Rolex Part Number Pattern

[robsteve]

I just found some old parts in my desk, probably from when my Explorer was last worked on eight years ago. They were the crystal, tube and crown. The crystal looks like it yellowed with age and is well scratched and has a big crack in it. Along with this was the old tube and the old crown in the packs the new parts came in. These packs have the Rolex part numbers on them. I also have a 1980's vintage Date, that these may be from, but the crystal is definitely from the Explorer.

To the original question, is there a pattern to the parts numbers? Here is what I have:

242 24-6020 R-04

241 24-600-0 M-11

I assume the 242 is probably the prefix for tubes and the 241 for crowns.

What does the 24 mean?

Is there a significance to the M-11 and R-04, such as batch number or production date?

Regards,

Robert