When you ask us whether your Rolex is real, you are asking two questions at once. The first is which model Rolex built the watch to be, and the second is whether every part on it is a genuine Rolex part that belongs to that model. At Judy's Jewelry in Fort Myers, we start both from the engraving on the case. The reference number sits between the lugs at 12 o'clock, and it names the model. Next comes the serial number, which identifies your individual watch. Older watches carry it between the lugs at 6 o'clock, and newer ones carry it on the rehaut, the ring around the dial.

Because both questions are settled on the watch itself, a watch without its box or card goes through the same examination as one with them. Over the decades a box and a card can part from a genuine watch, while the engraving and the parts stay with it. Papers join the examination at the end, after we have read the watch itself.

The Numbers Rolex Engraves Into The Case

The reference number is the model number, so every other part has to suit the model it names. Because the reference sits under the end of the bracelet, reading it means taking the bracelet off the case. For a watch made before about 2010, the serial also places the period when the watch was made, while serials issued after that are random. Rolex began engraving the serial on the rehaut in the mid-2000s, so where the serial sits is our first sign of the watch's period.

Each Part Has To Belong To The Model

With the reference number in hand, we expect the dial, the hands, the bezel, the bracelet and the crystal to be the kind Rolex fitted to that model. Suiting the model and being made by Rolex are two different matters, so we look at each of those visible parts for both. Whether the model has a Cyclops lens over the date window is part of the match as well. Where Rolex fitted one, that lens magnifies the date about two and a half times.

The crystal has to suit the watch's period too. Rolex introduced a tiny laser-etched crown at 6 o'clock in the early 2000s, and it was standard across the range by early 2004. Under magnification, we expect to find that crown on a newer watch. A watch made before Rolex introduced the crown left the factory without one. On a watch like that, an etched crown means its crystal was fitted after it left the factory. We then look at that crystal more closely, alongside any service records that come in with the watch.

Genuine Parts And Original Parts

A part is genuine when Rolex made it, and it is original when it is the part first fitted to your watch at the factory. At a Rolex service, components that no longer meet Rolex specifications are replaced with genuine Rolex parts. A dial that Rolex fitted during a service is therefore a genuine Rolex part, though it is not the dial the watch left the factory with. An older watch carrying a dial like that can be a genuine Rolex that Rolex has serviced.

What Cards And Service Records Establish

Rolex issues a card with the watch, and the card carries the reference number and the serial number. Because a card travels apart from the watch, it counts once both its numbers match the ones on the case. After a full service at a Rolex service center, the watch comes back with a Rolex Service Card. It carries the watch's numbers and the service date. An itemized service invoice goes further, because it lists each part replaced during the service, such as a dial or hands. With an invoice like that, we can match a newer part on the watch to the service at which it was fitted.

Sit Down With Our Buyers And Your Watch

When we make an offer, we evaluate the condition of the dial and the stretch of the bracelet. Our offer also takes in the timing of the movement. We buy Rolex watches running or not. On a watch that has stopped, we still read the numbers and check the visible parts before we make an offer.

Call Judy's Jewelry at (239) 481-9600, then bring your watch and any papers that came with it to our Fort Myers shop. You sit down with our buyers, and we read the numbers and go through the parts with you at the same visit. When we finish, we make you an immediate cash offer.