Reference:Serial-numbers: Difference between revisions

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rolex Serial Numbers}}

{{#seo:title=Rolex Serial Numbers by Year — Decode Any Production Date | BezelBase|description=Cross-family decoder for Rolex case serial numbers. Numeric serials pre-1987, single-letter prefix 1987-2010, random alphanumeric mid-2010 onward, with the 1995-1998 letter-overlap caveat and the cross-references that pin a year for vintage authentication.}}

<small>[[Main Page]] -> '''Serial Numbers'''</small>

Rolex case serials run on three systems by era: a long numeric counter through 1987, a single-letter prefix from 1987 to mid-2010, and a random alphanumeric string after that. A serial dates the case alone, and the year it gives is always approximate. Vintage authentication needs the serial to agree with the bracelet, dial, and movement. The systems and the place to read the serial off the case come first, then the year-by-year tables.

The numeric counter ran through 1987 and carries the famous 1954 reset at the 999,999 ceiling. The single-letter prefix took over in 1987 and ran until mid-2010. Random alphanumerics took over after that. A separate system on the bracelet clasp uses its own date codes and is sometimes mistaken for the case serial.

The serial sits in one of two places depending on age. On every reference through the mid-2000s it is engraved between the lugs at 6 o'clock, hidden under the bracelet; lifting the bracelet end clear of the case exposes it. The numeric or letter-plus-six-digit stamp runs along the case edge there, with the reference number engraved between the lugs at 12 o'clock on the opposite side.

Rolex moved the serial to the rehaut, the inner bezel ring that frames the dial, beginning around 2005, with the change complete across the catalog by about 2008. A rehaut watch carries the serial laser-etched on the flange at 6 o'clock, the crown logo and "ROLEX" repeating around the rest of the ring, and usually nothing between the lugs. A watch from the transition years can carry it in either place, which is itself a dating tell: a between-lugs serial on a reference that had already moved to the rehaut points to an earlier example or a swapped case.

The warranty card, and on older watches the punched guarantee paper, carries the same serial, which is how a full set confirms the case has not been switched. The clasp stamp is a separate system that dates the [[Reference:Bracelets|bracelet]] rather than the case, and the figures on a movement bridge are caliber and part references, not a serial.

Rolex never published a year-by-year numeric serial chart. Collector dating rests on two books. Carlo Pergola's ''Rolex Daytona, A Legend Is Born'' carries the densest mid-century ranges, and Jeffrey Hess and James Dowling's ''The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches'' covers the longer early span. The two agree on most bands. Where they differ, the gap is usually a year at the edge of a transition.

|-

|-

| ≤30,000 || 1928–1934 || Earliest known Oyster serials. Per Dowling: 23969 = 1928, 28290 = 1930.

| 30,000–100,000 || 1934–1940 || Bubbleback / early Oyster era. Per Dowling: 35365 = 1935, 99775 = 1940.

|-

| 100,000–500,000 || 1941–1947 || Per Dowling: 143509 = 1942, 387216 = 1946, 529163 = 1947.

| 500,000–950,000 || 1947–1953 || Pergola and Dowling agree: 628840 = 1948, 710776 = 1951, 840396 = 1952.

|-

| 950,000–999,999, then reset to 10,000–139,000 || 1953–1955 || The famous 1954 reset to a new 10,000-start counter. Per Pergola: 982115–10001 = 1954, 10001–32160 = 1954, 63425–139166 = 1955.

|-

| 139,000–360,000 || 1956–1957 || Per Pergola: 139167–261715 = 1956, 272289–360988 = 1957.

| 360,000–530,000 || 1957–1959 || Per Pergola: 426481–437254 = 1958/59, 437255–530168 = 1959.

|-

| 530,000–785,000 || 1959–1961 || Per Pergola: 539969–663484 = 1960, 688767–785296 = 1961.

| 785,000–1,000,000 || 1961–1963 || Per Pergola: 840046–919916 = 1962, 950451–974197 = 1963.

|-

| 1,000,000–1,500,000 || 1964–1966 || Per Pergola: 997136–1104068 = 1964, 1284790–1503591 = 1966.

| 1,500,000–2,000,000 || 1966–1969 || Per Pergola: 1503592–1534082 = 1966/67, 1720977–1938064 = 1968.

