Rolex Service

galvo_clare

Hi

I have a 2007 Rolex Daytona that’s beginning to run a little slowly so I reckon it’s due a service.

I’m in London fairly frequently so I enquired directly from Rolex and they’re quoting from £800 and a 4-6 week turnaround, both of which seem excessive.

I’m interested also in the fatter hands that are now available for the Daytona and they’re an entirely reasonable £47.

Are there good independents either here or in London that anyone can recommend?

TIA

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058314285/rolex-service

If you get Rolex to change the hand they won’t give you back the old ones I believe. Which is not good if you want to be able to restore original state.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125208#Comment_121125208

Sorry to interject but that's not very nice of them seeing as you own the watch and don't lease it from them lol. What's their reasoning there like?

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125658#Comment_121125658

To control the supply of spare parts as such.

The extra pair of hands could be used on a fake or Frankenstein watch to give it authenticity.

Not sure if that’s still the policy but have read about it previously

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125975#Comment_121125975

I don't doubt you but I query the legality of that, the hands remain your bought property surely. At the very least, and I mean the very worst possible outcome I'd seek them back cut in half.

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126509#Comment_121126509

I serviced a white gold Daytona with a white gold bezel. got new bezel for 2500 euro and they kept the old one. Its in their TOS for the reason above, perfectly legal. Dont like it, get it serviced elsewhere, but good luck getting OEM parts. 800 euro for a daytona serivce from Rolex is good value.

galvo_clare

It’s £800 but good to get another perspective on it.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125975#Comment_121125975

I'd reckon it's simpler than that, or started out that way.

Long before watches were collected in earnest and collectors got extremely anal about originality, people would send their 'old watch' for a service and expected to get them back 'looking like new', so all brand's services would routinely replace handsets, dials etc, even polish cases to do that. Getting your dial 'cleaned' was a common service offered(there were companies in the States that just did dial refinishing).

I've seen issued Rolex milsubs that didn't look like milsubs anymore because they had been serviced by Rolex in the interim. They threw away the Omega style hands, changed the dials, replaced bezels with standard, removed the welded in fixed lug bars to fit bracelets etc. The only thing left of the milsub were the serial numbers and the engravings on the back(even they got removed sometimes). Shows how daft the market is(or was) that the only milsub bit left was the serial and they were still getting double, even triple the prices of a standard model that it looked identical to. Daytona dials were regularly changed to more plain one colour ones back in the day as people didn't like the panda/newman style dials. Mad how things go...

So Rolex and others did all that and most of all the customers didn't want the old fecked spares back. Why would you? I'd be willing to bet Rolex's terms & conds that stipulate they keep the parts go way back and long before high quality fakes were around, when a fake Rolex was a quartz sold to drunks on Spanish beaches.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126804#Comment_121126804

I understand but alas it reinforces why I'd never buy a rolex.

Re your 2.5k bezel do I assume correctly its also white gold and if so was that price minus the inherent value of said part as it was being ahem "retained"?

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127541#Comment_121127541

It does or or doesn’t. Doesn’t really matter. Probably less than 100 euro of gold.

If you sent it direct to RSC they kept anything they replace

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127572#Comment_121127572

Mmm I wonder, it's a sizeable bezel gotta be a couple hundred quids worth as scrap gold? I can see Fitz walking into cash for gold with it now lol.

Sorry for being incredulous on the parts retention thing, it's just I assume most buying these are successful savvy business men who are hard dealers in all things money. It just doesn't jive to see that type be butt f****d by the ad yet again lol.

Anyway, peace out enjoy yer roli and associated entanglements that come with and apologies to the OP!

Cienciano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127478#Comment_121127478

I've read about guys in the industry absolutely hate doing it, but that's what they're told to do. Taking bezels off vintage watches that are worth thousands and replacing them with new ones. Generally from a customer that doesn't know what they're doing

Unknownability

I asked a similar question to you earlier this year, through my own research I found this place in London.

https://www.russelltalerman.com/

Would have absolutely no hesitation on recommending them to anyone els.

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127608#Comment_121127608

I bought the Daytona grey market for under retail. No papers or box. The Rolex service gave it back a warranty and authenticity papers and returned it to factory stickered state. Sold it soon after for twice what I paid for it. I enjoyed the entire interaction very much and the car it got me to this day. Not feeling even a tiny bit sodomised, but maybe I have been brainwashed.. With a watch of considerable value the service history also has value above and beyond the physical service, its peace of mind for the owner and or the buyer.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127608#Comment_121127608

No idea of the weight but either way you know the score before you go to RSC that if you want a bezel replaced it’s going to cost x and you don’t get the other one back. Not like the jump out after it’s all done and then go “ahaaaaa we are keeping the old one and you are down another 200 muuuuuhhhhhbhhaaaaa”.

