Rolex Watch Time Setting Crown Direction

Some watch collectors think one surefire way to spot a fake Rolex movement is to wind the crown clockwise to set the time of the hands (aka advance the hands forward). This is a replica watch myth. Anyone who says Rolex watches only set the time by turning the crown clockwise hasn’t handled many Rolex watches. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for time-setting on every Rolex watch. Like many fake watch tests, the information is only as good as the knowledge of the collector.  If you’re one of those people who trolls the internet claiming a watch is fake without knowing which Rolex model should wind in which direction, the chart below will help you avoid looking inexperienced.

Here is a list of Rolex calibers and which direction to wind the crown to set the time (advance the hands forward):

This clockwise/counter-clockwise list might be missing some Rolex calibers and may contains errors. It should be used for informational purposes only. If you catch a mistake in the table, please let us know in the comments below so we can update the information!