|-

| 2,000,000–2,600,000 || 1969–1971 || Per Pergola: 1958607–2236978 = 1969, 2558657–2591204 = 1970/71.

| 2,600,000–3,500,000 || 1971–1972 || Per Dowling: 3215500 = 1971, 3478400 = 1972.

|-

| 3,500,000–4,000,000 || 1973–1974 || Per Dowling: 3741300 = 1973, 4004200 = 1974.

|-

| 4,000,000–6,000,000 || 1975–1980 || Both captured charts thin out here. Working approximation: 5,000,000 ≈ 1976, 6,000,000 ≈ 1979/80.

| 6,000,000–9,900,000 || 1980–1987 || Pre-letter terminal range. Working approximation: 8,000,000 ≈ 1984, 9,000,000 ≈ 1986. Boundaries vary by ±1 year across published charts.

The case carries a single letter stamped between the lugs at 6 o'clock, followed by six numeric digits. The R prefix arrived in 1988 on the first 16520 production and ran in parallel with terminal numeric serials for several months. Coverage from R through P (1988–2000) is well-documented across Daytona, Submariner, GMT-Master, and Explorer auction lots; coverage from K through G (~2001–2010) is collector-canonical but anchored by fewer primary-document references.

| R || 1987–1988 || First post-numeric letter. 16520 first-year production carries R serials; also seen on late 5513, 16700, 14060, 14270, and final 1675 batches.

| L || 1987–1989 || Overlapped with R for several months across the numeric-to-letter cutover. 16520 second-year (Floating + 4-lines dial).

| E || 1990 || 16520 Inverted-6 dial era starts here.

| N || 1991 || Documented on a Sotheby's-catalogued 1991 yellow gold 16518 with white Panda dial.

| X || 1991–1992 || Overlapped with N (1991) and C (1992).

| C || 1992 || Last clean single-letter year before the 1993–1998 transition.

| S || 1993 || 16520 78360 → 78390 bracelet cutover on most documented examples. Note: an "S" leading a clasp date-code is a different signal — it marks a service-replacement clasp, not a 1993 production year.

| W || 1994–1995 || Part of the documented T/W/U/V/Z overlap window.

| T || 1995–1996 || 16520 Patrizzi-eligible mark range (1993–1997). Part of the T/W/U/V/Z overlap.

| U || 1997–1998 || 16520 tritium-to-Luminova transition; SEL bracelet introduction.

| A || 1998–1999 || 16520 Luminova MK7 era. Some sources extend A through 2000.

| P || 2000 || Final Zenith-base 16520 year. Anchored by Sotheby's 116528 case P421022, first-year in-house cal 4130 production.

| K || 2001–2002 || Working consensus across collector resources; not directly anchored by a published primary source.

| Y || 2002–2003 || Sotheby's 116528 case Y'239'786 carries an October 2002 guarantee. 16610LV launch examples appear at autumn 2003.

| F || 2003–2004 || 16610LV low-F-serial production October–December 2003. Also early 116710LN and the 16710 D-serial transition.

| D || 2005–2006 || ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' ties 16710 stick-dial Mk5B production to D-serial onward, from 2005.

| Z || 2006–2007 || Late 16710 stick-dial production. Working consensus year boundary.

| M || 2007–2008 || Late 16710 (final production) and early 116710LN. Working consensus year boundary.

| G || 2010 || Final letter year. Wind Vintage 116523 GT Champion (2010 production, 2011 caseback engraving) carries a G prefix. Randomization began mid-2010, so G appears on cases from the first half of 2010 only.

Two letter windows need extra caution. N, X, and C overlap around 1991–1992. T, W, U, V, and Z overlap through 1995–1998. In both windows the serial narrows the year band, but does not pin it by itself.

A leading S on a clasp date-code marks a service-replacement clasp, not a production year. The same letter appears in the case-serial alphabet as the 1993 prefix, which sometimes confuses collectors who see "S" stamped on a clasp blade and assume the watch dates to 1993. The two systems share letters but live on different parts of the watch.

== Random serials (mid-2010 onward) ==

Rolex randomized case serials from mid-2010 to defeat counterfeit decoding and to obscure production volume. The cutover happened at roughly the same point as the final letter prefix (G) on case stamping. Post-2010 cases carry an alphanumeric string of mixed letters and digits with no public year mapping, and Rolex has never published a decoder.

