1. Vintage (includes all watches from 1908 to 1950/60)
2. Oyster Precision
3. Ladies'
4. Mid-Size
5. Men's
6. Sport Watches
7. Men's Day-Date (Rolex President)
8. Cellini
9. Geneve Precision
10. Chronograph Watches & Rolex Daytona Cosmograph

If you have any questions about the terminology we use here, please read our GLOSSARY page.
You may also consider to review our FAQs page.

Vintage Rolex (1928 – approx. 1960):

The vintage Rolex, including the Rolex Prince and Bubbleback, have been the most successful in the history of Rolex manufacturing and precision.

The Rolex Prince was developed in 1928 becoming a best seller with its dual dial and rectangular case. The Prince would go on to achieve huge success and earn a place in horological history befitting its name. This now vintage watch stood apart in those times thanks to the outstanding performance of its movement and time precision.

The Rolex Steel Bubbleback with the classic "bubbleback design" of the early automatic Oyster Perpetual Chronometer comes in 32mm steel tonneau case, engine-turned bezel with five minute increments, original crown stamped "Rolex Oyster" and luminous Mercedes hands.

Can be: Ladies', Mid-Size, Men's (with 19 or 20 mm case)

General Characteristics: The ones mentioned share the same characteristics . They are all Oyster, with screw down back and screw down crown, Date or No Date (the ones without Date have the words Rolex Oyster Precision written on the dial , and the ones that come with Date, Rolex OysterDate Precision), with date at 3, water resistant up to 100 meters. The bands follow the same criteria as of the normal Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The materials also follow the same criteria as of the normal Rolex Oyster Perpetual. The movement is mechanical with manual winding.

Case measurements can be:
L adies' : 23 x 8.5
Mid-Size: 29.9 x 11
M en's : 34.5 x 10.3

The calibers are as follows: Ladies' and Mid-Size 1100; and Men's are 1215 or 1225 with 17 jewels; all are Non Quick Set .

They are classified as follows:

1) Lady's Oyster Perpetual Caliber 1160
2) Lady's Oyster Perpetual Caliber 2030
3) Lady's Oyster Perpetual Caliber 2130/2135
4) Lady's Oyster Perpetual Caliber 2235

General Characteristics: These 4 share the same characteristics , they are all Perpetual (mechanical with automatic winding), Oyster (water resistant up to 100 meters), with screw down back and screw down crown. If they come with Date, the crystal has a magnifying glass at the 3 o'clock aperture; they can be No Date, Date and Date-Just.

It was manufactured approximately from 1960 to 1973.

General Characteristics: The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal with 26 jewels; case measurements are: 24.6 x 10.7 mm; with holes on the sides of the lugs for the pins; bands are : either old style oyster or old style jubilee. The original materials from manufacturing are stainless steel, stainless steel and 14K gold, solid gold either with 14 or 18 KT; the dial can say Date or Date-Just. The movement with STOP SECOND or Hack.

Here are some of their references:

(The references can vary, but are generally the above.)

It was manufactured approximately from 1974 to 1983.

General Characteristics: The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal with 28 jewels; the case measures 24.6 x 10.2 mm and has holes on the sides of the lugs for the pins; the bands are always New Style, Oyster, Jubilee or President with hidden clasp and measure 13 mm at the lugs. The materials from manufacturing can be: stainless steel, stainless steel and 14KT gold or 18KT gold, come with Date or Date-Just dial . It comes with STOP SECOND or Hack. The watches that come with Date are all Non-Quick.

Some references for this model are:

(The references can vary but are generally the above.)

2130 : It was manufactured approximately from 1983 to 1995.

2135 : It was manufactured approximately from 1995 to 1998.

General Characteristics: The characteristics for this model are: sapphire crystal with 29 jewels; the movement is mechanical with automatic winding; case measurements are: 25.9 x 10.5 mm, with holes on the sides of the lugs for the pins; the bands are New Style, Oyster, Jubilee or President with hidden clasp. The materials from manufacturing can be: stainless steel, stainless steel and 18KT gold with white or yellow gold bezel, 18KT white, pink or yellow gold, and with platinum. The stainless steel watches from this category, that come with Date, have a word “DATE” written on the dial ; but if they also have any precious materials (such as white gold bezel or platinum), then the dial will say “DATE-JUST”. The watches with Date are Quick-Set.

