*Rolex restarted their serial numbers Q4 1953.

This 8 Page Booklet (including cover) was printed on matte paper in two colors with intricate vignettes.

It appears this booklet version was produced in the early 1950's (possibly earlier). The watch model/serial number were handwritten or typed and the back page had dealer information.

Note the production and date code first appeared on the back page of this booklet.

ca. 100K to
ca. 2M

These timing certificates were included with chronometer rated watches indicating the watch case number and the movement number. They are printed on both sides with the front side having results of timing tests handwritten with fountain pen or typed. Some had stickers on the bottom specific to Rolex watches.

On the back there are instructions on how to interpret the test results. The case numbers were punched on certificates starting circa 1.35M onward.

 

This card was printed on one side and certified the chronometer rating of the accompanying watch movement. Rolex was increasing production during the late 1950s, it appears these certification cards were intended as a replacement to the more elaborate Bureaux Suisses timing papers (above). Except for the date and printing codes in the bottom left corner, there appears to be no difference in the versions of the certificates produced.

ca. 100K to
ca. 2M

Open:
11 3/4" x
2 21/32"
(29,8 x 6,7 cm)

This foldout was both an instruction booklet and guarantee. It seems to follow on the heels of the larger eight page booklet from the early 1950s and has most of the same information in a smaller package that would fit nicely inside a watch box. The final year of production seems to be 1966, and that seems to coincide with the time when Rolex began to use the punched paper guarantee booklets and papers.

1966:
5 3/16" x
3 9/16"
(13,2 x 9 cm)

This eight page booklet was both an instruction manual and a guarantee. Starting around 1960, this booklet was produced simultaneously as the guarantee foldout (above) . Similarly to the the foldout booklets, they were supposed to be completed by the dealer at the time of sale. The last version, seems to have been produced in 1966. It is probably no coincidence that the first punched numbers appear on this booklet with a 1.3M serial number case!

Like its immediate predecessor, Superlative Chronometer Guarantee (1960 - 1966), this eight page booklet was an instruction manual and a guarantee. Although it has a very different look, the booklet contains the virtually the same information. There seems to be only one production code and year out of four samples documented for this website. All four samples have punched case numbers.

These fascinating 32 (plus 4 pages for the covers) booklets were unique to the UK market, featuring the Rolex facility at Bexley, England. The first page was a guarantee page to completed at time of sale. The last page had a form to keep service records.

This 32 page information and instruction booklet had 8 additional pages in the center that held the guarantee. The guarantee pages were left blank to be completed by the dealer at the time of purchase. Four of the guarantee pages had tear-off perforations to be used when servicing the watch. Some booklets have a subtle date code stamped by the factory inside the booklet. The booklets guarantee came blank or with punched case numbers.

Guarantee & Companion Booklet (ca. 1968 - 1969) 

This booklet was produced with and without warranty sections. One version had the same 36 pages of information as the other, in addition, there were 8 pages with a guarantee form and punched case numbers. The other version had only the companion booklet. It can be assumed that this version of the booklet (without the guarantee) was used to accompany watches that had a separate green-border guarantee certificate (below) produced around the same time.

ca. 2M to
ca. 3M

This 36 page booklet was produced as either a companion or guarantee booklet. Some versions had a guarantee on the second to last page. Other versions had four additional pages, two at the front and two at the back with a form and punched case numbers on the second to last page. This booklet was the last companion booklet with guarantee forms. 

ca. 3M
onward

When Rolex finally separated the guarantee papers from the instruction booklets, these companion booklets were created. The first generation of these booklets (top left, white cover) looked very similar to the earlier guarantee booklets. But around 1975, the booklets changed size and shape (middle, right), and were printed in full color. 

The design has been changed more than a few times to keep up with trends, but the core information has remained virtually unchanged. It is interesting to compare the text of the English and US versions in some of the later versions.

 

Attestation
Small Open:
 8.25" x 6"
(20,9 x 15,3 cm)

Garantie
Small Open:
8.25" x 6 1/8"
(20,9 x 15,5 cm)

Garantie & Attestation
Large Open:
8.25 x 9"
(20,9 x 22,9 cm)

By the late 1960s, Rolex produced many chronometer rated watches, and it probably became impractical for the Bureaux Suisses to issue hand-written certificates for the quantity of watches submitted by Rolex for certification.
 
An arrangement was made by which "Bureaux Suisses - de Controle Officiel de la Marche des Chronometres (Swiss Institute for Official Chronometer Tests) continued to test the Rolex produced movements. But Rolex was allowed to issue certificates using the Bureaux Suisses red seal.