== Pre-1948 vintage references and hallmark dating ==

For vintage references produced before approximately 1948 — including the Prince family ([[Reference:971|971]], [[Reference:1490|1490]], [[Reference:1491|1491]], [[Reference:1527|1527]], [[Reference:1862|1862]], [[Reference:3361|3361]], [[Reference:3937|3937]]), the early Bubbleback era ([[Reference:2574|2574]], [[Reference:2764|2764]], [[Reference:2940|2940]], [[Reference:3065|3065]], [[Reference:3132|3132]], [[Reference:3458|3458]], [[Reference:3595|3595]]), and the early Oysters — the numeric serial system on its own is rarely sufficient for precise dating. Movement and case numbers were not always issued in strict chronological order, and Rolex's own archival material for the pre-WWII period is incomplete. The standard collector practice is to anchor the date through case import hallmarks rather than serial numbers alone.

British retailers required imported watches to be assayed and hallmarked by a British assay office before sale. Rolex used Glasgow most heavily, with Edinburgh and London also represented. Each assay office stamped the case with a year-letter code that pins the import date to a single year. The four marks present on a Glasgow-imported Rolex case are: the case-metal purity mark (`9` and `375` for 9K, `18` and `750` for 18K, `STG` or sterling lion for silver), the Glasgow town mark (a treelike emblem), the year-letter code, and the sponsor's mark (typically Rolex's own RWC Ltd punch). The year-letter alphabet rotates on a 25-letter cycle, with the letter shape changing across cycles to avoid ambiguity.

For pre-1948 Rolex specifically, the practical dating workflow:

1. Pull the case from the strap and examine the inside of the caseback under loupe.

2. Identify the four hallmark stamps. The year-letter is typically the smallest of the four.

3. Cross-reference the year-letter against the published Glasgow / Edinburgh / London assay tables (most collector hallmark guides, including the *Vintage Rolex Field Manual* by Colin A. White and standard British silver hallmark references, carry the full year-letter chart).

4. Cross-check the result against the movement number range for the same period — a clear discrepancy between hallmark year and movement-number-implied year is a service-replacement signal.

A specific example documents the workflow on the 971 reference: Antiquorum NY March 2010 lot 401 sold a sterling silver 971 with English hallmark dated 1928, case 70,064, movement 7,216, from the Arman Collection. The hallmark establishes the year of British import; the case and movement numbers fall within the documented 1928–1930 silver-import range, corroborating the hallmark date. This is the earliest documented 971 in the surfaced auction record.

=== Why the serial-system year-letter chart fails for the Prince era ===

The Rolex letter-prefix serial system documented above (1987–2010) postdates Prince production by 50+ years. The pre-1987 numeric system was sequential rather than calendar-locked: serial ranges advanced as production volume cleared blocks of numbers, and a watch with serial 70,000 in one year of pre-WWII production might overlap with a watch numbered 80,000 in the same year of a different reference. Rolex's own archival material for the era is incomplete, and the published numeric-serial-to-year correspondences cover the post-WWII era reasonably well but become unreliable before 1948. For a 1928–1945 Prince or pre-WWII Bubbleback, the case import hallmark is the more reliable anchor.

 

The Prince family is the densest documented case-number-to-year correspondence in the surfaced auction record. The cases are sequential within a configuration (e.g. 9K Glasgow imports), but not strictly sequential across all 1928–1945 production. The following anchors are useful starting points; cross-check against the case import hallmark before relying on a case number alone.

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 70,064 || sterling silver || English hallmark **1928** — earliest documented 971 || Antiquorum NY 2010 lot 401 (Arman Collection)

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 70,668 || sterling silver || Glasgow **1929** || Bonhams London 2018 lot 37

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 71,883 || sterling silver || c.1929–1930 || Sotheby's 2019

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 011,651 || steel + Beyer-double-signed dial || c.1928 (NOS, found 1998) || Phillips Geneva X CH080319/17

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 6,013 || platinum, Cal. 300 7½′′′ 18-jewel || c.1935 || Phillips Geneva V/X/XIV (sold 3×)

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 1,472 || stainless + 14K, Eaton 1/4 Century || dedication "1907–1932" || Monaco Legend July 2019 lot 156

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 60,206 || 9K bicolor "Zebra" || c.1934 || Antiquorum 2020 lot 235

