Jubilee Bracelet Has 2 Codes???

[DemonDeac]

Hi all,

Posted this to the general Rolex forum and didn't get complete answer, and was told to post it to Vintage forum.

First time owner and poster on forum. I jJust purchased and received my first Rolex - 16013 blue dial (serial 872**** so vintage around '84-'86, right?) from authorized dealer on Chrono 24.

The watch came with a TT jubilee bracelet ref 62523H (which I believe is the correct bracelet for the watch and vintage, right? 455 stamped on end links).

Picture of the inside of the clasp is linked below.
https://imgur.com/oOSpjdU

My questions is -- L5 is the code indicating May 1987 manufacturing, right? But what is the T1?

Any insight appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[joe100]

I put a fair amount of time in this for you, a fair few hours probably, searched the web, checked all of my reference books, and I can’t figure it out. I hope someone comes along with an answer, but sadly I don’t have one.

[DemonDeac]

Originally Posted by joe100

I put a fair amount of time in this for you, a fair few hours probably, searched the web, checked all of my reference books, and I can’t figure it out. I hope someone comes along with an answer, but sadly I don’t have one.

I appreciate the effort. very peculiar situation it seems.

[joe100]

It does appear to be added later, since the size of the text is larger. Maybe it’s some sort of inventory mark, applied by an AD, or owner. I’m speculating since I just don’t know sadly. I was sure someone would have come along by now. You might try VRF, they love to get into the weeds about this stuff. If you do find out, would you update this thread? I’d appreciate it

[CTech]

I don't want to cause unnecessary alarm, especially when there is no clear evidence, but I think there is a possibility that this is not a genuine Rolex clasp.

It is difficult to see all the relevant details in the OP's photos as the clasp is at a slight angle and so some of the features are foreshortened, but there are a few discrepancies that need further investigation, for example the depth of the L5 stamping, the shape of the Rolex crown, the shape of the O in STEELINOX, etc.

Another possible concern is that T1 has previously been used as a code by whoever makes replica watches and bracelets for the NOOB company.

Also, if the clasp is suspect, is the rest of the bracelet genuine and is the watch itself good, or are there other areas that need to be investigated?

There is a protruding screw in one of the links visible in the OP's photo and that is something else that needs to be looked at. There were some replica bracelets a few years ago that looked to be very good copies but the screws used were a completely different design from the genuine ones, and so it was easy to identify a fake by taking a screw out and looking at it and the counterbore on the link.

I don't know if the replicas had that fault corrected, but if this was mine I would either take all the removable links and screws out and compare them to known genuine ones or send it to a specialist for evaluation.

Here is a photo of what I think is a genuine L5 clasp for comparison:

[joe100]

After looking a bit harder, I do think some further investigation is needed. CTech, you raise some points here.

[DemonDeac]

That you all for the thoughts. I’ll be doing some more digging.