Now the OP Daytona is 2007 and there are likely bucket loads of them about so not sure if the modern watches made in such numbers will ever reach the same dizzy heights so maybe a hand replacement less if an issue.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127720#Comment_121127720

I applaud your business acumen in turning the investment into something more tangible and I dare say enjoyable. What's was the motor? Hopefully something red and temperamental.

As you and 893 rightly point out its a known entity/feature of the game that your prepared to suffer. Personally I'd not, as the entanglements on many fronts go against my grain, different strokes. I somehow don't think rolex will shed a tear lol.

Mind you I would demand the parts back (broken so no resale/reuse), especially the white gold bezel and march head held high into cash for gold bezels and spend whatever I got on some nice Belgian beer. And hookers.

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127201#Comment_121127201

“When I was a kid my ol' man give me a haltered heifer an' says take her down an git her serviced. An' the fella says, I done it, an' ever' time since then when I hear a business man talkin' about service, I wonder who's gettin' screwed.”

― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Just leaving this one here, not a massive rolex fan.

galvo_clare

I handed my watch in last week to Rolex UK in London and they've just come back with the quotation for the service.

The description of the condition of my watch reads:

Watch analysis

Dial marked, dial peeling at edge, hands scratched, dial discoloured, pushers scratched, case scratched, bezel

scratched, crystal/glass scratched, crown scratched, case back scratched, lugs scratched, bracelet scratched

There are a few wear and tear scratches on the case but that's it. The assistant even remarked that the crystal was perfect. I'm really annoyed about this. Nobody has opened the case since I bought the watch so how could the dial be marked, peeling and discoloured and the hands scratched.

The other disconcerting thing is that they've offered to replace the hands as an optional extra which I'm declining as it's entirely unnecessary. In the small print though, they claim that if they don't replace the hands, they can't guarantee the performance of the watch.

Is all this normal? It's certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. I've got back to them for further comment/information.

galvo_clare

Now they've got back to me that the damage they're outlining is basically microscopic in nature so that's just to cover themselves and equally, the performance disclaimer is more boilerplate.

But now, they're saying the dial on my watch isn't the original. I bought the watch from an official dealer in Switzerland and nobody has touched it since.

At the time, I discovered that the case was a few years older than the watch itself, based on serial numbers and when I queried that with the AD I was told that was fairly normal with gold cases. Now I'm not so sure. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121333037#Comment_121333037

Im sure some of the Rolex boys will be better suited and booted to answer but personally as I see it you need the rubber stamp for resale as let's face it, that's the bottom line with 90 % of the rolex experience.

As such I'd recommend return it to whom you bought it from to account for the discrepancies, or to simply overlook said issues so you have the magic rolex approval for resale.

From my perspective it's yet another reason to fcuk rolex ownership and the whole associated tulipmania but I'm a mouthy rolex hater:)

Fitz II

Sounds like you got a Franken watch, however, if it's been some time since you purchased it can be hard to claim from the original seller. This is why it's so important to check the authenticity of it at the purchase time. Another option is to let Rolex do the business and then the watch is back to an authenticated factory certified state.

I always notice that the vocal Rolex haters rarely purchase Lange, Moser, Zenith, Omega or other expensive high-end watches which do not require playing AD games, waiting lists or grey market markups, as a form of protest. I know these sorts of buyers exist, there are several on this forum, but they stay out of the conversation.Why is that?

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121334216#Comment_121334216

Why lol?

I answered that. I'm a mouthy rolex hater lol.

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121334275#Comment_121334275

Reminds me of the old one, What do you get when you mix a joke with a rhetorical question?

H_Lime

Oh hang on I kno this one, is it a supercilious snob with more money than sense lol?

H_Lime

Just kidding Fitz, my rolex postings were tongue in cheek. Let's keep our handbags down. I even regulated a rolex last month!

Best of luck to the op with the issue, I hope those who sold it to you stand by it.

