Rolex Watch FAQ’s

Are you an authorized Rolex dealer?

No. RK & Co. Jewelers is a retailer of pre-owned and new luxury Swiss watches and non-Swiss watches. We are not an authorized Rolex SA nor are we an authorized retailer of any other watch manufacturer, except Seiko. Datejust, Day-Date President, Presidential, Pearlmaster, Masterpiece, Submariner, Cosmograph Daytona, Explorer, Sea Dweller, GMT Master, Yacht-Master, Air King Milgauss, Prince, and Cellini are all registered trademarks of the Rolex Corporation (Rolex USA, Rolex S.A.). Baume & Mercier, Longines, Cartier, Breitling, Panerai, Patek Phillippe, Omega, Ebel, Citizen, Rado, Movado, and Hamilton are all registered trademarks of their respective corporations. The manufacturer’s warranty will not apply to these watches sold by or repaired by RK & Co. Jewelers and RK & Co. Jewelers is not an authorized dealer of ANY of these brands. All warranties are provided solely by RK & Co. Jewelers. All trademarked names, brands and models, mentioned on this site are the sole property of their respective trademark owners. This site, including its owners, operators, and developers, is not affiliated with nor endorsed by ANY watch manufacturer brand or any subsidiaries thereof, in any way.

What is the difference between a Chronometer and Chronograph?

• Chronometer:
  An automatic timepiece that has been tested and proven to keep very accurate time.

• Chronograph:
  A watch with a built-in stopwatch. It will generally have “pushers” above and below the crown. The upper one typically starts and stops the stopwatch, while the lower one will reset the stopwatch. Chronographs will have sub-dials which will display the amount of time that has passed since the stopwatch was activated.

 

What is the difference between Single-Quickset vs. Double-Quickset?

• Single-Quickset:
  When the crown is unscrewed and pulled out to the 1st click, it will only allow you to change the date quickly (numbered disc 1-31).
  You would have to pull the unscrewed crown out to the 2nd click and physically rotate the hands forwards or backwards to set the day (Monday-Sunday).

• Double-Quickset:
  When the crown is unscrewed and pulled out to the first click, it will allow you to quickly change the day (Monday-Sunday) by rotating the crown one direction, and date (1-31) by rotating the crown in the opposite direction.

**NOTE: YOU MUST NOT USE THE QUICK-SET FEATURE IF THE WATCH IS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 AND 3.**

The watch is powering up for a stressful date change. Any interference can disrupt this operation and damage the internal watch parts. Move the time to the 6 o’clock position before using the quickset function.

 

The DateJust is 36mm and the Date is 34mm, not including crown. The Date only comes with the Oyster bracelet, whereas the DateJust can have either the Oyster or Jubilee bracelet.The DateJust is more expensive. They both use the same movements.

In a word — YES! Replica watches are, in fact, counterfeit and therefore are ILLEGAL. Any product that includes copyright and/or trademark names or logos (without the copyright and/or trademark owner’s permission) is considered to be counterfeit.On January 17, 2001, the U.S. District Court in Columbia, SC, charged two individuals with selling allegedly counterfeit versions of Rolex watches. Their website claimed the watches to be “replicas.” Mark Dipadova was later sentenced to 24 months in prison and was ordered to pay $138,264 in restitution for “trafficking counterfeited trademarks,” while Rufus Todd James was sentenced to 36 months in prison, and was ordered to pay $116,779 in restitution on a similar charge.

Do genuine Rolex watches “tick”?

This has been a big misconception regarding Rolex watches, “sweeping” versus “ticking.” In the past, people used this as a method of identifying counterfeit Rolex watches.The truth is, genuine Rolex watches do, in fact, “tick.” However, they tick at around 5 to 6 times per second, so it gives the illusion of “sweeping” or “floating” around the dial. If you watch the second hand with a loupe you can see it. However, these days counterfeits use mechanical movements that appear to “float,” but only at around 3 to 4 times per second.In the past, cheap counterfeits would utilize quartz movements, and thus would “tick” once per second. This gives what we call a “choppy step,” and can also be spotted with a loupe. That said, Rolex also made quartz watches since the 1970s, but were discontinued a few years ago. However, these models were only made in very small quantity and represented only around 2% of their total watch production.

Another Rolex model, the Tru-beat, featured a mechanical movement that was designed to “tick” only once per second. This “dead beat” seconds feature wasn’t very popular and the watch was discontinued shortly after it was introduced, in 1954.

 

While most high-end watch companies utilize 1.4435 (or 316L) Stainless Steel, Rolex uses 1.4439 (or 904L) Stainless Steel. While they both have the same grade of hardness, 904L has a slightly higher nickel discharge, and thus a slightly higher resistance to corrosion. 904L is mainly used in industry applications handling chlorides, sulfur dioxide gas or other toxic materials.While this may sound like overkill for use with wristwatches, it’s just another example of over-engineering on the part of Rolex where only the best will do.

This refers to the chemical used on the hands and hour markers, which causes them to illuminate. Around 1950, watchmakers started using Tritium as their luminous material, and began indicating the amount of that radioactive material with a designation at the bottom of the dial (i.e. T SWISS T or SWISS T < 25). Around 1998, watchmakers changed the designation to read SWISS or SWISS MADE, when they replaced the Tritium with LumiNova (an organic, non-radioactive chemical), as their source of luminescence.

