Rolex - Datejust - Water Ingress

KAZ0077

Hi,
Long story short, I have a 20 year old Rolex datejust. I wear it every day, rarely take it off, Yesterday I noticed after swimming that there was water inside the glass and I presume the mechanism.
I have worn this watch a million times in water and never had anything like this happern before.

Could anyonme recommend a repair service that could take care of this - water has not drained out and glass is still fogged up, the mechanism is still working but I rang Weirs and they said get it into a repair centre as it could rust internally.

Any advice or help very much appreciated, (it was a gift from my father so lots of sentimental value attached)

hi5

The seals go hard over time, which is why you should service it every 5-6 year's.

Open the crown to the first position so its still going and put the watch on a heater or radiator, wind it manually and change the date and time every 15 minutes or so, this may stop it from seizing as it dries out.

KAZ0077

Thanks, I will try this.
If it doesn't work, is there a Rolex repair centre in Ireland or do I have to bring it to Weirs, I asked at Irish watch repairs but they don't do Rolex watches.

blindsider

If it was my watch, I'd ask a pro to look at it. Emily in Watchrepairs.ie has a good rep hereabouts. Have a look at the web-site. She's based in Dublin city centre.

Hope you get it sorted.

KAZ0077

I emailed her, she said that she doesn't do Rolex repairs.

blindsider

Shame. I'd try a few UK service types - IMO Weirs will charge a lot for this.

lomb

Watchguy in the UK will sort it out for around 150stg inc seal replacement and water testing. He comes highly recommended.
A genuine rolex service would be around 450 -500 stg.

KAZ0077

Thanks fella- I spoke to a few guys in the UK about the watch. Dropped it into Weirs on Saturday, was in Dublin anyway, was told that the watch has started to rust pretty badly, dials needed replacing,that a normal service wouldn't do, a lot of work is needed as the watch had stopped running.
Have left with them to sort.10 week turnaround.

Nice to know that the insides of a Rolex are made of tissue paper....sickened that a watch like this can practically be fit for the bin after a soak.
Thanks everyone for your time in a answering my questions.

Menas

It could well be that the watch seal broke a long time before you noticed it. The damage was done.
Either way, sorry to hear about it, hopefully they can bring it back to life at not too large a cost.

lomb

Id see if you could get it back. Watchguy serviced an Air King I bought recently with a dial restoration from David Bill for around 250stg. You could spend upwards of 1 or 2k through Weirs. Its just a watch at the end of the day. There is nothing special about Rolex other than great marketing , supplier control and price fixing.
Heres an interesting article on a running water damaged watch
http://people.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0031
and a Rolex
http://people.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0036
http://people.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium631675591245315012

KAZ0077

Thanks for this, I am starting to agree with what you say about "Brand" Rolex.Watch service and repair is gonna cost me +\- 1400.

It has a lot of sentimental value as it was given to me by someone now passed away-otherwise I'd have binned it rather than pay that to fix it.
Cheers