A Rolex lasts a lifetime

Caring for your Rolex

At Rolex we want to ensure that your watch performs as well throughout your life as on the day you bought it. All that is needed is to give your Rolex just the smallest bit of care.

Wearing the watch for the first time

Before being worn for the first time, or if it has stopped, a Rolex watch must be wound manually in order to function correctly and precisely. To wind the watch manually, unscrew the winding crown completely, then turn it several times clockwise (turning in the other direction has no effect). A minimum of 25 turns is required for adequate partial winding. Carefully screw the crown back down against the case to ensure waterproofness. The watch will then be wound automatically as long as it is worn on the wrist.

Manually winding your watch

When you wear your Rolex daily, you don’t need to wind it. If you take it off and set it aside, the watch will retain its “charge” for two days or more, depending on the model. However, if you haven’t worn your Rolex for more than a couple of days and the watch has stopped, we recommend that you manually wind it when you set the time before putting it on.

Setting the time and date

Rolex watches can be set by unscrewing the crown and pulling it out to the second notch. The seconds hand is stopped, allowing you to set the time. Each model has its own detailed user guide and functions that may vary. Please download the appropriate guide.

Day-to-day care

Thanks to Rolex expertise, your watch will require very little day-to-day care. You can help preserve its lustre by cleaning it occasionally with a microfibre cloth. You can also wash the case and bracelet from time to time using soapy water and a soft brush. Before cleaning your watch, always ensure that the winding crown is screwed down properly against the case to guarantee waterproofness.

Water is the natural element for a Rolex with a metal bracelet, including the salt-water of the sea and ocean. All Rolex wristwatches are waterproof to depths of at least 100 metres for Oyster Perpetual models, and 50 metres for the Perpetual 1908 models. All you have to do after diving or a day at the beach is simply to rinse your watch with fresh water to remove any salt and sand deposits: wearing your watch while showering at the end of the day should do the trick.

The Oyster case of your Rolex protects it from water and makes it completely dustproof and waterproof. To maintain the watch’s waterproofness, the Oyster case needs to be properly sealed. The crown of your Rolex screws down tightly to create a hermetic seal like the hatch of a submarine. When you reset the time or the date or wind the watch manually, it is extremely important to ensure that you have screwed down the crown until it can’t turn any further.

You can play sports with a Rolex on your wrist as the Rolex Oyster case provides the watch movement with optimal protection against shocks.

At Rolex, we prize the accuracy of our watches and perform the most stringent tests on each and every one of them to ensure their precision in real-life usage.

Powered by you

A Rolex watch is a marvel of mechanical engineering. The “heart” of a Rolex, its movement, is powered by you: as you move your wrist throughout your day, the Perpetual rotor inside the watch gently swings, transferring energy to the mainspring of the watch, providing a constant and stable power source that regulates the timepiece.

Tuned to you

Your Rolex’s “heart” will be influenced by your unique lifestyle; if at any moment you want to optimize the performance of your watch, your Official Rolex Jeweler will gladly test its accuracy and, if needed, finely regulate the balance wheel to make sure that your Rolex is uniquely tuned to you.

Find a Jeweler

A watch that lasts a lifetime

At Rolex, we strive to build you a watch that lasts a lifetime and that can resist everyday shocks, temperatures, depths and even more – to adapt to all lifestyles. This meticulous method of making watches means the only thing you have to do is service your watch when the time comes.