Birth year sports Rolex - First post!

[AshFinch]

Hello all,

Can anyone shed some light on a lack of 1988 'R' serial sports Rolex?

I am starting to look into purchasing a birth year watch but struggling to find a decent selection here in the UK. Was it a change over year? Does not seem to be much in the way of GMT's or Submariners

Any help would be appreciated

[ciceroyeah]

Go on chrono24 and search “Rolex” then set the filters: year to 1988 and the material to stainless steel. There are many for sale there.

[Eric88]

One of the last years of the 5513. That would be a good one to seek.

[Kingface66]

Check out Watchrecon

https://www.watchrecon.com/?query=1988+rolex

[Tom1675]

Originally Posted by AshFinch

Hello all,

Can anyone shed some light on a lack of 1988 'R' serial sports Rolex?

I am starting to look into purchasing a birth year watch but struggling to find a decent selection here in the UK. Was it a change over year? Does not seem to be much in the way of GMT's or Submariners

Any help would be appreciated

Normally this forum makes me feel like a little younger than I am. Lately its been making me feel pretty old.

[Sherbie]

R serial was the first time Rolex used the new format of a letter in-front of numbers

I dont know if Rolex introduced this new format at the beginning of the year, or halfway through the year or when??

If the latter, i guess it could mean that there were fewer R serial watches than all the other letter serials that came afterwards - L, E, X etc

Just a guess, but surely someone here can confirm or deny this


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[AshFinch]

Thanks for the reply's!

The 5513 caught my eye! I am going to see one Friday in a local pre owned watch dealer. There is no papers with this one so it wont be the one I will go for but certainly a nice piece..


I am told that a 1988 could be on a 'R' or 'L' serial as the letters didn't change on the 1st January. Dont know if anyone can shed some light on that for me?

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by AshFinch

Hello all,

Can anyone shed some light on a lack of 1988 'R' serial sports Rolex?

Seems HQ Milton have one on offer... https://perezcope.com/2021/03/23/rol...6523-two-tone/

[AshFinch]

Good article that was, thank you for sharing

[oo7ml]

I was in your shoes for the last year, and I finally purchased a 5513 DOB last week. I had notifications setup on Chrono24 so I was checking daily for well over a year.

While there are much more knowledgeable watch collectors on the forum than myself, here is my advice:

- It will almost be impossible to find a perfect 30+ year old watch with box, papers, condition, trusted dealer, etc... unless you want to wait years and want to pay over the top for it

- Watches represent the most important thing in the world to me... TIME... so don’t let too much time pass hoping for the perfect watch to pop up

- Choose condition, over box and papers... surely it is a keeper for life, so you should care less about the box and papers (but maybe that’s just my view)

- Choose a trusted dealer, they won’t ruin their reputation with a poor watch

[AshFinch]

Originally Posted by oo7ml

I was in your shoes for the last year, and I finally purchased a 5513 DOB last week. I had notifications setup on Chrono24 so I was checking daily for well over a year.

While there are much more knowledgeable watch collectors on the forum than myself, here is my advice:

- It will almost be impossible to find a perfect 30+ year old watch with box, papers, condition, trusted dealer, etc... unless you want to wait years and want to pay over the top for it

- Watches represent the most important thing in the world to me... TIME... so don’t let too much time pass hoping for the perfect watch to pop up

- Choose condition, over box and papers... surely it is a keeper for life, so you should care less about the box and papers (but maybe that’s just my view)

- Choose a trusted dealer, they won’t ruin their reputation with a poor watch

Thanks for your advice! I did not manage to get the the dealer this week to try one on but hopefully will next off days. I am so torn between a 5513 or Big Block Tudor.