Serial Numbers

Since Rolex does not publish official information about the age of their watches, watch collectors gathered lists of serial numbers, from which the age can be estimated. Unfortunately there are different lists in the internet, which tend to be similar, but in the detail nevertheless differences do exist. By usage of the list a rough estimation of the age is possible. However, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. It’s important to know that the data refers to the year of manufacture only. The sales date of the watch can deviate substantially from it.

The following table is a simplified and modified list, which is essentially based on the list on Hannes’ Oysterworld:

Year No 1925   1926   1927 20190 1928 23969 1929 28290 1930 29312 1931   1932 29312 1933 29933 1934 30823 1935 34336 1936 36856 1937 40920 1938 43793 1939 71224 1940 99775 1941 106047 1942 143509 1943 230878 1944 269561 1945 302459 1946 367946 1947 529163 1948 628840 1949   1950   1951 709249 1952 726639 1953 793930 1954 976195

Year No 1955 30634 1956 139400 1957 216821 1958 353343 1959 399000 1960 511687 1961 646900 1962 763663 1963 950000 1964 997436 1965 1193000 1966 1289727 1967 1554000 1968 1720977 1969 2060000 1970 2504211 1971 2728000 1972 3050000 1973 3523678 1974 3761535 1975 3886050 1976 4155863 1977 5008000 1978 5238376 1979 5952834 1980 6434000 1981 6594000 1982 7129351 1983 7862000 1984 8338000

Year No 1985 8624000 1986 9290000 1987 9863279 1987 / 1988 R 1988 / 1989 L 1989 / 1990 L 1990 / 1991 E 1991 / 1992 X/N (from Nov.) 1992 / 1993 C 1993 / 1994 S 1994 / 1995 W 1995 / 1996 W 1996 / 1997 T 1997 / 1998 U (from Aug.) 1998 / 1999 A (from Nov.) 1999 / 2000 A 2000 / 2001 P (from Jan.) 2001 / 2002 K (from Sept.) 2002 / 2003 Y (from Sept.) 2003 / 2004 F (from Sept.) 2004 / 2005 F 2005 / 2006 D (from Apr.) 2006 / 2007 Z (from May) 2006 / 2007   2007 / 2008

 
Important to know is, that a serial number starting with 44 or 47 is used for a changed case by rolex.

The following very interesting chart is provided by the watch collector George Burger. He put all well known serial numbers in this chart so it’s possible to do an analysis and a classification of the serial number plan with the help of this chart:

This diagram shows one characteristic of the serial numbers:

In the middle of the 50's Rolex reached serial number 999,999 and decided - from today's view not comprehensibly - to begin again with 100,000. This decision probably had to be taken very quickly and because of the already existing tooling it was the way of the "least resistance".

It is worth mentioning that the serial numbers from 100.000 to 999,999 occur in two time periods. If you want find out the date of manufacture it is absolutely necessary to check the serial number and the model. You can often find wrong assignments in descriptions of items offered on the internet.

An example: A GMT 1675 with serial number 510xxx was not manufactured in the year 1947, but in (approximately) the year 1960, because this model was still not available to the market in 1947.

In the following I put the three most important lists from the Internet together, so that you can determine on a quick viewing, where the differences between the lists exist:

