Start with a Datejust. It is the everyday Rolex, and it is the model people buy most from us. Take the 36 on a slim wrist. A bigger wrist wears the 41. Steel or two-tone suits nearly everyone. Then read what comes with the watch, the card, the papers or the watch alone. Every watch is final sale, so put every question to the desk before you pay.
Models: Datejust, Day-Date, GMT-Master II, Submariner and Daytona
Buy a Datejust for your first Rolex. It is the everyday watch, and it took about half of the year's Rolex money here. Women shop it on women's Datejust, beside the smaller Lady-Datejust.
The Day-Date spells out the day and comes only in gold. The GMT-Master II keeps a second time zone, and its nicknames name the bezel colors. Pepsi is red and blue, Bruce Wayne black and grey. The Submariner is the dive watch. Daytonas are few, so see men's Rolex for the rest.
Size: Datejust 36 or 41, and the women's 26, 28 and 31 mm
Take the 36 on a wrist under about 7 inches. Above that, the 41 fills the wrist and reads modern. The 36 is the size our buyers chose most, about half the pieces.
The sport models run 40 or 41 mm. The older Lady-Datejust is 26 mm. The current one is 28 mm. The mid-size is 31 mm. Every title gives the case size. A bracelet is fitted by adding or taking out links, so ask the desk whether we fit it before it ships.
Metal and bracelet: steel, two-tone or gold, Jubilee, Oyster or President
Take steel or two-tone. Most watches here are one or the other, and buyers spent about evenly on the two. Two-tone, Rolesor to Rolex, is steel with gold on the bezel and center links, and that gold scratches sooner. Solid gold is under a fifth of the watches here. Everose is Rolex's rose gold.
The Jubilee bracelet drapes like a dress watch. The Oyster is flatter and sportier. The President, with its hidden clasp, belongs to the Day-Date. A fluted bezel is always gold on a modern Rolex.
Papers and reference: box, card, full set and the reference number
Read what the description says about the card and papers first. About half here come with the Rolex card or papers, and on most the box is an add-on. The card shows the serial and the dealer who sold the watch new, a paper trail and not proof.
The reference is the model number, printed on most listings. Its last pair of digits usually tells the metal and the bezel. The 16233 is the older two-tone Datejust, the reference we sell most.
Buying: final sale, authentication, diamonds and tracked shipping
Every watch here is final sale, so ask before you pay. The watch team checked each one in person, and Trax stands behind the sale himself. The AI Trax video on this page says the rest.
Rolex sets some diamonds at the factory, and our setters on 47th Street set others as custom work. They look alike on the wrist, so ask which you are getting. Every Rolex ships tracked, usually in two to five business days when it is in stock. For a model we do not show, the desk sources it through the trade.