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 65,196 || 18K Tiger Stripe (971A) || c.1930 || Antiquorum 2015 lot 275

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 65,377 || 18K Tiger Stripe (971A) || c.1932 || Antiquorum 2006 lot 316

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 68,305 || 9K bicolor "Zebra" (971A) || c.1932 || Bonhams NY 2017 lot 133

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 68,591 || 18K Tiger Stripe (971A) || c.**1938** — latest documented 971A || Bonhams HK 2023 lot 644

| [[Reference:971|971]] || 74,768 || stainless steel (971U) || box + papers || Antiquorum 2024 lot 462

| [[Reference:1490|1490]] || 13,009 || 18K yellow gold || Glasgow **1933** || Phillips NY 2023 NY080223/92 + Sotheby's 2019 L19070 (likely same watch)

| [[Reference:1490|1490]] || 17,365 || steel + pink gold || Cal. T.S. 300 Ultra Prima, **1935** || Antiquorum May 2006 Mondani lot 46

| [[Reference:1490|1490]] || 38,525 || steel + Bucherer-double-signed dial || c.1937 || Sotheby's Watches Online July 2019 lot 13

| [[Reference:1862|1862]] || 1,608 || 9K || Glasgow **1934** — earliest documented 1862 || Antiquorum 249-98

| [[Reference:1862|1862]] || 16,663 || 18K (group lot with 1490) || c.**1938** || Christie's Geneva 1395 lot 307

| [[Reference:1491|1491]] || (Glasgow 1930) || 18K yellow gold jump-hour Brancard || Glasgow Import mark **1930** — earliest documented 1491 || Bonhams sale 29152 lot 23

| [[Reference:1491|1491]] || F2149HS || white-gold 1491HS Bucherer-retailed || c.1945 (original Bucherer invoice) || Antiquorum 2008 lot 692

| [[Reference:1491|1491]] || F220 || two-color 18K gold 1491HS jump-hour || c.1930 || Bonhams sale 29152 lot 6 (also 2024 lot, F220 stamp)

| [[Reference:1527|1527]] || (Vicenza 1992 lot 146/5) || 18 ct white + pink gold stepped Railway, beads-of-rice bracelet || 1930s — earliest documented "Prince Railway" catalog naming || Antiquorum Vicenza Oro 1992 lot 146/5

| [[Reference:1527|1527]] || 189 || 18K white + yellow gold stepped Railway, original bamboo bracelet || dated **1931** (corpus high CHF 27,140) || Antiquorum May 2006 Mondani lot 108/33

| [[Reference:1527|1527]] || 6920 || 18K white + pink stepped (catalogued "1527 M") || c.1930s || Drouot lot 182 (M suffix unexplained — working hypothesis: factory bicolor variant code)

| [[Reference:1527|1527]] || 6936 || 18K white + pink stepped || Glasgow **1931** || EveryWatch lot 378

| [[Reference:1527|1527]] || (1940s) || steel + gold-filled stepped Railway || 1940s — late-production end of 1527 line || Bonhams NY 2006 sale 15217 lot 9

| [[Reference:3361|3361]] || 899,568 || 18K yellow gold Aerodynamic || dated **1952** (Mondani Collection) || Antiquorum May 2006 Mondani lot 108/210 (hammer CHF 18,880)

| [[Reference:3361|3361]] || 899,677 || 18K pink gold Aerodynamic with monogrammed escutcheon || dated **1952** || Antiquorum May 2006 Mondani lot 108/209 (hammer CHF 21,240 — corpus high for 3361)

| [[Reference:3361|3361]] || (mvt T94122) || 18K yellow gold Aerodynamic || c.1940 || Antiquorum NY December 2015 sale 296 lot 73 (hammer USD 16,250)

| [[Reference:3361|3361]] || T61239 || 18K Aerodynamic — included in Phillips "Rolex Milestones" exhibition || (year not retrieved) || Phillips "38 Timepieces That Made History" Hong Kong

| [[Reference:3361|3361]] || 59,330 (mvt 1,847) || 18K pink gold with Cuervo y Sobrinos co-signed dial || (Cuban retail channel) || PatekMonger / Grailium / 1stdibs (dealer-level only — not auction-confirmed)

