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Revision as of 05:30, 6 July 2026

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 →

From the archive: Sea-Dweller 1665

The 1665 is the original Sea-Dweller, the deep-saturation diver built with a helium escape valve for COMEX saturation work. Its Single Red and Double Red dials and its patent-pending caseback make it one of the most documented and most faked references in the catalogue.

Read the full 1665 article →

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

→ Full Submariner index

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

→ Full Daytona index

Explorer

Era	References
Vintage 1952–89	6150 · 6350 · 6610 · 1016
Modern 1989–2021	14270 · 114270 · 214270

→ Full Explorer index

Explorer II

Era	References
Vintage Freccione 1971–1984	1655
Transitional 1985–1989	16550
Modern 40mm 1989–2010	16570

→ Full Explorer II index

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

→ Full GMT-Master index

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

→ Full Bubbleback index

Day-Date

Era	References
Originals 1956–59	6510 · 6511 · 6611 · 6612 · 6612B
4-digit President 1959–78	1803 · 1804 · 1806 · 1807 · 1811 · 1831
5-digit 1977–2000	18038 · 18028 · 18048 · 18078 · 18238 · 18248 · 18348 · 18208
6-digit Day-Date 36 2000–19	118238 · 118208 · 118235 · 118138
Day-Date II 41mm 2008–15	218238 · 218206
Oysterquartz 1977–2001	19018

→ Full Day-Date index

Air-King

Era	References
Battle of Britain origin 1945–53	4925 · 4365 · 4499
First automatic 1953–57	6552
Long-run mainstay 1957–89	5500 · 5501 · 5502 · 5504 · 5506 · 5520 · 5700 · 5701
Sapphire era 1989–2014	14000 · 14000M · 114200

→ Full Air-King index

Prince

Era	References
Brancard era 1928–mid-1940s	1343 · 971 · 1490 · 1491 · 1527 · 1862 · 3361 · 3937

→ Full Prince index

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+.

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 <!-- FEATURED:START -->
-== From the archive: Daytona 6263 ==
+== From the archive: Sea-Dweller 1665 ==
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 <div style="flex:0 0 240px; align-self:flex-start;">
-[[File:Ref 6263 hero.webp|frameless|240px|link=Reference:6263]]
+[[File:Ref 1665 hero.webp|frameless|240px|link=Reference:1665]]
 </div>
 <div style="flex:1; min-width:0;">
-The [[Reference:6263|6263]] is the screw-pusher manual-wind Cosmograph, the watch the Paul Newman exotic dials, the RCO, and the Big Red branches all attach to. Black acrylic bezel, pump-then-screw pushers, and a Valjoux-based caliber put it at the centre of the vintage Daytona universe.
+The [[Reference:1665|1665]] is the original Sea-Dweller, the deep-saturation diver built with a helium escape valve for COMEX saturation work. Its Single Red and Double Red dials and its patent-pending caseback make it one of the most documented and most faked references in the catalogue.
-'''[[Reference:6263|Read the full 6263 article →]]'''
+'''[[Reference:1665|Read the full 1665 article →]]'''
 </div>
 </div>