Please watch out!

[Vanessa]

Hi people!

Time for a story...

On Thursday I have a customer walk in with a Day-Date President bracelet Rolex, and he put it on the counter. My first thought was: "oh boy, another fake"
Well, it wasn't fake... What happened was that he had taken his watch to an independent watchmaker (grey dealer for Rolex) and trusted him with his watch to get it serviced. When this customer received the watch back, it had been polished completely with a high-polish finish! No more brush polish at all, not on the case, not on the bracelet.
That's why the watch seemed fake at first sight...
Needless to say, because the original brush polish was completely shiny, this watchmaker must have been polishing quite a while to get the grooves out of the bracelet, and the bracelet felt very light. (note; it's an older style president with the hollow links)

I told the customer I could put the original brush polish back on it if he wanted, which he accepted gladly, since it "didn't look the same anymore" to him!

This morning I finally had the chance to do so, and to my amazement I discovered that some of the links where so severely polished down that they had holes (!) in it!
I'll attach pictures down here to show you (they were taken with my phone, so bad quality, but I circled the holes).

Now, the point of my story is; if you are going to take your watch to an independent watchmaker, please check his or her status with Rolex. Make sure they are authorised and trained by Rolex to work on their watches. This is easy to do; just call Rolex and ask!
This customer probably paid half of the price for a service with this other guy, than what I would have charged, but now his watch is ruined beyond repair... Plus, he had to pay for me to put the brush polish on, so he probably didn't save anything in the end.

When a watchmaker charges half of what "all the other ones" charge, he's probably doing something wrong... He's not using genuine parts, if he replaces any at all! The gaskets HAVE to be replaced with genuine ones with every service, if you go to somebody who's not authorised by Rolex, he cannot get the genuine parts!
It's not because somebody is an AD, he's an Authorised watchmaker as well, please keep that in mind also.

Sorry for the long thread, but you have no idea how many "mess-ups" I end up trying to fix, because somebody was trying to save some bucks!
End of rant...

[oztimelord]

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches :rofl:

[kcmo]

Wow, amazing story Vanessa. Thanks for the warning! Personally, I only send my watches to the RSC for service....can't beat that peace of mind; worth the money IMO.

[marshallr47]

Wow, good info Vanessa. Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind for any future services.

[Steven79]

Thanks for the heads up Vanessa! Great info!

[Watch Collector]

Amazing that someone with a beautiful watch like that would be so careless and thrifty in trusting some hack to service his watch!

[Lisa]

Vanessa, thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to share this story. Every word from you is always gold!

[mickeydainish]

Thanx Vanessa.... It is good to be reminded. :-)

[Art161]

I notice that there are a lot of ads in the Yellow Pages that state that "genuine parts" are used, but they don't say "genuine Rolex parts." Let's be careful out there.

[briantheartist]

Wow, I hate hearing about that kind of stuff.

(Now I have a picture of the hand behind the voice :joy:)

[jasonbellevue]

Hey Vanessa, hope you and the Camry's doing fine. :agree:

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, you get what you pay for, that's why I always send my watches to the RSC. :cheers:

[JJ Irani]

Vanessa, thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to share this story. Every word from you is always gold!

Agreed.....very interesting info, Vanessa!! Thanks for the update and sharing your experiences with us!! :thumbsup::clap:

[Jedi]

Vanessa, doesn't Rolex provide authorised watchmakers with a diagram of how to polish/brush the various models?

[taylor]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

[Trurolexer]

Thanks for your info.:cheers:

[Mr Sandman]

Wow, amazing story Vanessa. Thanks for the warning! Personally, I only send my watches to the RSC for service....can't beat that peace of mind; worth the money IMO.

X2

Why buy a Rolls royce and then get it serviced at the local quick fit.

A lesson for us all.................Send to RSC for complete confidence:thumbsup:

[Goodwatch]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

Would you please consider rephrasing this? Or perhaps elaborate on this? I strongly advise you to do so.