Some references for this model are:

From this point on, the last, the 5 th , numbers of the references tell us what material the watch is made of. It can sometimes vary but it is usually like this:

/1 ---> Yellow Gold Filled
/0 ---> stainless steel
/2 ---> stainless steel and platinum
/3 ---> stainless steel and 18KT yellow gold
/4 ---> stainless steel and 18KT white gold
/5 ---> 18KT pink gold
/6 ---> platinum
/7---> 14 K Yellow Gold
/8 ---> 18KT yellow gold
/9 ---> 18 K white gold

This model was manufactured, approximately, from 1998 until today.

General Characteristics: The characteristics for this model are: sapphire crystal with 31 jewels; the movement is mechanical with automatic winding; case measurements are 25 x 9.4 mm; the bands are New Style, Oyster, Jubilee or President with hidden clasp. The materials from manufacturing can be: 18KT pink, yellow or white gold, platinum, stainless steel and stainless steel and 18KT gold with white or yellow gold bezel.

The references for this model have the number 7 added ahead and are as follows:

They are classified as the following:

1) Mid-Size Oyster Perpetual Plastic Crystal
2) Mid-Size Oyster Perpetual Sapphire Crystal

These 2 categories share the following characteristics :
They are perpetual (the movement is mechanical with automatic winding), with screw down back and screw down crown, if they have DATE, it will say Date-Just on the dial and the crystal has magnifying glass at the 3 where the aperture is located for the date, they can also come with NO DATE; they are all water resistant up to 100 meters.

It was manufactured approximately from 1960 to 1986.

The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal ; the case measures 30 x 11.7mm.

The movement in these watches are the same as that of the ladies watches. The mid-size watches were being changed in the same way and manner as the watches for ladies.

Some references for this model are:

It was manufactured approximately from 1987 until present day.

The characteristics that are found in this model are the same as that of the Mid-Size with plastic crystal . The only difference is the sapphire crystal and the Quick Set. The bands are New Style, instead of Old Style, with Oyster, Jubilee or President band styles .

Some references for this category are:

Are classified as the following categories:

1) Men's Oyster Perpetual No Date Plastic Crystal
2) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date 34mm Plastic Crystal Non Quick
3) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date 34mm Plastic Crystal Quick Set
4) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date Just 36mm Plastic Crystal Non Quick
5) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date Just 36mm Plastic Crystal Quick Set
6) Men's Oyster Perpetual Air King Sapphire Crystal
7) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date 34mm Sapphire Crystal Quick Set
8) Men's Oyster Perpetual Date Just 36mm Sapphire Crystal Quick Set

These 8 models share the following characteristics :

They are automatic , oyster perpetual for ALL categories, with screw down back and screw down crown; if with date, the crystal has magnifying glass at the aperture at 3 o'clock , and they can come with Date, Date y Date-Just depending on the model, and they are always water resistant up to 100 meters.

It was manufactured approximately from 1960 until 1984.

The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal with 26 jewels; the case measures 36 x 12.3mm with holes on the sides for the pins; the band can either be Old or New style band , depending on the year, with either oyster or jubilee styles.

The materials from manufacturing can be stainless steel, stainless steel and 14KT gold with yellow, white, or pink gold bezel, or the whole watch in solid 14 KT or 18KT pink or yellow gold.

Here are some of their references:

From the 1003 reference up until 1038 they can come with FLUTED or MILLED bezel .

It was manufactured approximately from 1960 until 1983

The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal with 26 jewels; the case measures 34 x 12.3mm with holes on the sides for the pins; the bands are New Style or Old Style, oyster or jubilee with 19mm wide at the lugs. The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel, stainless steel and 14KT gold with yellow, white or pink gold bezel or the whole watch 14 KT or 18KT pink or yellow gold.

The movements for these watches are 1565/1575. Automatic movement that can come with hack or no hack, depending on the year of its manufacturing.

