Particles on Rolex dial

[OCSfan]

Wondering whether anyone else had experienced this. I repaired a colleagues Rolex after she smashed it in a fall, serviced, refitted rotor and fitted new glass. The plastic seal that arrived with the Sternkreuzer glass was too thick so I refitted the old seal. Watch us running really well and has been on the wrist for a few weeks but large amounts of debriefs formed on the dial, hands and glass. In inspection it looks like small particles or shavings of plastic, I can only think this us coming from the refitted seal, any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

[jguitron]

Wow [emoji54] - that’s a lot of debris. I can’t imagine it’s from the seal but I’m super curious to hear what others think.




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[Gpsluvr]

Doubtful. It appears to be centered at the 6 o’clock area. Could dust/debris have gotten in due to the seal not being good in that area?


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[RyMoeller]

Can't say I've ever seen anything like that before.  I'm sure the cause will become apparent when it's disassembled though.

[MrRoundel]

It would seem to me that it is the result of consistent scraping on something plastic. That would lead me to believe that the outside of the rotor might be scraping on a seal, or?

[jguitron]

It would seem to me that it is the result of consistent scraping on something plastic. That would lead me to believe that the outside of the rotor might be scraping on a seal, or?

Great thought but I can’t see the movement being powerful enough to push through causing such debris. I’d expect it to stop, or at the very least speed up significantly while losing amplitude.

May be a good idea to put on timing machine and see what it does.


Cheers





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[OCSfan]

Thanks for thoughts so far, debris is coming from the dial side as far as I can see; nothing from movement (rotor) side. Case was ultrasonically cleaned and pegged out prior to fitting glass and casing up.

[MrRoundel]

It may be some sort of parallax error, but it looks to me like the luminous dots are smaller on part of the dial. I don't know how long the second hand is, but could it be "off-plane", and chipping off tiny pieces of the luminous as it passes those dots? If the second hand is long enough to hit them, I'd hold it under a light for a while then go into darkness and see if the debris glows. Far-fetched?

[ecodec]

7 minutes ago, MrRoundel said:

It may be some sort of parallax error, but it looks to me like the luminous dots are smaller on part of the dial. I don't know how long the second hand is, but could it be "off-plane", and chipping off tiny pieces of the luminous as it passes those dots? If the second hand is long enough to hit them, I'd hold it under a light for a while then go into darkness and see if the debris glows. Far-fetched?

 

7 minutes ago, MrRoundel said:

It may be some sort of parallax error, but it looks to me like the luminous dots are smaller on part of the dial. I don't know how long the second hand is, but could it be "off-plane", and chipping off tiny pieces of the luminous as it passes those dots? If the second hand is long enough to hit them, I'd hold it under a light for a while then go into darkness and see if the debris glows. Far-fetched?

 

[ecodec]

I am beaten on that one but if you are sure that the seal is OK then investigate the hand clearance. There should be a witness somewhere on the dial or hands  for that amount of debris.

[wls1971]

It looks to me that the top layer of gloss lacquer on the dial is delaminated from the dial if the seal around the crystal is incorrect and moisture has entered the watch, did you pressure test the watch after fitting the new crystal?. The bezel has been refitted incorrectly any way the hour markers do not line up with the bezel and the double size bezel maker should be at the 12 o'clock postion and not at 9 o'clock as shown  and the gap between dial and rehuat looks too great.

Looking at the watch as it is I would suggest there is no effective seal around the crystal at all.

Edited December 28, 2017 by wls1971

[OCSfan]

4 minutes ago, wls1971 said:

It looks to me that the top layer of gloss lacquer on the dial is delaminated from the dial if the seal around the crystal is incorrect and moisture has entered the watch, did you pressure test the watch have fitting the new crystal?. The bezel has been refitted incorrectly any way the hour markers do not line up with the bezel and the double size bezel maker should be at the 12 o'clock postion and not at 9 o'clock as shown  and the gap between dial and rehuat looks too great.

Looking at the watch as it is I would suggest there is no effective seal around the crystal at all.

Woops, hadn't noticed that. Now you've pointed out the misalignment it looks awful and I will refit correctly, thank you.

I'm not sure that the debris is getting in, I will check the hands etc, there is mo delamination of the lacquer, just some scratches frothed previous broken glass occurring during her accident.

I'll order a couple of replacement seals and have another go at fitting the glass and bezel (correctly).

[rodabod]

Did the previous glass shatter? I’ve seen terrible things happen when glass gets into a movement. But that’s presumably all removed since servicing. 

My first guess would have been the auto rotor colliding with something, but I’m not that familiar with the build of these watches.