Rolex Made In Mexico? An Actual Historical Phenomenon From The 70’s

Rolex Made In Mexico? An Actual Historical Phenomenon From The 70’s

When we tell customers that at one point in Rolex’s glorious company history, certain parts were produced in Mexico, we are met with genuine looks of disbelief. After all, the Rolex brand is synonymous with quality SWISS timepieces, and prides itself today in designing, testing, and manufacturing nearly every component of every wristwatch that leave the Rolex factories.

Rolex is a perfect representation of the vertical integration production model. Throughout the past few decades, Rolex has either acquired parts suppliers, or completely redesigned certain components of its timepieces to an end that now almost 100% of each Rolex is made completely in house. For example, the Rolex Daytona 16520 was made from 1988 to 2000 as the first self winding Rolex chronograph as all previous Daytona models were hand wound mechanical. This Rolex chronograph Daytona did not even have a Rolex movement. Swiss company Zenith produced the El Primero (Zenith caliber 400) self winding chronograph movement, and Rolex used it, downgraded the beat rate from 36,000 to 28,800 beats per hour, swapped out roughly 50% of its parts, and named it the Rolex caliber 4030. This Zenith movement was then considered the best chronograph movement in the world, but Rolex was not satisfied, and unveiled its own completely in house caliber 4130 that is now found in the REF 116520, 116523, and 116528 Daytona models. In fact, Rolex’s proprietary antimagnetic parachrom blue hairspring began in the caliber 4130.

Such is the degree that Rolex will go to keep production in house, that even when its Daytona movements were based on what was considered the best chronograph movement ever made, that even after Rolex replaced 50% of its parts to make this movement better, this company still completely designed its own chronograph movement from the ground up to phase that movement out the door. The obsession with perfection and in house production is not just an advertisement line at Rolex!

So to think that a great Swiss company such as Rolex actually produced a few of its watch components in Mexico, United States, Japan, and Argentina must be shocking to hear. People and sometimes even seasoned collectors who have not seen these watches may be quick to dismiss them as counterfeit, but they are indeed genuine. See below for an example of a Made In USA genuine Rolex bracelet.

This is a year 1971 production MADE IN USA Rolex C&I Rivet bracelet found on an all original Rolex Tudor 7021/0 Blue Snowflake. The made in Japan bracelets are very rare to find, and they are usually solid yellow or white gold bracelets originally fitted to Rolex Day Date President models. Their clasps will be stamped “MADE IN JAPAN.” Equally rare are the made in Mexico Rolex bracelets- those were made in extremely few numbers, and they are stamped “JOSKE’S HECHO EN MEXICO.”

So why did Rolex produce such bracelets in the United States, Mexico, and Japan during the 70’s? The answer is simple: $$$. During that time period, Rolex was slapped with a suddenly spiked import tariff in certain countries, and to circumvent this increased import duty, Rolex decided to produce a component of the finished timepiece in the receiving country. It kept the production and assembly of the all important movement and case to Switzerland, and outsourced some bracelet production to said countries. Once the watch heads were imported (at reduced tariffs), the bracelet would be fitted to the watch head to form a completed wristwatch.

A fun fact about the “JOSKE’S HECHO EN MEXICO” Rolex bracelets that are rarely seen. Joske’s was Texas’s largest department store chain, founded in 1867 by a German Jewish immigrant named Julius Joske. In 1987, the stores were absorbed by Dillard’s.

One thing we have noticed in our years of exposure to vintage Rolex and Tudor timepieces is the practice of hand engraved serial numbers on the clasp. You can see it in the picture above, and on this 1983 Rolex 16800 Submariner original 93150 bracelet below.

This practice has been noted on many previously sold vintage Rolex and Tudor timepieces, and we are not even entirely sure if these watches came out of the factory with such engravings or if they were done at service to keep track of which bracelet belonged to which watch head. If you have any information on this, we would love to hear from you and add your contribution to solving this mystery.

So the next time you see a Rolex USA or Mexico bracelet, do not be so quick to deem it a fake piece of junk, you may have just stumbled onto a very neat and rare piece of Rolex history!