Find your Rolex year by serial number in seconds. Enter the serial engraved on your watch to see an estimated production period, then explore the dating guide and charts below.
Older serials can suggest a period. Modern random serials cannot reveal an exact production year.
Enter your serial number. The result updates as you type.
Enter an older numeric serial, one letter with six digits, or an eight-character modern code.
START WITH THE RIGHT NUMBER
On many later Rolex watches, the serial is engraved on the rehaut at six o’clock. This is the metal ring between the dial and the crystal. Use good light and magnification to read it without opening the watch.
Do not confuse the small crown on the crystal with a serial. The code you need is a sequence of letters and digits, or digits alone on older pieces.
Older examples commonly carry the serial between the lugs at the six o’clock side, behind the bracelet. If the bracelet must come off, ask a watchmaker to help protect the case and spring bars.
The original guarantee or certificate may provide the code too. Compare it carefully with the watch. An invoice, service document and original guarantee do not necessarily record the same event.
The serial identifies a particular watch. The reference identifies a model or specification, such as a Submariner reference shared by many examples. Older cases often have the reference between the lugs at twelve o’clock.
A numeric reference can pass the basic format check for a vintage serial. Check the label on your papers before calculating. A believable result cannot tell you whether you copied the correct field.
THE REFERENCE TABLES
Use these as estimates, not official production records. The tables below power the lookup, so you can see the basis of a result without submitting a serial. Dates can overlap between batches and published guides.
Read the complete seven-character serial. These are periods associated with each prefix in this reference dataset.
| Prefix | Estimated period |
|---|---|
| R + six digits | 1987–1989 |
| L + six digits | 1989 |
| E + six digits | 1990 |
| X + six digits | 1991–1992 |
| N + six digits | 1991 |
| C + six digits | 1992 |
| S + six digits | 1993–1994 |
| W + six digits | 1995–1996 |
| T + six digits | 1996–1998 |
| U + six digits | 1997–1998 |
| A + six digits | 1999–2000 |
| P + six digits | 2000–2001 |
| K + six digits | 2001–2003 |
| Y + six digits | 2002–2004 |
| F + six digits | 2003–2006 |
| D + six digits | 2005–2007 |
| Z + six digits | 2006–2007 |
| M + six digits | 2007–2009 |
| V + six digits | 2008–2010 |
| G + six digits | 2010 |
The calculator uses the nearest lower anchor. These markers are not proven first or last numbers for a calendar year.
| Serial anchor | Approximate year |
|---|---|
| 23,000 | 1954 |
| 97,000 | 1955 |
| 133,061 | 1956 |
| 224,000 | 1957 |
| 328,000 | 1958 |
| 399,453 | 1959 |
| 516,000 | 1960 |
| 643,153 | 1961 |
| 744,000 | 1962 |
| 824,000 | 1963 |
| 1,008,889 | 1964 |
| 1,100,000 | 1965 |
| 1,200,000 | 1966 |
| 1,538,435 | 1967 |
| 1,752,000 | 1968 |
| 1,900,000 | 1969 |
| 2,241,882 | 1970 |
| 2,589,295 | 1971 |
| 2,890,459 | 1972 |
| 3,200,268 | 1973 |
| 3,567,927 | 1974 |
| 3,862,196 | 1975 |
| 4,115,299 | 1976 |
| 5,000,000 | 1977 |
| 5,400,000 | 1978 |
| 5,737,030 | 1979 |
| 6,434,000 | 1980 |
| 6,520,870 | 1981 |
| 7,100,000 | 1982 |
| 7,400,000 | 1983 |
| 8,070,022 | 1984 |
| 8,614,000 | 1985 |
| 8,900,000 | 1986 |
| 9,400,000 | 1987 |
The early observations in the reference have gaps and inconsistent ordering. For example, the entry associated with 1930 is lower than the entry associated with 1928. Filling those gaps with a neat annual sequence would suggest more certainty than the data supports.
For numbers below one million, we therefore flag possible early-vintage dating and, where applicable, a later post-reset estimate. We do not silently discard the earlier possibility just because a number is above the last recorded 1953 observation.
| Associated year | Recorded anchor |
|---|---|
| 1926 | 1 |
| 1927 | 20,190 |
| 1928 | 23,969 |
| 1930 | 23,186 |
| 1932 | 29,132 |
| 1933 | 29,562 |
| 1934 | 30,823 |
| 1935 | 34,336 |
| 1936 | 36,856 |
| 1937 | 40,920 |
| 1938 | 43,739 |
| 1939 | 71,224 |
| 1940 | 99,775 |
| 1941 | 106,047 |
| 1942 | 143,509 |
| 1943 | 230,878 |
| 1944 | 269,561 |
| 1945 | 302,459 |
| 1946 | 367,946 |
| 1947 | 529,163 |
| 1948 | 628,840 |
| 1951 | 709,249 |
| 1952 | 726,639 |
| 1953 | 855,726 |
THE BRACELET HAS ITS OWN HISTORY
The short date stamp inside an older clasp is different from the watch’s case serial and from the bracelet reference. Collector charts associate letters with an approximate year, sometimes followed by a month number from 1 to 12. For example, OP6 is associated with June 2006.
