Check a watch serial number against the public record
Pick the brand, type the serial from the caseback or the warranty card, and read what published tables can say: whether the format fits, which years it points to, and whether the serial and the reference agree. Every line names its source, and "not derivable" is an answer.
Live now: 0 of 5 brands, 0 reviewed rows from 0 sources. A row goes live only with a source and a reviewer.
What an answer looks like
Three worked examples with illustrative serials. The lines read the same on a real result, with the sources shown.
Example: a Seiko diver
- Brand
- Seiko
- Serial number
- 330457
- Reference
- 7S26-0020
- Format
- matches, high confidence
Format matches the pattern Seiko used from 1966.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Year
- range, high confidence
March 2003 or March 2013. The serial gives the month and the last digit of the year; calibre 7S26 was in production from 1996 to 2019, so both decades are possible.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Cross-check
- fits, medium confidence
Serial era and reference fit: the serial format dates from 1966 on and reference 7S26-0020 was in production 1996 to 2019.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
Example: a Rolex from before 2010
- Brand
- Rolex
- Serial number
- 5214836
- Reference
- 1675
- Format
- matches, high confidence
Format matches the pattern Rolex used from 1926 to 1987.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Year
- disagreement, medium confidence
Published tables disagree: one dealer chart says 1977, another says 1978. The serial dates the case, not the sale.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Cross-check
- fits, medium confidence
Serial era and reference fit: the serial format dates from 1926 to 1987 and reference 1675 was in production 1959 to 1980.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
Example: a vintage Omega with the wrong reference
- Brand
- Omega
- Serial number
- 24816502
- Reference
- 3570.50.00
- Format
- matches, high confidence
Format matches the pattern Omega used from the 1890s to about 2008.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Year
- range, medium confidence
Production about 1967 (range 1966 to 1968). 2 published tables agree within 2 years.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
- Cross-check
- does not fit, medium confidence
Serial era and reference do not fit: the serial format dates from the 1890s to about 2008 but reference 3570.50.00 was in production 1996 to 2014. This is worth asking the seller about.
Sources
On a real result the publisher, the title and the date accessed of every source sit here.
Lost or stolen?
No lost-or-stolen check was performed on this page. Check free at Enquirus, or at The Watch Register (paid; used by dealers, insurers and police).
How it works
- The serial is read against the format rules a brand has used, era by era, and the page says which era it fits, or that it fits none.
- Where published tables give a year for that era, the page shows the range, names the tables, and shows a disagreement rather than resolving it. Where no table can give a year, it says "not derivable".
- With a reference, the page says whether the serial's era and the reference's production window fit each other. It never says a watch is real or fake, and it performs no lost-or-stolen check.
The whole method, with the statuses explained
Brands
What each brand's serial can and cannot tell you, where to find it, and the reviewed table behind the check. A brand with no reviewed rows says so on its page.
- Seiko table in review
The serial gives the month and the last digit of the year; the decade comes from the calibre and case code beside it.
- Grand Seiko table in review
The same six-character rule as Seiko: month and last digit of the year on the watch, the decade from the calibre's production span. Modern rows follow collector convention and say so.
- Rolex table in review
Numeric serials to 1987 date the case to within a year or two, with charts that disagree; a letter prefix dates 1987 to 2010; the random serials since 2010 carry no date, and the page says so.
- Omega table in review
The movement number dates the movement, not the sale: collector tables cover the decades to the late 1980s with medium confidence and the 1990s to about 2008 at decade level, and nothing after.
- Tudor table in review
Dealer tables only: numeric serials to 1984, a restart in 1985, B and H prefixes from 1990 to 2002, random after, with sources that disagree on the dates and rows that say so.