[CKay]

Great reminder Vanessa. Now the poor guy needs to spend thousands replacing the case and bracelet.

[acce1999]

Thanks. Worth thinking about. I feel for your client. It must be an expensive lesson for him...

Best,

A

P.S. Any opportunities to do more measurements on caseback thickness?

[toph]

very intersting/worrying
thanks for posting that
:cheers:

[ROLEX MAN]

some people shpuld not work on rolex's

[jdc]

Thanks for the post, very interesting and informative:thumbsup:

[Texsubmariner]

I only trust RSC for my Rolexes, even to regulate my GMTc. In my case, it was definitely worth the hassle of sending it certified and insured via USPS to Dallas RSC, rather than have my AD's watchmaker do it in 30 minutes. Of course, there are plenty of others who have great relationships with their independent and excellent watchmakers. But for me, I really do not want trial and error!

[Erix]

Thanks for the post, very interesting and informative:thumbsup:

x2 :cheers:

[rpryan55]

Thanks, Vanessa. I'll second what Rene said - if you cannot afford the service, you cannot afford the watch.

[GBJIV]

Vanessa, this is a great post. I it very educational for those of us who want to make good decisions concerning our beauties. It is always great to read what you have to say. Thanks,

[SLS]

What a shame, If I was that customer I would be pretty pissed...to replace that bracelet is NOT going to be cheap. Thanks for bringing that to our attention!
~Scott

[DS/B MINI S]

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches :rofl:

Yep, simple as that :cheers:

[briantheartist]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

Thems be fighten werdz! :armed:

[Welshwatchman]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow


It may have just been a deliberately ironic response by Taylor with his excruciating use of grammar being the punchline..:dummy:

... or just a snide Troll comment.:thinking:

BTW - If I lived on your side of "the pond" Vanessa there is only one place I would want to send my watches to.

You.:thumbsup:

[JJ Irani]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

:thinking: What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

[YuppieKid]

.,.,

[Letsgodiving]

Vanessa, when you say holes do you mean indentations. I just want to clarify that the links are not hollow. I would hate to start that whole debate again. Or maybe I'm unknowingly instigating it. Great post btw.

[Art161]

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches :rofl:

Good advice if you are buying a new watch. But sometimes the price for service escalates way beyond what you might have thought. The Rolex I purchased from an AD in 1971 cost about $200. Yes, there has been a general increase in prices since then, but I think the cost of Rolexes and the service costs have risen more than the general rate of inflation.

[Dalton]

Hi Vanessa. I'm rolex trained in the art of refinishing and I know what you mean. I tend to fix a lot of people's mistakes. But it is important to know that RSC is not the only option. There are independents, like myself, who do know what they are doing and are aware of what these watches are worth. I think what's important is, to do your research before leaving your watch with someone. To me RSC is not the almighty. I've repaired their mistakes too. So yes watchout!

Now regarding the worn down Prez:Tell your client that those holes can be filled and reshaped with solid gold. All is not lost. Yes this is terrible but I've seen worse. That's my professional opinion on his watch.

[rmcarlton]

:thinking: What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

Here here. :thumbsup:

[Vanessa]

"You're welcome" to everybody that thanked me!:thumbsup:
And thank you all for the great compliments!

Hey Vanessa, hope you and the Camry's doing fine. :agree:
We're doing great! We already spent over 18,000 miles together!

Vanessa, doesn't Rolex provide authorised watchmakers with a diagram of how to polish/brush the various models?
We do receive training on polishing, yes! They want us to do it their way, and their way only! Which makes sense of course!

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow
I live in the USA, yet I'm not born here. English is my 4th language, so I apologize if it's not up to your standards!


P.S. Any opportunities to do more measurements on caseback thickness?
Haven't had anything different in yet. I also kinda forgot :banghead: Sorry!

Vanessa, when you say holes do you mean indentations. I just want to clarify that the links are not hollow. I would hate to start that whole debate again. Or maybe I'm unknowingly instigating it. Great post btw.
No, I did mean "holes" since those older style president bracelets ARE hollow.
They don't "look" hollow from the side like the jubilee's, but they are hollow in the middle. The newer style (since around the year 2000) are solid through and through.

