactly when any particular watch was
made and they aren't talking.
(Please Note: According to Jeffrey P. Hess, co-author of The Best of Time,
Rolex Wristwatches, there are a number of books in print
[as well as
ebooks and websites]
which list 'incorrect' (or "outdated") serial number dates. The following
list was reprinted, with permission, directly from the aforementioned
book, and updated with new serial number "prefixes" as they are
introduced.) |
Look on your so called Certified Appraisal to see your serial number,
if it does not have a letter in front of the number, the watch was made
prior to 1987
ROLEX
|
21691
.............................1927
|
| 23969 .............................1928 |
| 24747 .............................1928 |
| 28290 .............................1930 |
| 29312 .............................1932 |
| 29933 .............................1933 |
| 30823 .............................1934 |
| 35365 .............................1935 |
| 37596 .............................1936 |
| 40920 .............................1937 |
| 43739 .............................1938 |
| 71224 .............................1939 |
| 99775 .............................1940 |
| 106047 ...........................1941 |
| 143509 ...........................1942 |
| 230878 ...........................1943 |
| 269561 ...........................1944 |
| 302459 ...........................1945 |
| 387216 ...........................1946 |
| 529163 ...........................1947 |
| 628840 ...........................1948 |
| 710776 ...........................1951 |
| 840396 ...........................1952 |
| 929426 ......................IV 1953 |
| 930879 .........................I 1953 |
| 931080 ........................II 1953 |
| 937170 .........................I 1954 |
| 941699 .........................I 1953 |
| 952892 .........................I 1954 |
| 955466 ......................IV 1953 |
| 964789 ......................IV 1953 |
| 973697 ......................IV 1953 |
| 973930 ......................III 1953 |
| 116578 ......................IV 1953 |
| 132562 .......................III 1953 |
| 139400 .........................I 1956 |
| 139477 .........................I 1956 |
| 282632 .......................III 1955 |
| 321884 ......................IV 1957 |
| 345500 ........................II 1957 |
| 360171 .........................I 1958 |
| 383893 .........................I 1958 |
| 362214 .........................I 1958 |
| 385893 ........................II 1958 |
| 391528 .......................III 1958 |
| 426074 ......................IV 1958 |
| 412128 ......................IV 1958 |
| 693808 ........................II 1960 |
| 763663 ........................II 1962 |
| 764754 .........................I 1962 |
| 869868 ......................IV 1962 |
| 985015 .........................I 1964 |
| 1041729 ......................II 1964 |
| 1182076 .....................III 1964 |
| 1259699 ......................II 1965 |
| 1345681 ....................IV 1965 |
| 1871000 .........................1966 |
| 1994956 .....................III 1966 |
| 2163900 .........................1967 |
| 2426800 .........................1968 |
| 2555384 ......................II 1970 |
| 2689700 .........................1969 |
| 2952600 .........................1970 |
| 3215500 .........................1971 |
| 3478400 .........................1972 |
| 3741300 .........................1973 |
| 4004200 .........................1974 |
| 4267100 .........................1975 |
| 4538000 .........................1976 |
| 5008000 .........................1977 |
| 5482000 .........................1978 |
| 5958000 .........................1979 |
| 6434000 .........................1980 |
| 6910000 .........................1981 |
| 7386000 .........................1982 |
| 7862000 .........................1983 |
| 8338000 .........................1984 |
| 8614000 .........................1985 |
| 9290000 .........................1986 |
| 9766000 .........................1987 |
| 9999999 ....................1987 1/2 |
| R000001 ....................1987 1/2 |
| R999999 .........................1988 |
| L000001 .........................1989 |
| L999999 ....................1990 1/2 |
| E000001 ....................1990 1/2 |
| E999999 ....................1991 1/2 |
| X000001 ....................1991 1/2 |
| N000001 ..................Nov 1991 |
| C000001 .........................1992 |
| S000001 .........................1993 |
| W000001 .....................1994/5 |
| T000001 .........................1996 |
| U000001 ..................Aug 1997 |
| A000001 ............Nov/Dec 1998 |
| P000001 ....................Jan 2000 |
| K000001 ..................Mid 2001 |
| Y000001 ...................Mid 2002 |
| F000001 ...................Mid 2003 |
| D000001 ...................Early 2005 |
| Z000001 ...................Early 2006 - NEW |
The
previous list can be a bit confusing at times, so we have comprised the
following "round number" ballpark list. This list gives a more user-friendly
resource for dating a Rolex watch to an approximate date range. This list
may not be as exact for some specific years, but it is very close and much
easier to understand.
|
20000
.............................1927
|
| 25000 .............................1929 |
| 28000 .............................1931 |
| 29000 .............................1933 |
| 35000 .............................1935 |
| 40000 .............................1937 |
| 71000 .............................1939 |
| 106000 .............................1941 |
| 230000 .............................1943 |
| 302000 .............................1945 |
| 529000 .............................1947 |
| 600000 .............................1949 |
| 700000 .............................1951 |
| 900000 ...........................1953 |
| 100000
to 300000 .........1953 to 1957 (At this time Rolex started the numbering system back at 100000. This time period also saw the start of the "Roman Numeral" dating system explained above.) |
| 400000 ...........................1959 |
| 700000 ...........................1961 |
| 900000 ...........................1963 |
| 1200000 ...........................1965 |
| 1600000 ...........................1967 |
| 2300000 ...........................1969 |
| 2900000 ...........................1971 |
| 3750000 ...........................1973 |
| 4250000 ...........................1975 |
| 5000000 .........................1977 |
| 5950000 .........................1979 |
| 7000000 .........................1981 |
| 7750000 .........................1983 |
| 8600000 .........................1985 |
|
9000000 ..........................1987 (Start of the letter prefix system.) R000001 .........................1987 |
| L000001 .........................1989 |
| E000001 .........................1990 |
| X000001 .........................1991 |
| N000001 .........................1991 |
| C000001 .........................1992 |
| S000001 .........................1993 |
| W000001 .........................1994 |
| T000001 .........................1996 |
| U000001 .........................1997 |
| A000001 .........................1998 |
| P000001 .........................2000 |
| K000001 .........................2001 |
| Y000001 .........................2002 |
| F000001 .........................2003 |
| D000001 .........................2005 |
| Z000001 ..........................2006 |
When I talked with Will Gordon (Quickdrop) about the serial numbers, He stated " none of our watches have letters in front of our serial numbers". This clued me in on that these watches are early 1970's. Call up on the phone and ask anyone who sales used Rolex watches what does a 1970's watch goes for. You will find that the amount you paid for the watch could have bought you a 1990's watch with genuine Rolex parts.