Eight kinds of crude oils with different physical properties were used to prepare water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The viscosity characteristics of the W/O emulsions were measured by rheometer. The effects of temperature, water cut of emulsion and shear rate on the apparent viscosity of W/O emulsions were studied. The results show that the apparent viscosity of the W/O emulsion decreases with the increase of temperature, increases with the increase of water cut, and decreases with the increase of shear rate, showing the property of shear thinning. The power law model was used to describe the rheological properties of W/O emulsion, i.e, . With the increase of water cut of emulsion, the consistency coefficient K of W/O emulsion increased gradually, while the rheological property index n decreased gradually. With the increase of temperature, the consistency coefficient K decreased gradually, while the rheological property index n increased gradually. Based on the experimental data and quantitative characterization of crude oil physical properties, a viscosity prediction model for W/O emulsion was established which could be applied to different crude oil and different shear conditions. The prediction deviation of the model shows that the average relative deviation between the calculated viscosity value and the measured viscosity value is 8.1%.