Rolex 14060 Question - Serial number on inside of caseback??

[LookCloser]

Hi Everyone!

Happy to join this forum. I have a question hopefully someone knows the answer to. I am looking at a 14060 U-serial. It has the serial number on the caseback which is odd and I have never seen that before. Is this something that Rolex did? Thank you in advance for your input.

[Old Expat Beast]

Never seen that before. It this the same serial as on the watch case?

[LookCloser]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Never seen that before. It this the same serial as on the watch case?

Yes it is!

[Old Expat Beast]

Do you have photos of the whole watch?

[LookCloser]

Everything seems correct in my eyes but I am no expert :/

[Old Expat Beast]

Watch looks fine. Hopefully someone else can chime in with experience of this kind of caseback stamping.

[Alpino]

.

For caseback part number, Rolex make this mofication in 1998, it's explained in Tech. Info n°53 published in june 1998.

Regarding the s/n on your caseback, it was probably engraved by a watchmaker during a service on that particular watch.

[LookCloser]

Originally Posted by Alpino

.

For caseback part number, Rolex make this mofication in 1998, it's explained in Tech. Info n°53 published in june 1998.

Regarding the s/n on your caseback, it was probably engraved by a watchmaker during a service on that particular watch.

Thank you. Interesting, the watch was serviced by RSC in 2021 though and I can't imagine the fine folks of RSC going to those lengths lol!

[Old Expat Beast]

Let's move this to the Vintage section; the guys over there are more familiar with caseback markings.

[Haywood_Milton]

While the image appears to have been taken using Google Earth, the style of numbering is not like any that I have seen applied by Rolex before. I believe it will have been applied by a third party.

[TimeToGo]

.
Some discussion on VRM, brought to light by Swaini, pointed to service numbers such as USxxxx been stamped on casebacks before.

Interesting to see this is the serial number though.

Just curious, does the watch set have papers - curious where it was sold..

[LookCloser]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

.
Some discussion on VRM, brought to light by Swaini, pointed to service numbers such as USxxxx been stamped on casebacks before.

Interesting to see this is the serial number though.

Just curious, does the watch set have papers - curious where it was sold..

Unfortunately it does not, just an RSC card

[shiftf7]

It’s something Rolex did with the 1665 double reds, in the first series mk1, mk2 and part of the mk3 they engraved the last 3 numbers of the serial in the caseback, on the later mk3 and mk4 they engraved the complete serial number in the caseback.
This was done because the depth rating on these watches was extreme for that time and it was very important the correct caseback was matched to the case to guarantee the depth rating. On later models they improved the production procedure so they achieved the possibility to make the caseback interchangeable to the case, so a serial number engraving in the caseback was no longer necessary.

[swaini3]

Originally Posted by shiftf7

It’s something Rolex did with the 1665 double reds, in the first series mk1, mk2 and part of the mk3 they engraved the last 3 numbers of the serial in the caseback, on the later mk3 and mk4 they engraved the complete serial number in the caseback.
This was done because the depth rating on these watches was extreme for that time and it was very important the correct caseback was matched to the case to guarantee the depth rating. On later models they improved the production procedure so they achieved the possibility to make the caseback interchangeable to the case, so a serial number engraving in the caseback was no longer necessary.

Yeaa, but that's different. 70's vs late 90's. It's the 1st time I see this one.

[TuRo]

Is the full U serial on south lug fully visible. It used to be what US RSC did for watches with illegible serial nos.

[NKflyer]

Originally Posted by TuRo

Is the full U serial on south lug fully visible. It used to be what US RSC did for watches with illegible serial nos.

Or if the original case was damaged beyond repair and a new service case was supplied.

[offrdmania]

Originally Posted by NKflyer

Or if the original case was damaged beyond repair and a new service case was supplied.

But wouldnt a service case use a service serial number instead of retaining the watches original serial number?

[luxuwrist]

Looks to me like a watchmaker/jeweler with a laser engraver did it during a previous service. Who knows why (could do it to keep parts straight when doing high volumes of services, etc.), but it's not a red flag IMO.