• T SWISS MADE T indicates that the radioactive material Tritium is present on the wristwatch. The amount of radioactive material emitted is limited to a maximum of 25 milliCurie.
• SWISS T < 25 more specifically indicates that the wristwatch emits an amount of Tritium that is less than the 25 milliCurie limit.
• SWISS T 25 indicates that the wristwatch emits the maximum allowable amount of Tritium (i.e. a full 25 milliCurie).
• SWISS (or) SWISS MADE on wristwatches produced after (around) 1998, indicates the presence of LumiNova as the luminous material.

Please Note: “SWISS” or “SWISS MADE” was also the indication on wristwatches produced prior to the 1950s, when Radium was used as the luminous material. However, at that time “SWISS” or “SWISS MADE” simply indicated that the watch was, in fact, made in Switzerland.

 

Why is there a “crown” logo on the crystal?

Solid End Links (or SEL) refers to the final link on select modern Rolex bracelets. On these SEL bracelets, the final link is made from a solid piece of metal where the bracelet attaches to the watch’s case. This new design makes for a stronger bracelet and a cleaner look. On older bracelets, they utilized a hollow end piece to attach the bracelet to the watch’s case.

How do I open the diver’s extension?

Diver’s extension is installed in FlipLock bracelet. It is an extra folding clasp, when unfolded, it can increase the length of bracelet and ensure the watch can be worn outside the diving suit.Submariner and Sea-Dweller all use FlipLock bracelet.
SEL bracelet: beside the buckle, there is an O-shaped button, press it to release the diver’s extension.NON-SEL bracelet: pull up the bracelet to open the buckle until the diver’s extension is released.

How many kinds of bracelets and buckles does Rolex have?

Basically there are Jubilee, Oyster, Oysterlock, Oyster Fliplock and President.Jubilee: a Rolex classic

Oyster: a basic folding buckle, fasten it by pressing

OysterLock: similar to Oyster, but there is an additional secure buckle to prevent accidental fall off. When opening, first you must pull the secure buckle to the left, and then open the OysterLock to the right.

Fliplock: similar to OysterLock, but has an added diver’s extension. FlipLock is also much longer to cover the deployant buckle.

President: Named after American President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 when this bracelet first appeared. He chose one to wear to celebrate the victory of WWII, when Rolex gifted President Eisenhower an 18K gold Datejust watch (British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also had one at that time). In 1956, this watch was returned to the factory to maintain and repair and was replaced with a new bracelet (this was the origin of the president bracelet). Day-Date is often called the “President Watch,” objectively it refers to the bracelet. In fact, Eisenhower’s was Datejust, not Day-Date.

 

Where is the model number / serial number of my Rolex?

In order to find the model number and/or serial number on your Rolex, you must remove the bracelet.  It is recommended you use proper tools to remove the bracelet or have a watchmaker or other skilled person remove it for you.The model number is engraved on the case between the lugs and under the bracelet at the 12 o’clock position.The serial number is engraved on the case between the lugs and under the bracelet at the 6 o’clock position.

In 2005, Rolex began engraving the serial number on the rehaut (French for ‘flange’) between the dial and the crystal as well as the 6′ o’clock location. Starting in 2008, Rolex stopped engraving the serial number at the case 6 o’clock location, using only the rehaut location. By 2010 this practice had gradually transitioned to all models.

In 2010, Rolex mostly abandoned their conventional numbering sequence in favor for a mixed (aka random aka scrambled) serial. They will be 8 digits, opposed to 7 in the past. Random examples of these indecipherable numbers are “OT23Q257″, “12345J78″, and “345X29VN”.

 

What is the benefit of buying a pre-owned Rolex over a new one?

A new Rolex, like most luxury items, will depreciate in value close to 30% immediately after purchase. On the other hand, a pre-owned Rolex greatly holds its value in time and can be resold at a price close to your purchase price. When you buy pre-owned, you’ve effectively cut out the deprecation in the retail markup. Rolex designs don’t change very often; therefore, owning a perfect condition pre-owned timepiece is as good as a new one, with no one knowing that the watch was purchased pre-owned.No one can spot a used Rolex on your wrist. With the proper care and maintenance, a Rolex lasts forever.

Rolex recommends that you have your Rolex serviced every 5 years. Our basic service takes approximately 3-4 weeks. When you service your Rolex or any other luxury brand regularly, you reduce the chances of needing any serious and costly repair.All watch service comes with a 1-year mechanical warranty through RK & Co. Jewelers.

* Some have seen G serialed watches that were produced in 2012, so Rolex is using both the mixed and the G at the same time.

** In 1987, rather than begin an 8 digit production serial, Rolex instead began their serials with a letter prefix such as R, then L, E & X. (ROLEX without the O) N, C, & S came out during the early to mid 1990’s, W, T & U a little later. The latest letter prefixes are all running concurrently…as Rolex wishes! Only Rolex knows the exact date that any watch was actually produced. Confused…contact Rolex with the exact serial number of your watch…don’t expect a reply with an answer!

*** When Rolex reached the 999,999 production serial in the early 1950’s…they restarted the production serial at 100,000 rather than begin a 7 digit number at 1,000,000. During this period Rolex was also putting the date code on the inside of the case backs…so confusing production serials can sometimes have their production date determined. Look for the Roman number I, II, III or IV for the quarter & two arabic digits for the year.

In the late 1950’s, Rolex again reached the 999,999 production serial & they started their 7 digit numeric numbering system at 1,000,000 for production serials, this continued until the 1990’s until production serials reached 9,999,999.