| [[Reference:3362|3362]] || 62,482 || 14K pink gold Aerodynamic case || c.**1935** — earlier than canonical 3361 production; Friedberg dates 3362 to 1940 (contradiction unresolved) || Antiquorum May 2015 sale 291 lot 109 (hammer CHF 11,250)

| [[Reference:3937|3937]] || 64,190 || 14K yellow gold Rams Horn || **1938** — earliest documented 3937 || Bonhams 2023 lot 50 (production-launch anchor)

| [[Reference:3937|3937]] || (Garbett presentation) || 14K yellow gold, Eaton 1/4 Century Club || dial: post-service Rolex-signed; caseback: "Presented to Sidnet Garbett... 1926–1951" || Sotheby's NY 2020 lot 73

| [[Reference:3937|3937]] || (Bird presentation) || 14K yellow gold, Eaton 1/4 Century Club, 21×45mm || caseback: "Presented to Donald M. Bird... 1926–1951" || 1stdibs (dealer-level)

| [[Reference:3937|3937]] || (McMackon presentation) || 14K yellow gold, Eaton 1/4 Century Club || caseback: "Presented to Fred W. McMackon... 1928–1953" — latest documented 3937 Eaton presentation || Collectors Weekly family-heirloom story

| 6222 (Eaton successor) || (King presentation) || automatic Oyster — post-Prince Eaton continuity || caseback: "Presented to Reginald A. King... 1929–1954" || Antiquorum HK 2005 lot 86/19. Documents Eaton program continuing past the rectangular Prince era through 1966

The pattern: Prince case numbers run in the low-to-mid five digits for sterling and 9K Glasgow imports across 1928–1937; the platinum 971 examples cluster at four-digit case numbers (6,013 / 6,047 / 6,077) consistent with low single-digit annual platinum production; the 1862 reaches into six-digit case numbers (280,124) on the 1862A 18K configuration; and the latest documented Prince case (309,367 on a 1947-dedicated 14K 1490) sits at the top of the surfaced range, bracketing Prince family production at approximately 1928–1947 for absolute outliers. Mid-1940s production is rare; the bulk of the surfaced corpus dates 1929–1937.

A second dating signal on pre-1948 references is the caseback engraving style. Period-correct factory casebacks are stamped, not engraved — the marks are physically pressed into the metal at production. Hand-engraved caseback markings indicate post-factory work: either a re-engraving on a worn caseback or a replacement caseback engraved by a service shop. The exception is owner-presentation engraving (recipient names, dates, club affiliations) and retailer-program engraving — the [[Reference:971|Eaton 1/4 Century Club]] presentations on Princes are the canonical example, with caseback inscriptions like *"Presented to T.D. Switzer to mark a quarter-century of continuous service with T. Eaton C., Ltd., 1907–1932."* Presentation engraving sits alongside the factory stamping rather than replacing it.

== Vintage Submariner / Explorer / GMT case-number anchors ==

The 1953–1979 vintage Sub / Explorer / GMT-Master cluster carries case-number bands tight enough to date heads to a year or two within each reference. The numeric-serial tables above give the broad year-bands; the per-reference anchors below tighten the dating once the reference is identified. Cross-check against the inside-caseback Roman-quarter date code where present (II.53 = Q2 1953, III.57 = Q3 1957, IV.55 = Q4 1955, etc.).

! Reference !! Case number !! Configuration !! Year !! Source

| [[Reference:6204|6204]] (Submariner) || 949,136 || honeycomb dial || 1953 || Phillips Geneva XII 2020 lot 177 (CHF 75,600)

| [[Reference:6204|6204]] || 988,923 || pencil hands, gilt || c.1954, clasp 2.53 || Phillips NY Watch Auction 2021 lot 79 (USD 233,100)

| [[Reference:6204|6204]] || 42,439 || Sub-Aqua "prototype" (post-reset) || 1954 || Monaco Legend 2019 lot 69 (EUR 78,000)

| [[Reference:6205|6205]] (Submariner) || 21,354 || pencil hands, no-Submariner dial, riveted Oyster end-link 65 || c.1954, Series 1 || Phillips Game Changers NY 2019 lot 54 (USD 162,500)

| [[Reference:6205|6205]] || 21,644 || re-lumed reprinted no-Submariner dial || 1954–55 || Antiquorum Geneva 2025 lot 377-180 (CHF 16,250)

