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Barry
13-08-2009, 18:29
Following the dire warning by Neal (NRG) to the effect that Rolex are now reluctant to service watches of ‘a certain age’, I thought I would enquire in my local Rolex agent (Goldsmiths, who claim to be the largest Rolex agents in the UK). I was told that each service is assessed on a ‘case-by-case’ basis. Assuming that no irreplaceable part needs to be fitted “there was no reason why any watch should not be able to be serviced”. Essentially, one has to ‘suck it and see’.

Each service involves the replacement of the main spring and of the watch glass, as well as the usual clean and re-lubrication. When I rather naively stated my opinion that surely the basic watch design had not changed that much, so why would parts become obsolete? I was told that in my watch, for example, “the second hand moves at 5 ticks per second or 22,000 ticks per hour (sic, shouldn’t this be 18,000?), whereas in the newer designs this is 28,900 ticks per hour; so the design is different”.

So that’s the (half) good news. The bad news? A service costs a minimum of £225 and takes a 10-12 week turnaround.

£225? that’s more than it cost me to have Leica service my M4, and for that the camera is completely stripped down to its component parts, any worn part replaced and the camera re-assembled with lubrication where necessary.

I think I’ll give the watch service a miss at the moment, however when I do and it proves that it can’t be serviced, then an equivalent replacement is around £3000! I’m sure that when my parents bought the watch for me, an advertising slogan at the time was: ‘A Rolex is for life’. Not necessarily any more!

NRG
13-08-2009, 19:52
Barry, there are many independent watchmakers who will continue to service your watch even when Rolex Geneva wont. BTW I made no dire warning that Rolex won't service their older watches but pointed out that they can and sometime do refuse......

Your watch probably 'beats' at 21600 bph or 6 'ticks' per second (a 3Hz movement) and classified as a high beat movement....technically anything over 18000 is high beat but I digress....

Also, there are watches that run at 28,800 bph (4Hz or 8 ticks / s) and older watches at 18000 (2.5Hz) and oddball 19800 bph watches.

http://www.horologist.com/rolex_balance.htm

Very common today is the 28800 bph movement watch....there have also been 36000 bph movements watches but the 36K movements present a real challenge to the watchmaker and also to the lubricant specialist who has to ensure that lubrication does not get flung off critical parts at that speed....

Don't leave your service too long, especially given its age. While lubricants have improved over the years they can't cover up sloppy workmanship (there's an argument in some circles for using the older mineral based oils as these simply gum up the watch and stop it from working thus preventing damage!).....

Modern synthetic oils tend to last a lot longer and don't gum up as the mineral based oils do, however, If the lubricant migrates away from where it's supposed to be (due to poor cleaning for instance) the watch will continue to run but the wear rates will increase on pivots etc. If parts are becoming more difficult to find for your particular watch (given its age) then you may be placed in a position of possessing a non working watch...(not a dire warning!! ;) ...just a possibility...)

You could probably extend servicing to 7 years given normal use but beyond that I'd 'bite the bullet' and get it serviced.

Oh. and just to add £225 is not bad IMHO, if you know how much skill and work goes into servicing a watch then you'd realise what good value that is direct from the manufacturer...independents will be somewhat less.

DSJR
13-08-2009, 19:58
I think the main problem is that Rolex won't release parts to non-authorised service agents, no matter how good they are at their job.

I appreciate main springs get a bit of a pasting and will lose their strength over the decades and the absolute accuracy of the watch will be affected to a degree, but bearing in mind that noone today buys a mechanical watch for its absolute timekeeping (do they?), a second or three in 24 hours is neither here nor there when a £20 quartz special will equal or better it.

If no spares are necessary, a good, qualified watch-maker should be able to clean and set up your Rolex and even re-set the escapement if this is necessary.

Barry
13-08-2009, 21:19
Hi Neal,

Apologies for the phrase 'dire warning', but your news came as a shock to me! The phrase I used in Goldsmiths was 'ugly rumour' and it had the desired effect - they wanted to know where I had heard it and how; definitely put them on the back foot.

Both I and the shop assistant think that my watch is perfectly servicable, so I'm not too worried; though as I have said, the watch was a 21st present from my parents, so understandably has great sentimental importance to me. It's just at the moment with the present financial situation, I'm having to be a little circumspect about non-essential expenditure. Maybe early next year.

Thanks for your's and Dave's comments.

Regards