The dials always say DATE. The cases come with holes for pins on the lugs.

Here are some of their references:

It was manufactured approximately from 1983 until 1989

The characteristic for this model are the same as the previous model. The only difference being the Quick Set function.

It has a plastic crystal with 27 jewels, the case measures 34 x 12.3 mm and it has holes on the sides for the pins, the band is New Style oyster or jubilee with 19mm wide at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel only, stainless steel and 14KT gold with yellow or white gold bezel, or the whole watch in 14 KT gold o 18KT in pink or yellow.

The caliber for the movement is 3035.

It was manufactured approximately from 1960 until 1983.

The characteristics for this model are: plastic crystal with 26 jewels; the case measures 36 x 12.3 mm with holes on the sides for the pins; the bands are New Style or Old style, oyster or jubilee with 20 mm at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel, stainless steel and 14KT gold with yellow, white or pink gold bezel or the whole watch is 14 KT or 18KT pink or yellow gold.

The movements for this model are 1565/1575, can come with no hack or with hack (stop second feature), depending on the year of manufacturing.

The dials always say DATE-JUST and the cases come with holes for pins on the lugs.

It was manufactured approximately from 1977 until 1989

The characteristic for this model are the same as the previous model. The only difference would be the Quick Set function.

It has a plastic crystal with 27 jewels, the case measures 36 x 12.3 mm and with holes on the sides of the lugs for the pins. The bands are New Style, oyster or jubilee with 20 mm wide at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel only, stainless steel and 14KT o 18KT gold, with yellow, white gold bezel, or the whole watch with 14 KT or 18KT pink or yellow gold.

Here are some of their references:

There also exists a Rolex with a quartz movement. It is called: Rolex OYSTER QUARTZ

It was manufactured approximately from 1983 until present day.

This model has similar characteristics as the model with plastic crystal , the only difference would be the sapphire crystal , with 31 jewels; the case measures 34 x 12.3 mm with holes on the sides for the pins, and no hole for the more recent models. The band is New Style, oyster or jubilee; 19mm wide at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel, stainless steel and 18KT gold, with yellow or white gold bezel; and the whole watch 18KT yellow gold. Here are some of their references:

It was manufactured approximately from the year 1987.

The characteristic for this model are the same as the previous model. The only difference would be the Quick-Set function.

It comes with sapphire crystal with 31 jewels, the caliber is 3135; the case measures 34 x 12.3 mm with holes on the sides for the pins. The band is New Style, oyster or jubilee with 19mm at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel only, stainless steel and 18KT gold with yellow or white gold bezel; or all the whole watch in 18KT yellow gold.

It was manufactured approximately starting for the year 1987.

The characteristics for this model are the same as the previous. The only difference would be that they are all DATE JUST.

It comes with sapphire crystal with 31 jewels, the caliber is 3135; the case measures 34 x 12.3 mm with holes on the sides for the pins. The band is New Style, oyster or jubilee band , 19mm at the lugs.

The materials from manufacturing for this model can be stainless steel only, stainless steel and 18KT gold with yellow or white gold bezel, or the whole watch in 18KT solid yellow gold.

These sport watches are categorized as the following:

1) Explorer
2) Explorer II
3) GMT Master I (aviation)
4) GMT Master II
5) Submariner NO date
6) Submariner Date
7) Submariner Sea Dweller
8) Yacht Master

They are all automatic with screw down back and screw down crown; if they are with date, the crystal has a magnifying glass at the 3 o'clock aperture (except with the sea Dweller).
They were manufactured at the same time as the birth of the Oyster and are still in production today.

The materials from manufacturing are stainless steel only, stainless steel and 14 or 18KT gold, stainless steel and platinum, yellow or pink gold, or very rarely, platinum.

All Rolex Explorer watches (we only mean Rolex Explorer I) come with NO DATE, and the case measures 36mm. The dial has a black background with a luminescent triangular marker at the 12 o'clock and luminescent Arabic numbers and a smooth bezel .

This model was designed especially by Rolex to be used for the Artic expeditions or to be used to climb high altitudes. It was tested by Rolex in the first expedition to the top of Mount Everest in 1953.