| [[Reference:6200|6200]] (Submariner) || 320,xxx–322,xxx || Big Crown 8mm Brevet, A296, Explorer or red depth || 1954–56 || Foulkes 2024 reads 303 examples total in this cluster

| [[Reference:6536|6536/1]] (Submariner) || 112,256 || Q4 1955 caseback "4 55", Jubilee bracelet stamped 1960 || 1955 || Sotheby's 2021 lot 35

| [[Reference:6536|6536/1]] || 112,341 || Red Depth, IV.55 caseback || 1955 || Bonhams Dec 2021 lot 36

| [[Reference:6536|6536/1]] || 155,502 || Q2 1956 caseback II.56, on 7206 rivet bracelet || 1956 || Phillips Geneva V 2017 lot 102

| [[Reference:6536|6536/1]] || 229,640 || I.57 caseback || 1957 || Sotheby's 2018 lot 215

| [[Reference:6536|6536]] (parent) || 306,706 || gloss black gilt, red triangle bezel || March 1957 || Bonhams London 2012 lot 116 (GBP 21,250)

| [[Reference:6536|6536/1]] || 306,989 || III.57 caseback, no-hash red triangle, glossy gilt — world record || 1957 || Sotheby's NY 2018 lot 252 (USD 225,000 — small-crown record)

| [[Reference:6538|6538]] (Submariner) || 140,300–140,500 (Series 1) || ~200 watches per Blackbird Watch Manual || c.1956 || Blackbird Biebuyck (2019)

| [[Reference:6538|6538]] || 426,000–449,300 (Series 4) || late-run, fourth series || late 1958 / 1959 || Blackbird; Sotheby's Olmsted 2024 lot 170 case 449,004

| [[Reference:5510|5510]] (Submariner big crown) || 362,153 || RAN MilSub Explorer dial, fixed lugs (~4 known) || 1958 || Sotheby's Important Watches 2023 lot 107

| [[Reference:5510|5510]] || 362,187 || reprinted Explorer dial RAN || 1958 || Antiquorum Monaco 2018 lot 314-248

| [[Reference:5510|5510]] || 362,252 || Royal Navy diver provenance, RN log, 9315/580 bracelet || 1958 || Bonhams 16805/140

| [[Reference:5508|5508]] (Submariner small crown) || 361,650 || black gilt, red triangle insert || 1958 || Phillips Geneva NINE 2019 lot 213 (CHF 500,000)

| [[Reference:5508|5508]] || 489,831 || small-crown James Bond catalogue || 1959 || Sotheby's Watches Online 2020

| [[Reference:5508|5508]] || 490,575 || ghost bezel, rivet bracelet '63 || 1958 || Antiquorum Geneva 2020 lot 333-422 (CHF 56,250)

| [[Reference:5508|5508]] || 762,896 || exclamation gilt, II.62 caseback, 7206/64 bracelet || 1962 || Phillips Hong Kong SPORTS 2019 lot 881 (HKD 2,687,500)

| [[Reference:5508|5508]] || 764,524 || exclamation, 6636 clasp 4/64 || 1962 || Phillips Geneva XV 2022 lot 160 (CHF 132,300)

| [[Reference:6098|6098]] (Pre-Explorer / Oyster Perpetual) || 912,378 || steel + Sesto Continente "Super Oyster" provenance, IV.52 caseback || Q4 1952 || Vailati 1953 letter to Rolex Archives (Perezcope)

| [[Reference:6150|6150]] || 944,811 || H.S.10 CD, Burford matte-black Swiss T Precision printing, MOD broad-arrow || February 1953 || Bonhams 18849/181 (GBP 8,400 incl. premium)

| [[Reference:6150|6150]] || 945,021 || "KANGCHENJUNGA 1955 G.C BAND" caseback engraving || 1953 case, 1955 expedition gift || Phillips Geneva Watch Auction SIX 2017 lot 244 (CHF 200,000)

| [[Reference:6350|6350]] || 955,761 || Sir Douglas Prior 1956 Royal Society Antarctic Expedition, Cal. 775 service replacement || 1953 case || Antiquorum Geneva 2018 lot 317-570 (CHF 62,500)