Oysterworld Year from to 1925     1926     1927 20190 21691 1928 23969 24747 1929 28290   1930 29312   1931     1932 29312   1933 29933   1934 30823   1935 34336 35365 1936 36856 37569 1937 40920   1938 43793   1939 71224   1940 99775   1941 106047   1942 143509 202026 1943 230878   1944 269561   1945 302459   1946 367946 387216 1947 529163   1948 628840   1949     1950     1951 709249 710776 1952 726639 840396 1953 793930 973830 1954 976195 43325 * 1955 30634 1297xx 1956 139400 217821 1957 216821 358xxx 1958 353343 426510 1959 399xxx 502683 1960 511687 642993 1961 6469xx 702xxx 1962 763663 894xxx 1963 95xxxx 1021800 1964 997436 1195238 1965 1193xxx 1259699 1966 1289727 1557xxx 1967 1554xxx 186xxxx 1968 1720977 2477152 1969 2060xxx 22927xx 1970 2504211 2959xxx 1971 2728xxx 3037xxx 1972 305xxxx 3478400 1973 3523678 3741300 1974 3761535 4194183 1975 3886050 4267100 1976 4155863 4538000 1977 5008000 5367817 1978 5238376 5737030 1979 5952834 6122790 1980 6434000   1981 6594xxx 6910000 1982 7129351 7437845 1983 7862000 8085072 1984 8338000   1985 8624000 8734xxx 1986 9290000 9764478 1987 9863279   1987 R   1988 L   1990 E   1991 X   1991 N (Nov)   1992 C   1993 S   1994 W   1996 T   1997 U (Aug)   1998 A (Nov)   2000 P (Jan)   2001 K (Sep)   2002 Y (Sep)   2003 F (Sep)   2004     2005 D (Apr)   2006     2007     2008

Timekeeper Year No 1925 25000 1926 28000 1927 30430 1928 32960 1929 35390 1930 37820 1931 40250 1932 42680 1933   1934 45000 1935 63000 1936 81000 1937 99000 1938 117000 1939 135000 1940 164600 1941 194200 1942 223800 1943 253400 1944 283000 1945 348100 1946 413200 1947 478300 1948 543400 1949 608500 1950 673600 1951 738700 1952 803800 1953 950000 1954 999999 1955 200000 1956 400000 1957 600000 1958 800000 1959 1100000 1960 1402000 1961 1480000 1962 1558000 1963 1636000 1964 1714000 1965 1792000 1966 1871000 1967 2163900 1968 2426800 1969 2689700 1970 2952600 1971 3215500 1972 3478400 1973 3741300 1974 4004200 1975 4267100 1976 4539000 1977 5006000 1978 5482000 1979 5958000 1980 6434000 1981 6910000 1982 7386000 1983 7862000 1984 8338000 1985 8814000 1986 9290000 1987 9766000 1987.5 9999999 1987.5 - 1989 R 1989 - 1990 L 1990.5 - 1992 E 1991 - 1993 X 1992 - 1993 N 1992 - 1994 C 1993 - 1995 S 1995 - 1997 W 1996 - 1999 T 1996 - 1999 U 1997 - 2000 A 2000 - 2001 P 2001 - 2003 K 2002 - 2004 Y 2003 - 2004 F 2004 - 2005 D 2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007 2007 - 2008

CharlieJ Year No 1925 25000 1926 28000 1927 30430 1928 32960 1929 35390 1930 37820 1931 40250 1932 42680 1933 45000 1934 49000 1935 63000 1936 81000 1937 99000 1938 117000 1939 135000 1940 164600 1941 194200 1942 223800 1943 253400 1944 283000 1945 348100 1946 413200 1947 478300 1948 543400 1949 608500 1950 673600 1951 738700 1952 803800 1953 868900 1954 934000 1955 1012000 1956 1090000 1957 1168000 1958 1246000 1959 1324000 1960 1402000 1961 1480000 1962 1558000 1963 1636000 1964 1714000 1965 1792000 1966 1871000 1967 2163900 1968 2426800 1969 2689700 1970 2952600 1971 3215500 1972 3478400 1973 3741300 1974 4004200 1975 4267100 1976 4539000 1977 5006000 1978 5482000 1979 5958000 1980 6434000 1981 6910000 1982 7386000 1983 7862000 1984 8338000 1985 8814000 1986 9290000 1987 9766000 1987 1/2 R000001 1988 R999999 1989 L000001 1990 L999999 1990 1/2 E000001 1991 1/4 E999999 1991 1/2 X000001 1991 3/4 N000001 1992 1/4 C000001 1993 3/4 S000001 1995 W000001 1996 T000001 1997 U000001 1998 A000001 1999 A 2000 P 2001 K Until 2.Q. 2002 K From 2.Q. 2002 Y 1.Q. 2003 Y 4. Q. 2003 F