Rolex Serial Numbers List by Date of Manufacture... QualityTyme.net

ABOVE: New for 2005, Rolex has started engraving the Case's Serial Number into the
inside edge of the case (at the 6 o'clock position, under the crystal and below the bezel), as
shown in these images, which were taken at BASELWORLD 2005, in Switzerland in early April.

BELOW: A close-up view of the same watch, you can clearly see the Serial Number
"F982176", engraved into the case at the 6 o'clock position, with "ROLEX" engraved
repetitiously around the dial in a circular fashion.

A 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 7^th 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 3^rd 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 7^th 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", whcih 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.

The following list is comprised of known serial numbers for the years listed. By checking a particular serial number against this list you should be able to date a watch with reasonable accuracy. However, it is no quarantee as to when your watch was shipped from the factory. Furthermore, this list only applies to Rolex Oyster-cased watches, and should NOT be used for Tudor, or vintage non-Oyster Rolex watches.

(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.)

ROLEX

Serial Numbers by Date of Manufacture.

Serial # ........................Date
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
M000001 ...................Late 2007 - 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.

"Round Number" Serial Number List

Serial # ........................Date
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
M000001 ..........................2007