Rolex warranty and guarantee

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Rolex Warranty and Guarantee: A Complete Guide

Buying a luxury watch can be a big decision. And when you decide to spend a lot of money on something, it's nice to have some sort of security that brings you peace of mind.

Most luxury watch brands offer some sort of warranty on their watches, but what these warranties cover and how long they last can vary greatly.

In this article, we will focus on the Rolex warranty and talk about what it covers, how it works, and how long it is valid for.

Rolex Warranty

With its guarantee, Rolex ”guarantees the proper functioning of its watches for a period of five years from the date of purchase. The Rolex guarantee excludes normal wear and tear (particularly wear of non-metallic bracelets and straps), loss, theft or damage resulting from misuse. The replacement of components with or the addition of components or accessories not manufactured by Rolex will invalidate the guarantee. The guarantee is valid only if (1) the watch was sold by an Official Rolex Retailer ; (2) the guarantee card was fully completed by the Official Rolex Retailer at the time of purchase; and (3) the guarantee card is presented with the watch, to an Official Rolex Retailer or to an Official Rolex Service Centre. Any intervention carried out by a third party will invalidate the guarantee”.  

This sounds like any other item warranty that gives you both details about what it covers, but also what it doesn't cover.

The Rolex guarantee comes in the form of a guarantee card that is included when the Rolex watch is first sold by the official retailer.

How does the Rolex warranty work?

Now, as you can see in the Rolex text above, there are three criteria that Rolex has for the warranty to be valid. The first is:

“the watch was sold by an Official Rolex Retailer”. Now, this really only means at its first point of sale, because the truth is that only Authorized Rolex Retailers will receive watches directly from the Rolex factory, and so brand new Rolex watches will originally be sold by an Authorized Rolex Retailer.

The second criterion for the Rolex guarantee is: “the guarantee card has been fully completed by the Official Rolex Retailer at the time of purchase”. 

All new Rolex watches come with a guarantee card, also known as a certificate or “card”, which is now activated electronically at the first point of sale by the Official Rolex Retailer.

Originally, the guarantee/certificate came in the form of a piece of paper, but a plastic card is much more effective as it does not tarnish in the same way as a piece of paper.

Also, with the now electronic warranty card, Rolex can see exactly when the card was activated and who activated it. This gives them better control and is also a great way to prevent counterfeit Rolex watches.

What the quote means is that the warranty card must include:

1. The name of the dealer.
2. The date of purchase
3. The name of the buyer.

The most important part is that the name of the dealer is filled in on the certificate. The name of the buyer must be filled in, but if the buyer refuses to give up his name when purchasing the watch, official dealers are allowed to fill in “XXXX”.

This is why the name does not necessarily have to be on the certificate. It is just something Rolex writes into the warranty terms to try to prevent the sale of Rolex watches outside of their official dealer network.

 (3) the guarantee certificate is presented together with the watch to an Official Rolex Retailer or an Official Rolex Service Centre. Any intervention carried out by third parties will void the guarantee”.

Finally, for the warranty to be valid, you must have your warranty card. This is if something happens to your Rolex watch and you expect it to be repaired under the Rolex warranty, which means “free of charge”. If you do not have your Rolex certificate card, you can still have your watch repaired and serviced by an  official Rolex retailer  , Rolex service center or an independent watchmaker.

To benefit from the guarantee, you must contact an official Rolex retailer or a Rolex service centre. These are the only ones who can help you with your Rolex guarantee.

Now, keep in mind that as the quote says “Any work performed by a third party will void the warranty.” This means that if a private watchmaker or someone else tampers with the movement, repairs it, or otherwise tampers with the watch, and Rolex notices this after inspection, the warranty will be void.

Of course they will help you with your watch, but it will not be under warranty.

What does the Rolex warranty consist of?

We’ve already discussed this briefly, but the Rolex warranty is about service and the comfort of knowing that if your watch isn’t working as it should, Rolex will take care of it.

The most common problems for which people use the Rolex warranty are:

1. Rolex is not keeping time as it should (precision is not good enough). Rolex uses the “Superlative Chronometer Certification” for  all its production  , which means that all  Rolex Oyster and Cellini watches  are tested by Rolex to meet its stringent precision values ​​of -2/+2 seconds. If you feel that your Rolex is losing time or is going too fast, you can have the movement checked and adjusted free of charge in accordance with the guarantee . 
2. Defects and manufacturing problems. If you notice that your watch has a manufacturing defect, whether it is dust on the dial or misaligned indexes, you can hand in your watch and have it repaired.
3. The watch is not working as it should. Maybe you are unable to change the date, the date does not move as it should, or maybe it is strange when you change the crown. Rolex will also fix these problems under warranty.