The main references are the following:

It was created in the 1970´s with the reference # 1655, being very similar to the GMT Master, except having a fixed bezel. This watch was made especially for speleologist (cave diggers) who easily loose track of time, whether it would be morning, afternoon, evening, or night. So it was that a 4 th hand was introduced which rotated once every 24 hours. It has a 4 th hand that indicated whether it is AM or PM. This hand would indicate to the cave diggers if it was 5 in the afternoon or 5 in the morning. However, the Rolex Explorer II became more popular with pilots or air traffic controllers than with speleologists.

It was created for aviation in 1954 with the reference # 6542, but the most commonly known reference # is 1675. It was manufactured between the 70s and 80s, producing modification only in the movement.
The bezel is rotating and has a 24 hour scale with a black dial with triangular luminescent marker at 12 o'clock and luminescent stick markers, but with no numbers . The term GMT means Greenwich Meridian Time; it is used to calculate different time zones. The bezel generally has 2 colors: red for AM and blue for PM. This model was made especially by Rolex at the request of PanAm Airlines in 1954 to be used by their pilots.

1675 stainless steel, stainless steel and 14 or 18KT gold, 18 KT solid gold
16753 stainless steel and 18KTS gold
16758 18KT solid gold

It is the clone of the previous, although comes with a Quick Set feature for date.

It was created in 1954 with the reference # 6204, but the most commonly known would be the reference # 5513 that was manufactured between the 70s and 80s, making modification to the movement s and of the crystal .
It has a black dial with a triangular luminescent marker at the 12 o'clock , and the bezel is rotating with a scale of 60 minutes. Its submergibility is up to 200 meters (660 feet).
This model was especially made by Rolex to practice aquatic activities.
The model 5508 is known as the James Bond because it was worn by Sean Connery in the saga of 007.

This Rolex Submariner DATE was created in the 70s with the reference # 1680, corresponding to the Men's DATE with the case measuring 40mm.
The bezel is rotating with a scale of 60 minutes, and the dial has a black background with a triangular luminescent marker at the 12 o'clock . Its submergibility is up to 300 meters (1000 feet)

Between 1971 and 1974 it had written on the dial “Submariner” with red letters. These are much more valuable to the collectors since it is usually written in white.

The band comes with a flip lock that serves to be utilized over the scuba diving suit, with an extra lock on the exterior for more security.

This model was designed by Rolex especially for the petroleum boom to support locations of high pressure. It has a valve of helium to support the underwater pressure, and Rolex manufactured this for the needs of Comex, and also for the other industrial companies.
The Sea Dweller with plastic crystal also comes with a hemispheric crystal . All of these models having a flip lock .

It was manufactured starting from the year 1990 with caliber 3135 and 31 jewels. The model 16622 Yacht Master is an equivalent of the 18kt Submariner. The watch was made in three measurements: 29mm, 35mm. and 40mm – it's for ladies', mid-size, and men's respectively. It comes in stainless steel with platinum bezel , stainless steel and 18KT gold, and the band s being Oyster (only with a flip lock ).

Ref. 169622 (29mm stainless steel w/platinum bezel)
Ref.168622 (35mm stainless steel w/platinum bezel)
Ref.16622 (40mm stainless steel w/platinum bezel)
Ref.169623 (29mm stainless steel and gold)
Ref.168623 (35mm stainless steel and gold)
Ref.169628 (29mm all gold)
Ref.168628 (35mm all gold)
Ref.16628 (40mm all gold)

The birth of this watch was in the year 1956, and it is still being manufactured today. It is one of the most prestigious watches made by Rolex. Originally, it was made especially for the presidents of a particular company or for anyone holding an important position, hence the name PRESIDENT.

General characteristics : automatic, screw down back and crown, Date with magnifying glass at 3 o'clock position and Day (showing day of the week at 12); water resistant up to 100 meters, are always DATE-JUST. The case measurements are 36 by 13 mm. The crystal s can be plastic and sapphire, depending on the year of fabrication. They can be non-quick-set with plastic crystal ; single-quick-set with sapphire crystal, starting from 1977; and double-quick-set with sapphire crystal approximately from 1994 (double-quick-set referring to quick-set for both day and date). The materials are always precious metals: 18kt yellow, pink and white gold.

