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. BezelBase tries to store this information in a single place.
Each article documents one Rolex reference: production years, movement, dial variants, case and bracelet details, auction record, and the things to check when authenticating one. Coverage spans the main Rolex lines so the history reads as one connected archive.
Inside one reference, the watch can change a lot. A 5512 from 1962 is not the 5512 from 1978. A pointed-crown-guard 1675 is not the late matte 1675. Generation matters first. About →
Submariner
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Pre-five-digit 1953–90 |
6204 · 6205 · 6200 · 6536 · 6536/1 · 6538 · 5508 · 5510 · 5512 · 5513 · 5514 · 5517 · 1680 |
| Five-digit 1979–2010 |
14060 · 14060M · 16800 · 16610 · 16610LV · 16803 · 16808 · 16613 · 16618 |
Daytona
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Manual-wind chronograph 1962–1988 |
6238 · 6239 · 6240 · 6241 · 6262 · 6263 · 6264 · 6265 |
| Zenith automatic 1988–2000 |
16520 · 16518 · 16519 · 16523 · 16528 |
| In-house cal 4130 2000–2016 |
116520 · 116523 · 116528 |
Explorer
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Vintage 1952–89 |
6150 · 6350 · 6610 · 1016 |
| Modern 1989–2021 |
14270 · 114270 · 214270 |
Explorer II
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Vintage Freccione 1971–1984 |
1655 |
| Transitional 1985–1989 |
16550 |
| Modern 40mm 1989–2010 |
16570 |
GMT-Master
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Vintage 1955–99 |
6542 · 1675 · 16750 · 16753 · 16758 · 16700 |
| GMT-Master II 1983–2007 |
16760 · 16710 · 16713 · 16718 |
| Ceramic 5-digit 2005–19 |
116718LN · 116713LN · 116710LN · 116710BLNR · 116719BLRO |
| Ceramic 6-digit 2018–present |
126710BLRO · 126711CHNR · 126715CHNR · 126710BLNR · 126720VTNR · 126713GRNR · 126718GRNR · 126710GRNR |
Oyster & Bubbleback
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Pre-Oyster & Oyster 1922–37 |
3666 · 2136 · 3003 · 3004 |
| Bubbleback era 1933–45 |
1858 · 3131 · 3372 · 3525 |
| Datejust / Padellone / Super Oyster 1945–53 |
4467 · 5030 · 5031 · 6031 · 6075 · 6105 · 8171 · 6098 |
Prince
| Era | References |
|---|---|
| Brancard era 1928–mid-1940s |
971 · 1490 · 1491 · 1527 · 1862 · 3361 · 3937 |
Reference guides
Three pages cover material that applies across every Rolex line documented here. Bracelets catalogs bracelet refs, end links, clasps, and link types alongside the clasp date-code key. Movements lists every caliber spanning the manual-wind chronograph, Zenith-driven, and in-house generations. Serial numbers decodes the three Rolex serial systems — numeric pre-1987, letter 1987–2010, and random alphanumeric 2010+.