Is the Rolex warranty international?

Yes, the Rolex warranty is completely international. If you have a problem with your Rolex watch, you can go to any official Rolex retailer in the world with your watch and your certificate and they will help you.

How long is the warranty on a Rolex?

There are many people who wonder if Rolex watches are guaranteed for life, however, this is not the case. Effective July 1, 2015, the Rolex International Warranty has more than doubled from the current 2-year warranty to a 5-year warranty from the date of purchase.

So before the Rolex warranty was two years, today it is five years on all watches.

This means that Rolex guarantees that the watch will function perfectly in all respects for at least five years, but the reality is that in most cases a Rolex watch will last a lifetime. In fact, Rolex recommends that you have your Rolex watch serviced every 10 years, and this alone shows how reliable and robust their movements are.

Rolex watches can really last several lifetimes, but the warranty is valid for five years.

The interesting thing about this increase in the warranty period is that no changes have been made to the manufacturing of the “two-year warranty watches” and the “five-year warranty watches”, and this only shows Rolex’s confidence in their products.

As mentioned, Rolex has increased the recommended service interval today, from three to ten years ago, and that is a significant increase. Rolex has proven to make very reliable movements, and we have heard from customers who have worn their Rolex watch for 10, 15, 20 years without a single service and their watches have kept good time. That is impressive craftsmanship. 

Of course, if you are someone who likes to look beyond your Rolex watch, it doesn't hurt to have your watch serviced regularly, but according to Rolex's own recommendations, 10 years of regularity is sufficient.

How do Rolex warranties compare to its competitors?

This is really interesting.

When Rolex introduced its five-year warranty in 2015, Rolex received a lot of praise. A five-year warranty not only shows that Rolex takes pride in its products and that they are of high quality, but it can also help demonstrate that you are superior to your competitors.

At the time of introduction, very few watch brands offered a five-year warranty. And even today, few brands actually offer a five-year warranty.

Rolex Extended Warranty After Service

What most people don’t know is the Rolex warranty after a service. A so-called “service warranty”.

So, if you are someone who likes to have peace of mind with a warranty and your warranty time is up, having your Rolex watch serviced may be a good idea.

The fact is that Rolex also offers an extended two-year warranty on watches for which it has performed a full and official maintenance service. 

Again, this guarantee becomes void if a third party not authorized by Rolex has tampered with the parts or accessories.

Are Rolex warranties transferable?

A common question is whether Rolex warranties are transferable.

The answer is yes.

There has been much discussion and debate as to whether it is possible to hand over a Rolex watch for a warranty fee along with the certificate, and therefore have a name other than your own written on the certificate.

There is absolutely no problem with this, as long as the certificate is stamped by an official Rolex dealer and dated.

Can you replace your Rolex warranty card?

No, you cannot replace your Rolex warranty card in any way. This is what Rolex says:

”The Rolex guarantee card cannot be reissued under any circumstances. Please contact the official Rolex retailer from whom you purchased your Rolex watch for assistance.

There is no chance of getting a new warranty card if you have lost it, however, if you have your watch repaired, you will receive a new “warranty card” that gives you a two-year warranty. Now, a service card is much better than having nothing, as it also proves the authenticity of your watch.

Likewise, the service warranty card can function as a certificate, even if it is not original to the watch, so if you service your watch, you get something that is almost like a warranty card.

Old Rolex warranty/guarantee

Throughout its history, Rolex has used three types of warranty/guarantee cards.

At the beginning, until the end of 2006, the Rolex warranty came in the form of a paper like the one below:

Warranty cards can look a little different depending on where and when the watch was purchased. Rolex went so far as to abandon paper warranties in 2006. One reason for this could be that the cards could easily tarnish and break. Another reason is that they were all manual. Today, as you may know, all Rolex warranty cards are activated electronically, which makes it much easier to keep track of each individual watch and when it was sold.  

The credit card-style guarantee card that was released looks slightly different than the ones used today, but the function remains the same.

Eventually, these warranty cards were replaced by the new ones we discussed in this article. Somewhere around the time Role introduced the five-year warranty.