| [[Reference:5514|5514]] (Submariner COMEX) || 2,833,552 || 5513 COMEX HEV Prototype No. 24 || autumn 1970 || Antiquorum Geneva 2006 lot 144-323 (CHF 76,700) — pre-5514 5513-COMEX-HEV anchor

| [[Reference:5514|5514]] || 3,804,841 || prototype-batch ~20 pieces, no COMEX logo on dial — "stealth" early 5514 || 1972 || Antiquorum NY 2009 lot 223-373 (USD 72,000)

| [[Reference:5514|5514]] || 4,089,919 || COMEX 377, matte black, 9315 bracelet, Henry Hudson letter || 1975 || Phillips NY Watch Auction SIX 2022 lot 153 (USD 252,000 — record)

| [[Reference:5514|5514]] || 4,155,901 || COMEX 446, "Cuerpo Infanteria" Argentine Navy / COMEX joint variant || 1974 || Phillips Geneva 2015 lot CH080215/145

| [[Reference:5514|5514]] || 5,230,258 || COMEX 878, "Big Numbers" wrap-around caseback || 1977 || Antiquorum Monaco 2025 lot 383-172 (EUR 91,840)

| [[Reference:5517|5517]] (MilSub, Royal Navy / Army) || ~3,926,000 cluster (Batches 1–2) || 5513-only and 5513/5517 double-reference; issue years 77/79 || 1972–1975 || Phillips New York 2019 lot 28 case 3,926,768; Phillips HK 2017 lot 807 case 3,926,923; Antiquorum Monaco 2022 lot 77 case 3,926,842

| [[Reference:5517|5517]] || ~5,339,000 cluster (Batch 3) || 5517-only between-lugs engraving, sword hands, full 60-min bezel; issue year 78 || 1977–1978 || Phillips Geneva XIV 2021 lot 152 case 5,339,827 (CHF 504,000 — record); Sotheby's 2023 lot 3 case 5,339,705 issue 853/78 (CHF 482,600)

| [[Reference:1680|1680]] || 6,1XX,XXX || Mark 1 "White Submariner" (closed 6s), first white-text dial — end of the run || c.1979 || Bonhams Hong Kong Watches 2022 lot 928

| [[Reference:1675|1675]] (GMT-Master, Pepsi) || 1,004,133 || underline + double-Swiss gilt dial, pointed crown guards, cal. 1560; bracelet 6636 / 80 end-links, clasp 3.64 || c.1963 (IV.63) || Phillips "Rolex Milestones" lot 810

| [[Reference:1675|1675]] || 1,686,416 || matte black dial, steel Pepsi, cal. 1570 || c.1967 || Sotheby's Watches 2020 lot 76

| [[Reference:1675|1675]] || 1,796,673 || matte black "Fuchsia" insert, cal. 1570, mvt D091203 (ROW / US delivery); clasp 7-68 || 1967 (II.67) || Phillips New York Watch Auction SEVEN lot 25

| [[Reference:16750|16750]] (GMT-Master, first quickset) || 6,250,744 || matte black dial, black bezel insert (spare Pepsi included), cal. 3075; 93150 Oyster, clasp VC || c.1981 || Bonhams Knightsbridge 2024 lot 95 (£10,240)

| [[Reference:16750|16750]] || 7,625,315 || black dial, Omani Police royal-issue emblem, cal. 3075; 62510H Jubilee / 555 end-links, clasp G4 || c.1983 || Bonhams Fine Watches 2021 lot 68

| [[Reference:16750|16750]] || 8,631,078 || glossy "spider" (zapon-crackle) dial, cal. 3075; 78360 Oyster / 580 end-links, clasp I6 || c.1984 || Phillips Hong Kong EIGHT lot 1180

| [[Reference:16750|16750]] || R672618 || gloss black dial, R-prefix — final-year production at the numeric→letter cutover || c.1988 || Bonhams Hong Kong Watches 2019 lot 845

| [[Reference:16760|16760]] (GMT-Master II Fat Lady) || 8,463,283 || Coke bezel, cal. 3085 27j, "Fat Lady" attribution || c.1984 || Sotheby's Important Watches HK 2021 lot 2004

| [[Reference:16760|16760]] || R275863 || Coke, mvt 1994435, 78790 service-replacement bracelet || c.1988 || Bonhams Knightsbridge 2023 lot 28031/167

