Jump to content

Rolex Question

Paul78

By Paul78
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

Paul78 WRT Addict

Paul78

Posted
Posted

Hi, i wonder if anyone can answer me this regarding a rolex sweep hand.

I replaced the sweep hand on a rolex watch for a customer a while back, and the watch was brought back because it came off again. I advised the customer the hands will probably need to be replaced, So i put the hand back on again, no charge, his wife came to collect it and surprise surprise, when she got home the hand had come off again!

Now this customer has decided i charged him for something i havent done and is now threatening to take me to court etc etc etc

He now says he took it to an independent rolex cerified repairer who has told him ive caused damage because i push fitted the hands, which i did, with a regular hand push fit tool. They also say i failed to replace some sort of locking pin to keep the hand in position.

Can anyone tell me, have i done anything wrong here? is there such a locking pin?? any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ash145 WRT Addict

ash145

Posted
Posted

Hi Paul, that's no good to hear and suspect the authorised dealer won't praise any of your work....the only suggestion I have is that the hole diameter has slightly increased and may need crimping down. I've recently started collecting Omegas with the 1010-30 movements , they have a small clip which holds the seconds hand stem in place, when fitting the seconds hand it needs to be supported from underneath or its dislodges the stem. The stem diameter is .15mm on this particular model and have slightly crimped the underside of the hand before fitting as they can fall off. Not convinced at all that you have caused a problem by fitting the hands by hand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Paul78 WRT Addict

Paul78

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks Ash, yeh i know about the clip on the Omega, i haven't really done a great deal of Rolex, which i why i've asked the question. Thanks for your input. I really want to find the movement calibre now so i can check better! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted

I would be curious too about the "locking ping". We have some expert members here that can clarify and if  it's proven that no such thing exists, you can give the evidence to the complainer and entourage him to go to court if so he wishes.

That being said, small diameter hands tubes can be a problem. Have the same issue with a chrono and didn't got an answer about a definitive solution yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, ash145 said:

Jdm, if you can turn the hand over and slightly crimp the tube it should create enough resistance to hold the hand in place. Tweezers are adequate

I think the idea is to do that with a suitable needle in the tube, to avoid crushing it.

I believed that a professional watchmaker did that already. But the second chrono hand still moves when pressing the reset button.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ishima Super WRT Addict

Ishima

Posted
Posted (edited)

Stuff like this just disgusts me from big manufacturers, I like to think most of us in the trade would think twice before blaming someone else in the trade for damages, it's sort of an unwritten code of ethics (or well, it is actually a written code if you read donald de carle) 

you can never be certain that someone has done something wrong, or if they have what the full context is, so to start pointing fingers is irresponsible, unprofessional and unethical. All you should do is offer your own services and stand by your results. Because what you ultimately risk is a back and forth with the customer acting as a frustrated carrier pigeon, facilitating a squabble...

But when you're a big swiss manufacturer nothing like that seems to matter anymore, you can say what you like, blame watchmakers blithely with false certainty and even tell customers that their watch is faulty and the dial is damaged even when there's not a spec of evidence to suggest that. 
(I'm not making that up, I've had customers come in with swiss watches needing only a battery replacement and resealing being quoted several hundred pounds for a complete re build when the watch was pristine and faultless)  

You're probably blameless, my advice: Offer the money he paid back to him, try to explain again to him as best you can the nature of the fault, stress that you're a watch repairer, and the people operating the counters and phones at Rolex are not. Offer a sincere apology for his troubles and hopefully he'll back off with the legal threats. 

Edited by Ishima
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ishima Super WRT Addict

Ishima

Posted
Posted (edited)

Also, i forgot to say, stress that's it's a repeat of the very same issue that caused them to bring the watch to you in the first place, an issue that arised before you ever set your hands on it. 

So if a damaged locking pin is the cause of the problem, how could you have possibly broken it BEFORE having ever touched it.

Edited by Ishima
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • joelcarvajal
      Gamblin Gamsol for cleaning?

      By joelcarvajal · Posted

      Thank you all for the replies!  Very informative! True enough, the Gamsol took some time to evaporate and does leave a residue. So not all naphtha are created equal!  Need to find alternatives then. i was able to try Hexane recommended by Alex and it seems great.  I wonder what the cons are?
    • GuyMontag
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By GuyMontag · Posted

      Yeah, I saw that in the tech sheet but I don't see how it can be adequately cleaned with the friction pinion still in place. I've accidentally pulled the arbor right out of the wheel once when I used a presto tool to try and remove it. Mark shows how he does it with the Platax tool. Those are a little too pricey for me so I got one of these from Aliexpress and I just push down on the arbor with the end of my brass tweezers. That usually gets it most of the way out and then I just grab the wheel with one hand the and the friction pinion with the other and gently rotate them until it pops off. Probably not the best way but it's seemed to work for me so far.    
    • Zedster
      Movement inserted from crytal side

      By Zedster · Posted

      Thanks, Jon Sounds like a plan. Obviously I'll have the face on so do you think gripping with the holder will create any problems, but I will check in the morning to see how feasible it is but I assume it only needs to be lightly held. As for holding the movement instead of the holder won't be possible in this scenario as one hand will be puling on the stem while the other pushes the spring down. That was my initial concern is how the hell can I do this with only one pair of hands. All the other times I've had to remove the stem hasn't been a problem, apart from the force required to release the stem from the setting lever, but now I need to fit the face and hands its sent me into panic mode. If it had the screw type release things would be a lot simpler but that's life 😀   Another thing I will need to consider is once the dial and hands are fitted and the movement is sitting in the case I will need to turn it over to put the case screws in. I saw a vid on Wristwatch revival where he lightly fitted the crystal and bezel so he could turn it over, is this the only option or is there another method?      
    • nevenbekriev
      Main spring

      By nevenbekriev · Posted

      Hi Jon, do You think that relation spring torque - amplitude is linear? I would rather guess that the amplitude should be proportional to the square of the torque. I had once idea to check it, but still haven't.
    • ManSkirtBrew
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By ManSkirtBrew · Posted

      I did not. I thought about it, but I had cleaned it in my ultrasonic, and the tech sheet shows lubricating it in place already assembled, so I figured discretion was the better part of valor. Although since I have to depth the jewels anyway, maybe I pull the pinion off to rule it out 100% as part of the problem. Do you know if there's a safe way to do it? I don't want to use a puller because it would push down on the plane of the wheel, and that seems like a Bad Idea. I thought about using a roller table remover, but I don't think I have a hole stake pointy enough to push it down.
×
×
  • Create New...