Secret Codes... ?
Rolex - Country of Sale.
On most modern Rolex Guarantee/Warranty papers you will find 2 perforated numbers, one of these numbers is the watch’s serial number and is located (on UK Guarantee papers) in the top right hand corner. However there is a second perforated number which is made up of 3 digits (pictured left) and this represents the County in which the watch was first sold. Below you will find a list of these Codes with their associated countries but of course if you are in possession of the warranty papers, and they have been fully completed, this information will already be obvious to you.
| 010 - Switzerland 012 - Switzerland 100 - Germany 110 - France 114 - Nice 120 - Austria 130 - Belgium 134 - Netherlands 138 - Netherlands 150 - Spain 160 - England 170 - Italy 200 - Italy 201 - Malta 202 - Egypt 208 - Greece |
265 - Sweden 283 - Finland 400 - Hong Kong 413 - Korea 430 - Singapore 431 - Malaysia 440 - Taiwan 500 - India 505 - Parkistan 527 - Middle East 532 - Saudi Arabia 538 - Oman 548 - Israel 680 - South Africa 700 - Canada 710 - USA |
720 - Mexico 741 - Bahamas 752 - Jamaica 767 - Grand Cayman 768 - Panama 780 - Brazil 781 - Chile 790 - Argentina 810 - Australia 818 - Philippines 828 - China 842 - New Zealand 873 - Guam 888 - Hong Kong 900 - Japan |
I would be interested to hear of any other codes not listed here, and also of any corrections that may be appropriate if anyone out there has spotted inaccuracies in the information being provided.
Rolex USA - Date Shipped to Dealer.
Another code is evident on guarantee/warranty papers for watches sold in the USA. On the back of these documents are some letters in red ink (pictured right). By applying the following code you can work out when the watch was shipped from Rolex USA to the dealer
| R - 1 | O - 2 | L - 3 | E - 4 | X - 5 | W - 6 | A - 7 | T - 8 | C - 9 | H - 0 |
So the code illustrated above (A OXCR) translates as 7 2591, i.e. July 25 1991.... simple when you know how!
My thanks go to Jocke for the photo of the red code and the information that goes with it.