Rolex Numbers
28,000 1926 | 800,000 1958 | R000,000 1987½ | ||||
30,430 1927 | 1,100,000 1959 | L000,001 1989 | ||||
32,960 1928 | 1,402,000 1960 | E000,001 1990½ | ||||
35,390 1929 | 1,480,000 1961 | X000,001 1991½ |
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37,820 1930 | 1,558,000 1962 | N000,001 1991¾ | ||||
40,250 1931 | 1,636,000 1963 | C000,001 1992¼ | ||||
42,680 1932 | 1,714,000 1964 | S000,001 1993¾ | ||||
45,000 1934 | 1,792,000 1965 | W000,001 1995 | ||||
63,000 1935 | 1,871,000 1966 | T000,001 1995½ | ||||
81,000 1936 | 2,163,900 1967 | U000,001 1997½ | ||||
99,000 1937 | 2,426,800 1968 | A000,001 1999 | ||||
117,000 1938 | 2,689,700 1969 | P000,001 2000½ | ||||
135,000 1939 | 2,952,600 1970 | K000,001 2001 | ||||
164,600 1940 | 3,215,500 1971 | Y000,001 2003 | ||||
194,200 1941 | 3,478,400 1972 | F000,001 2004 | ||||
223,800 1942 | 3,741,300 1973 | D000,001 2005 | ||||
253,400 1943 | 4,004,200 1974 | Z000,001 2007 | ||||
283,000 1944 | 4,267,100 1975 | M000,001 2007¾ | ||||
348,100 1945 | 4,539,000 1976 | V000,001 2008¾ | ||||
413,200 1946 | 5,006,000 1977 | |||||
478,300 1947 | 5,482,000 1978 | |||||
543,400 1948 | 5,959,000 1979 | |||||
608,500 1949 | 6,430,000 1980 | |||||
673,600 1950 | 6,910,000 1981 | |||||
738,700 1951 | 7,386,000 1982 | |||||
803,800 1952 | 7,862,000 1983 | |||||
950,000 1953 | 8,338,000 1984 | |||||
999,999 1954 | 8,814,000 1985 | |||||
200,000 1955 | 9,290,000 1986 | |||||
400,000 1956 | 9,766,000 1987 | |||||
600,000 1957 | 9,999,999 1987½ | |||||
PLEASE NOTE: In mid 1954 Rolex went back to 100,000 instead of 1,100,000 on case numbers for the Oyster watch.
When Rolex reached the 999,999 production serial number in the early 1950s they restarted the production serial numbers at 100,000 rather than begin a 7 digit number at 1,000,000. During this period Rolex was also putting a date code on the inside of the case backs, so confusing serial numbers can sometimes have their production date determined. Look for the Roman numeral I, II, III, or IV for the quarter and two Arabic numerals for the year (e.g. IV55 is the 4th quarter of 1955). In the late 1950s, Rolex again reached the 999,999 number and they started their 7 digit numbering system at 1,000,000 for production serials. This continued until the 1990s when production serials reached 9,999,999. Rather than begin an 8 digit production serial, Rolex instead began their serials with a letter prefix such as R, L, E, and X (ROLEX without an O which could be mistaken for a zero). N, C, and S came out during the early to mid 1990s. W, T, and U came a little later. The latest letter prefixes are all running concurrently. Only Rolex knows the exact date that any watch was actually produced.
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Rolex model numbers are four, five, or six digits. The first two or three numbers describes the type of watch. With five digit model numbers, the fourth number describes the type of bezel (with some exceptions) and the fifth number describes the material from which the case is made. | ||||||
Type of Watch | ||||||
Oyster Perpetual Date - 15, 150 | Oyster Perpetual - 10, 140 | |||||
Oyster Perpetual Date (Older) - 65, 66 | Oyster Perpetual Chronometer - 142 | |||||
Oyster Perpetual Date Chronometer - 15,150 | Oyster Perpetual Datejust - 16, 160 | |||||
Oysterquartz Datejust - 170 | Oyster Perpetual Day-Date - 18, 180, 182, 183 | |||||
Oysterquartz Date - 190 | Midsize Oyster Perpetual Datejust - 682 | |||||
Submariner No Date - 55, 140, 6538 | Lady Oyster Perpetual - 67, 671 | |||||
Submariner - 16, 166, 168 | Lady Oyster Perpetual Datejust - 65, 69, 691, 692 | |||||
Sea Dweller - 16, 166 | Lady Oyster Perpetual Date - 65, 69, 691, 692 | |||||
Thunderbird Bezel DJ - 16, 162 | Air - King - 55, 140 | |||||
Daytona Manual Wind - 62 | Yacht - Master - 166, 686, 696 | |||||
Daytona Cosmograph - 165 | Explorer - 165 | |||||
GMT Master - 167 | ||||||
Type of Bezel, 4th Number | ||||||
0 - Polished / Smooth | 3 - Fluted |
6 - Rotating Bezel |
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1 - Finely Engine Turned | 4 - Hand Crafted | |||||
2 - Engine Turned | 5 - Pyramid | |||||
Case Material, 5th Number | ||||||
0 - Stainless Steel (SS) | 4 - SS & White Gold |
8 - 18k Yellow Gold |
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1 - Yellow Gold Filled | 5 - Gold Shell Over SS | 9 - 18k White Gold | ||||
2 - White Gold Filled | 6 - Platinum | |||||
3 - SS & Yellow Gold | 7 - 14k Yellow Gold | |||||
For example on a four digit model number | ||||||
1601 - Datejust, all steel, steel and gold, or all gold | ||||||
Thus, all three datejusts have the same model number (1601). |
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For example on a five digit model number |
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16200 - Datejust, all steel, smooth bezel | ||||||
16220 - Datejust, all steel, engine turned bezel | ||||||
16234 - Datejust, all steel, white gold fluted bezel | ||||||
16203 - Datejust, gold and steel, 18k yellow gold smooth bezel | ||||||
16233 - Datejust, gold and steel, 18kyellow gold fluted bezel | ||||||