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The Case of the Battered Rolex

Deomandinka
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Deomandinka Member

Deomandinka

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2 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Nice job,    I had a Tissot ,which was found in the road after bring run over several times A bit of work and its a working watch,       nobody dismantled it s it was intact but battered so all the parts were there.    

Nice find, which Tissot was it ?
The Rolex wasn't dismantled (Apart from the strap), that was all that was left of it after the crash. My customers father died on the motorbike while wearing it. He wanted it to be restored for obvious reasons.
If anyone knows of a strap for one of these, I know he is on the lookout.
I must admit I was surprised that Rolex wouldn't touch it. This is the 4th one I have had that Rolex wouldn't touch. I have also just had a Tag with a similar story. Very Odd

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KarlvonKoln Distinguished Member

KarlvonKoln

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Must be Rolex week.  I am starting work on a vintage Oyster Perpetual Date.  This thing wears the scuffs and scars of long years of daily use. The customer wanted the case polished up a bit.  Man, Rolex uses some hard, hard stainless steel for their cases.  Made me wonder how the owner was able to leave all these marks on it.

Before me, he'd taken it to a Rolex certified tech, for standard service and case polish.  And they refused, presumably because the cost of service would exceed the perceived monetary value of the watch.  But my customer just wanted his watch serviced and looking nice, and could afford not to quibble about price.  He's old; he's the original owner from day one; he likes this watch.  And if they wouldn't work on it, he'd find someone who would. 

So now I have to get a Rolex case opener (because I have not yet worked on a Rolex; I've mostly been more of a "common man's watch repairman").  The other weird thing is that he also complains that it loses 5 min. per day.  I've been observing it for 3 days now, while finishing other bench work, different positions, even wearing it from time to time, and I've seen no evidence of loss.  It's still keeping up with my "atomic" clock as I type this.

20211023_111205.jpg

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Plato WRT Addict

Plato

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14 minutes ago, KarlvonKoln said:

Before me, he'd taken it to a Rolex certified tech, for standard service and case polish.  And they refused, presumably because the cost of service would exceed the perceived monetary value of the watch.

Very strange behaviour, surely the least they could do is give a quote. 

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KarlvonKoln Distinguished Member

KarlvonKoln

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5 hours ago, Plato said:

Very strange behaviour, surely the least they could do is give a quote. 

I thought so too.  I'm guessing there was more to this than what little I heard, but for whatever reason they gave him the brush-off.  So he wanted to see what I could do.

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Deomandinka Member

Deomandinka

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16 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

Must be Rolex week.  I am starting work on a vintage Oyster Perpetual Date.  This thing wears the scuffs and scars of long years of daily use. The customer wanted the case polished up a bit.  Man, Rolex uses some hard, hard stainless steel for their cases.  Made me wonder how the owner was able to leave all these marks on it.

Before me, he'd taken it to a Rolex certified tech, for standard service and case polish.  And they refused, presumably because the cost of service would exceed the perceived monetary value of the watch.  But my customer just wanted his watch serviced and looking nice, and could afford not to quibble about price.  He's old; he's the original owner from day one; he likes this watch.  And if they wouldn't work on it, he'd find someone who would. 

So now I have to get a Rolex case opener (because I have not yet worked on a Rolex; I've mostly been more of a "common man's watch repairman").  The other weird thing is that he also complains that it loses 5 min. per day.  I've been observing it for 3 days now, while finishing other bench work, different positions, even wearing it from time to time, and I've seen no evidence of loss.  It's still keeping up with my "atomic" clock as I type this.

20211023_111205.jpg

The case openers are less than £20. Mine was a set of six with an adaptor. As soon as I bought it the Rolex's started appearing in my workshop. A very bazar coincidence. I think you have dodged a bullet if you don't have to regulate the timing. It's a bit of a pest as you change it by adjusting the weight screws on the balance wheel. Generally there is only one regulator pin and that is for changing the beet error.
This is quite a good article if you are interested:
https://www.minus4plus6.com/regulation.php
I noticed the steel is generally of a higher quality (I guess you must be paying for something rather than just the name haha), and a bit harder to polish. I always thought this was a good thing as it can give you a bit of an error margin as it's a lot harder to go too far. I generally use a Dremel with these or simular  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223596786388?hash=item340f6832d4:g:1lsAAOSw94ddNXwt
Very good for fine removal of dings and scratches without loosing the sharp edges. Takes a while but the results are stunning.

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Plato WRT Addict

Plato

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11 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

I thought so too.  I'm guessing there was more to this than what little I heard, but for whatever reason they gave him the brush-off.  So he wanted to see what I could do.

Their loss could be your gain, remember to take pictures and post us the results! 

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KarlvonKoln Distinguished Member

KarlvonKoln

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Thanks for all the tips, gents!  I have to agree, with Rolexes the steel does seem harder than most, the edges sharper and more well-defined.  Some of the dings in this one seem a little deeper than I'd have expected, but I will use the information you all have posted and see what I can do for it.  Thanks again.

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