Open the bracelet comparison in the checker above to look up a code and compare it with an older case estimate. Matching periods provide context, not proof of originality. A replacement clasp or bracelet can be younger than the watch, and published interpretations can differ.
| Clasp letters | Approximate year |
|---|---|
| A / VA | 1976 |
| B / VB | 1977 |
| C / VC | 1978 |
| D / VD | 1979 |
| E / VE | 1980 |
| F / VF | 1981 |
| G | 1982 |
| H | 1983 |
| I | 1984 |
| J | 1985 |
| K | 1986 |
| L | 1987 |
| M | 1988 |
| N | 1989 |
| O | 1990 |
| P | 1991 |
| Q | 1992 |
| R | 1993 |
| S | 1994 |
| T / W | 1995 |
| V | 1996 |
| Z | 1997 |
| U | 1998 |
| X | 1999 |
| AB | 2000 |
| DE | 2001 |
| DT | 2002 |
| AD | 2003 |
| CL | 2004 |
| MA | 2005 |
| OP | 2006 |
| EO | 2007 |
| PJ | 2008 |
| LT | 2009 |
| RS | 2010 |
Dates are approximate, with particular variation in published 1990s charts. A separate service marking needs individual interpretation.
ONE WATCH, SEVERAL DATES
A watch’s history is a sequence of events. Record each date with its evidence rather than treating every document as a production certificate. This is particularly useful when comparing listings, buying a birth-year watch or checking why a card is later than a serial estimate.
| Evidence | What it tells you | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Serial chart | An approximate period for a covered older serial | An exact factory date, authenticity or ownership |
| Original dated guarantee | The original purchase date recorded by the retailer | The day or year every component was manufactured |
| Purchase invoice | A documented transaction involving the described watch | First sale unless the invoice actually documents it |
| Rolex service guarantee | A service-related guarantee event | The watch’s original production or first-sale date |
| Rolex Certified Pre-Owned guarantee | A guarantee starting from its Certified Pre-Owned sale | A new manufacture date for the watch |
| Bracelet or clasp code | Potential context about that component | Proof the bracelet is original to the case |
Rolex explains that the original guarantee is completed and dated at purchase. Its Certified Pre-Owned programme provides a new guarantee from the CPO sale. See Rolex’s guarantee explanation and the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned programme.
Decide whether you want a watch estimated to have been produced in that year or one originally sold in that year. Ask the seller to state which claim the evidence supports. A dated guarantee can support a sale date while a vintage serial chart offers an approximate production period.
Keep the description specific. “Original guarantee dated 1998” is a different claim from “manufactured in 1998”. If the year is the reason for your purchase, resolve that distinction before committing.
First check transcription and document type. Then compare the reference, case, dial and bracelet with the proposed period. A later service bracelet or replacement component can carry its own history.
A mismatch is a reason to investigate. It is not enough by itself to declare a watch genuine or counterfeit. Equally, matching serials on a watch and papers do not replace a physical assessment.
OUR DATABASE & METHOD
Finer Lux maintains the reference data used by this tool separately from the page design. This version contains 34 numeric anchors, 20 prefix ranges and 24 early observations. These are reference entries, not a count of independently inspected watches.
The reference tables draw on collector dating charts. They are not Rolex factory records. We preserve uncertain early observations rather than invent missing years, and show the same data in the charts above. No universal accuracy margin is claimed.
Original stock records can add useful evidence when the serial, reference and document type are recorded together. A warranty date should remain labelled as a warranty date. It must not be relabelled as production, and random serials must not be forced into a chronological sequence.
We normalise letter case and spaces, then check the entire format.
We show a prefix period, approximate numeric anchor, ambiguity or a random-era limitation.
The optional paper-year comparison explains consistency or discrepancy without certifying the watch.
Reference version 2026-09-30.1 · Updated 30 September 2026 · Published by Finer Lux. Independent of Rolex SA.
Official Rolex information: Rolex servicing information. If you spot a discrepancy, contact us about the reference data. Keep full serials out of public comments.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
Condition, configuration and accompanying papers matter alongside age. Tell us about your Rolex for an individual assessment, or explore the pieces currently available.