Over n out:)

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121334571#Comment_121334571

And there we have it, I knew it was in there itching to get out.

galvo_clare

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121334216#Comment_121334216

Yep, it does look like a Franken watch but I bought it from an authorised dealer. I'm going to go after Rolex head office and the dealer for an explanation. I could understand buyer beware If I went grey market or something.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121334731#Comment_121334731

Doesn’t take much for it to appear.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121335168#Comment_121335168

That's by far your best bet if you bought from an AD. I doubt Rolex head office would be too pleased with one of their AD's selling frankens, especially with them being the most faked/frankened watches out there in the grey market. Now AD's could be fooled by some minutiae not so easily spotted(it seems even 'experts' in auction houses regularly are...), but if you were able to notice and question the date/case disparity around the same time, but they missed that and passed it off as normal? Not good. Proving nobody touched the watch since will be the issue I suppose.

galvo_clare

Well I heard back from them this morning and they’re now assuring me the dial is original and they’re prioritising the service.

“To be completely transparent with you, there was a misleading visual indicator on our system that suggested a different dial should have been present. ”

They also confirm that nobody has ever touched the watch.

“Our Workshop Manager has carefully checked your watch over this morning. There are no signs within the movement that any third party has ever intervened with your watch.”

I’m going to ask for the information they have on my watch and I’m going to raise this with Rolex Switzerland to ensure there’s nothing wrong.

Frankly I expected better from them.

3DataModem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126509#Comment_121126509

It's like a trade in. The 47 is the difference, not the cost.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121332859#Comment_121332859

A datejust? Dial swaps with genuine parts (dial colour swap often) and not genuine parts (aftermarket diamond dials) very common. A murky under belly. “After market dial” you see regularly on adds….:so a fake dial….

scwazrh

Any one replace a datejust crystal recently? I’ve chipped the edge of mine and wondering what price range a replacement is just out of interest. Will leave it till service time regardless.

Also scraped the ar coating on my seamaster which is fairly noticeable.Anyone have that fixed before ?

galvo_clare

They quoted £81.60 for my Daytona although if it wasn’t done as part of a service I’m sure there’d be a labour charge.

Thought that was quite reasonable.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121339774#Comment_121339774

Was that for crystal replacement?

Fitz II

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121339778#Comment_121339778

OEM Cyrstal is around 300 euro plus fitting and testing. iChrono did one for me in the last while cost me about 500 all in, was shattered mind you so the movement needed cleaning and checking. A aftermarket crystal is really cheap but who wants that.

galvo_clare

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121339778#Comment_121339778

Yes, as part of the service. They’re saying there are some microscopic scratches on mine so I won’t get it replaced. It looks perfect to my eyes.

scwazrh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121340146#Comment_121340146

Ichrono be alright for that? Definitely couldnt have spurious crystal on it although some here would class that as being modded and cool for avoiding the rolex overlords .

I wonder with Weirs being a rolex service center now does that mean theyll do the repairs there instead of sending it back to Rolex. Must give them a call and see.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121340146#Comment_121340146

+1 Unless like in the case of vintage where OEM replacement aren't available I'd always go OEM, even regardless of resale, but triply so for any higher end stuff. Even with vintage stuff in my case I've always looked for NOS OEM first and only gone third party if I couldn't source OEM. When I see youtube 'restorers' slap on generic crowns on vintage, when original, oft NOS crowns are an ebay search away... And not replacing mainsprings as a matter of course? Da fuc? You've gone to the trouble of taking it apart and then pat themselves on the back with amplitude of 200(they shouldn't), replace the mainspring ffs. /rant😁

Then there's the practical stuff like water resistance. Would I trust a spurious crystal and fitting over a Rolex one? Not on your nelly.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121333381#Comment_121333381

While papers from Rolex following service is a nice to have; if you already have the original papers and are happy with the provenance (though if you are worried about provenance then no advantage from that point of view as you will lose your watch…..as it’s not really yours).

Really I see it as a case of protecting your investment. If I was buying a 5 figure watch and the seller told me some amateur had serviced it/regulated it or whatever I would be turned off. Even if they used an independant I would be looking to know if original parts had been used. Or otherwise you could be reselling it in 5 years and be told “the hand in the watch are aftermarket” or similar.

Like having an expensive car and using budget tyres. Doesn’t make sense to me personally.

galvo_clare

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121341988#Comment_121341988

What you’re saying tallies exactly with my view. I’m not selling the watch but there’s now a question mark over it, even though the London boys have rowed back on it. I have the papers etc but I want proper reassurance that it hasn’t been tampered with and that can only come from Rolex Switzerland at this stage.

mdo

I am happy with Rolex service. We spent $800 for a complete service on my wife's 20 year old Datejust at Rolex New York, NY. Included is a 2 yr warranty and certification that all parts are genuine Rolex....