Rolexopedia

A checked version of this page, approved on 12 September 2026, was based on this revision.

The Rolex reference encyclopedia

Rolex changed what a wristwatch could do. The Oyster case (1926) made watches waterproof, the Perpetual rotor (1931) made them self-winding, the Prince (1928) built them to chronometer grade. Watchmakers and collectors have spent the decades since cataloguing what changed across each reference. Rolexopedia stores that record in one place.

Each article documents one reference: production years, movement, dial variants, case and bracelet details, auction record, and what to check when authenticating one. Inside one reference the watch can change a lot. A 5512 from 1962 is not the 5512 from 1978. Generation matters first. About the project →

350reference articles

12families

2,046photographs

1926–2020years covered

Browse by family

Submariner

1953–2010 documented · 33 references

The dive watch that became the template. Big Crowns, gilt 5512 and 5513 runs, the Red Sub, and the five-digit sapphire era.

Daytona

1963–2016 documented · 37 references

Manual-wind Valjoux chronographs, the Paul Newman exotic dials, the Zenith automatics and the in-house 4130 generation.

GMT-Master

1955–2019 documented · 26 references

From the Bakelite-bezel 6542 through the long 1675 run to the ceramic GMT-Master II.

Explorer

1952–2021 documented · 14 references

The 3-6-9 dial from the 6150 and 6350 to the 26-year 1016 and its sapphire successors.

Explorer II

1971–2010 documented · 5 references

The orange-hand 1655 Freccione, the transitional 16550 and the long-run 16570.

Sea-Dweller

1967–2017 documented · 6 references

COMEX saturation divers: Single Red, Double Red, Great White, Triple Six and the 116600.

Day-Date

1956–2019 documented · 39 references

The President from the 1956 originals through the 1803 era, five-digit sapphire, Day-Date II and Oysterquartz.

Milgauss

1956–2023 documented · 4 references

The anti-magnetic Rolex: lightning-bolt 6541, the CERN 1019 and the green-crystal 116400GV.

Air-King

1945–2014 documented · 19 references

Battle of Britain origins, the 5500 mainstay that ran for three decades and the sapphire 14000 line.

Oyster Perpetual

1950s–2020 documented · 25 references

The plain-dial Oyster: classic four-digit 1002 to 1018, five-digit and the last pre-refresh 116000 generation.

Bubbleback and early Oyster

1926–1953 documented · 30 references

The first waterproof Oysters, the domed-caseback automatics, the Padellone and the Oyster Precision manual-winds.

Prince

1928–1949 documented · 9 references

Rectangular Art-Deco chronometers: Classic 1343, Brancard 971, Railway and Tigre variants.

From the archive

Submariner

Submariner 1680

The 1680 is the first Submariner with a date. It brought the Cyclops and the date wheel to the diver line, and its early red-text dials gave collectors the Red Submariner that anchors the reference's market today.

Read the 1680 article →