Cellini is a sub-brand of Rolex which are manufactured with precious metals , for both men and women. They usually come in various shapes other than the standard round Rolex shape. They were first manufactured in 1975 and they are still being made today.

These are similar to the Cellini, starting in the '60s until present day, in that they share the same characteristics , the only difference being it only comes in stainless steel.

Rolex was not among the chronograph pioneers, choosing to focus their energies on the Oyster and the Perpetual . However the success of these watches propelled Rolex to be in the position of being the "sportsman's" watch and sportsmen demand a chronograph.

Instead of developing their own movement Rolex chose to use the Valjoux movement. It was available in three sizes and they were all simple one button chronographs. These allowed the user to time one continuous event. This one button chronograph was popular but the more it was used the more obvious its limitations were. Customers demanded the ability to stop the watch intermittently which was of course impossible without resetting the time. It was not until the late 1930's that anything changed with the arrival of the two button chronograph. This was a major breakthrough and now allowed people to stop the watch to take necessary breaks and than restart it on the same time as when they left off. A football referee could stop the watch each time a ball went out and then get an accurate 45 minutes play.

At the end of the 1930's the "Zerograph" was produced in very limited quantities. The watch model 3462 marked an important turning point for Rolex as it was the first watch to feature the Oyster crown and is now extremely sort after.

The first true Oyster chronograph was the model 4500, which never sold in huge quantities as it was released during World War II. The 6232 and the 3668 models followed but proved just as unpopular. Both new models used the 13" Valjoux movement and had just a thirty minute register. While Rolex in 1942 had introduced an hour recorder it was a snap on back it would be another seven years before the Oyster case and the three button chronograph would be brought together in the form of the 5034. During the next fifteen years the 5034 changed into the 6034, which then became the 6234. This in turn became the 6238 and then finally evolved into the 6239.

These changes although little by little had inspired Rolex to revive the previously shelved name the "Cosmograph". The only difference between the 6239 and the 6238 was that on the 6239 the bezel was engraved with tachymeter graduations rather than having them on the dial.

The last major changes to the manual wind chronograph came in the late 1970's when Rolex introduced the 6263 model. This was the first model to have truly waterproof pushers. The earlier Oyster Chronographs had simple round pushers with internal gaskets as the only sealing mechanism.

The screw down pushers were added to stop people pressing the buttons, whilst submerged in water. The locking function also prevented the chronograph being activated inadvertently. The new 6263 started life as being waterproof to 165 feet, ten years later it was capable of twice that depth (100 meters) The 6263 is unusual in the fact that the quality of the movement depended on which case you had. The steel chronograph movements were not timed to a chronometer standard.

Despite the innovative design it was not until 1986 when the popularity of the Daytona started to increase, reaching its zenith with a particular Daytona model, the " Paul Newman ". This model featured square markers on the subsidiary dials, and an outer track the same colour as the subsidiary dials. Although the origins of this nickname for the dial are obscure this is the easiest term to refer to this watch. This unusual dial colourful and deco in appearance was only in production for a short period of time form its introduction in 1970.

Rolex finally released the new version of the Daytona in 1991. They had abandoned the workhorse Valjoux movement in favour of the Zenith movement. The new dials featured large subsidiary dials and had an inner track in a contrasting colour. Dial colours included black, white, champagne and each watch had "Daytona" in red on the dial and they all had screw-down pushers.

The stainless steel Daytona has become one of the most sought after watches of all time. Because there were higher profit margins in the gold and mixed metal watches there was a shortage of the steel one as there just were not enough being produced.

Rolex's latest addition to the Daytona hysteria was launched at the end of 2000. The 116520 which like the rest of Rolex's models has an extra 1 prefix to differentiate it from the others. There have been a few dial refinements but the main difference is the fact that Rolex are now using an in house movement instead of the old Zenith one. [This extract was taken From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ]

Please, read also about Chronograph.