| [[Reference:16760|16760]] || R434190 || full set with Merksamer Jewelers guarantee, mvt 2102621 || c.1988 || Phillips Geneva Watch Auction X 2019 lot 149 (CHF 20,000)

| [[Reference:16700|16700]] (Last caller GMT-Master) || R-serial || 1988 Pepsi, 78360 / RS11 clasp || 1988 || Bonhams 25956/4

| [[Reference:16700|16700]] || T254282 || 1996 Pepsi delivered Dec 1996, full set with Beyer receipt || 1996 || Antiquorum Geneva 2020 lot 329-88 (CHF 11,875)

| [[Reference:16700|16700]] || T848499 || c.1996 Pepsi, with extra black bezel, cal. 3175 || 1996 || Sotheby's Geneva Important Watches 2019 lot 10

| [[Reference:16700|16700]] || W752611 || c.1995 Pepsi, faded bezel, tritium dial || 1995 || Sotheby's Fine Watches Online 2024 lot 417

| [[Reference:16700|16700]] || U443556 || 1997 Chuck Yeager / Real McCoy's No. 14/50, Bell X-1 1947 caseback || 1997 || Bonhams 25232/969 (HKD 106,250 incl. premium)

The pattern: vintage Submariner case-number bands are tighter than the year-band serial tables suggest. The 6204 dominant cluster sits in the 988,xxx range (1953–54); the 6205 splits cleanly between the post-reset 21,3xx–21,6xx (Series 1, 1954) and 85,9xx–86,0xx (Series 2, 1955); the 5510 clusters in 362,xxx (1958); the 6536 / 6536-1 cluster spans 112,xxx through 399,xxx across 1955–59. The Roman-quarter caseback stamp inside the case is the cleanest single dating anchor for any 1953–62 Submariner / Explorer head — pair the case number with the Roman-quarter stamp before relying on the case number alone.

== Cross-referencing for full dating ==

Serial alone gets the watch into a year band. The rest of the watch has to agree. [[Reference:Bracelets|Clasp]] dates the bracelet, not the case. Bracelet reference, dial generation, and [[Reference:Movements|movement]] all narrow the year independently. When those signals disagree, the serial still dates the case, but not necessarily the full watch as worn.

A U-serial 16610 with SEL bracelet, Luminova dial, and cal 3135 reads cleanly as a 1997–1998 watch. A U-serial 16610 on an older 93150 bracelet still dates the case to the same period, but it no longer reads as a period-correct full watch.

== Per-family serial chart links ==

The decoder above gets the year band. The individual reference pages carry the detailed tables. The 16520 remains the clearest letter-by-letter example, and the manual-wind Daytonas sit on Pergola-based numeric ranges. For everything else, the relevant reference page is the right place to look.

The [[Reference:5500|Air-King 5500]] is the longest-running single Rolex reference at 32 years (1957 to 1989). Its case-number band spans roughly 365,000 (early 1958) through to the late seven-million range (1985 to 1989) — covering the full numeric-serial era and crossing into the early letter serials toward the end. Inside-caseback Roman-quarter date stamps (II.65, III.71, IV.83, etc.) are the cleaner per-watch dating tell on a 5500 since the case-number band overlaps with much of the broader Oyster Perpetual / Datejust production. Caseback inside stamps frequently read "1002" rather than "5500" on 1970s-onward production — period-correct, since the 5500 shares its case middle with the 1002 Oyster Perpetual.

* [https://rolexhaven.com/serial-numbers.html RolexHaven — Serial Numbers (Pergola + Dowling charts)]

* Dowling, J.M. and Hess, J.P., ''The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches'' (1996, revised editions through the 2010s). Schiffer Publishing.

* Pergola, C., ''Rolex Daytona, A Legend Is Born''.

* [https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/ Boettcher (vintagewatchstraps.com)] — case-serial methodology and the parallel clasp date-code system.

* [https://millenarywatches.com/bracelet-and-clasp-codes/ Millenary Watches — Rolex Bracelet and Clasp Codes] — clasp date-code key A=1976 → CP=2011 plus the post-2011 randomization note.

* ''The Vintage Rolex Field Manual'' — Colin A. White, Morning Tundra

* [https://www.sothebys.com/ Sotheby's catalog records] for case-anchored letter-year boundaries on 116528 (P421022 = 2000, Y'239'786 = 2002).