Hi Vanessa. I'm rolex trained in the art of refinishing and I know what you mean. I tend to fix a lot of people's mistakes. But it is important to know that RSC is not the only option. There are independents, like myself, who do know what they are doing and are aware of what these watches are worth. I think what's important is, to do your research before leaving your watch with someone. To me RSC is not the almighty. I've repaired their mistakes too. So yes watchout!

I don't work for RSC either, so I agree with you that there are really good independents out there (I'm one of them:agree:). I'm just warning people to check references, or to call Rolex when in doubt.
I've read great things about you, and I would love to receive your information via pm, so I can send potential clients to you!

[stevemulholland3]

everyone,I am sure taylor did not mean any disrespect-most likely it came off wrong.I have had several conversations with him and he has always been very respectful and polite.so please reserve judgment until he responds please.
thanks,
steve
p.s. very good post venessa-I always love reading what you have to say-is there a picture to go with that lovely prose?

[f16570]

Interesting, you buy cheap, you pay DEAR.

[mailman]

Excellent post as always Vanessa. Thank you :thumbsup: :cheers: You're a great person and a huge asset here :clap: :cheers:

[CPTL]

Fantastic post, Vanessa--thanks for the info.

[Parachrom]

There is always someone willing to charge less for a service, to be cheaper or less expensive that their competition. In the end you end up disapointed and having to spend a greater amount to have it done properly by the proper people. No one ever regretted buying quality and service. Fortunately for me i can send my Rolex directly to RSc and get cost as being a jewellry store, others are not that fortunate. While there are some AD where I am and some darn good ones, I cannot help but send my watch to Rolex itself. call it being anal if you wish, but they built it, they have every conceivable tool available to them. Until four year ago, there was a Polish gentleman at Rolex who was one of their top watchmakers. I would send it to him directly, and it always came back top drawer work. In return I would show him where my favourite Muskie hole was so we could fish together. Good deal I thought

[gmt master x]

Thanks V...:thumbsup:

[1MAC]

So, about how much 18k gold did this guy manage to steal by polishing that watch so aggressively?
:thinking:

[padi56]

Hi Vanessa. I'm rolex trained in the art of refinishing and I know what you mean. I tend to fix a lot of people's mistakes. But it is important to know that RSC is not the only option. There are independents, like myself, who do know what they are doing and are aware of what these watches are worth. I think what's important is, to do your research before leaving your watch with someone. To me RSC is not the almighty. I've repaired their mistakes too. So yes watchout!

Now regarding the worn down Prez:Tell your client that those holes can be filled and reshaped with solid gold. All is not lost. Yes this is terrible but I've seen worse. That's my professional opinion on his watch.

Could not agree more but when you find a good watchmaker finisher, treat him/her like your best mate.

[Brcmpbl]

I can't understand why anyone would drop several thousand for a watch and then cheap out on having the thing serviced. It is a ridiculous thing to do, regardless of whether or not RSC prices are inflated or not.

[CVerKuilen]

I cannot disagree with any of you who decide to send to RSC for service. I am a watchmaker myself, and when (not if) I purchase my Sub it will only go to Rolex for service. The only reason I say this is because of the quality of refinishing on the flat surfaces on the sides of the case. Those of you who have had a professional series watch serviced by anyone, were the sides as flat as a brand new?

However, there are AD's out there that have well-trained, honest watchmakers. Look for someone with a WOSTEP certification if possible, the next best is the CW21 from AWCI. And as always, be sure they have been trained by Rolex on caliber specifics and refinishing.

[DSJ]

That is painful. I did the same thing with car repair last year. I paid a neighborhood guy to replace the differential input shaft seal, and he overtightened things which forced a rear-end overhaul with new ring/pinion/joint 5 miles later...

[timetravel125]

May I humbly ask, and with due respect, what is your definition of "Proper English?"

And, perhaps, you should be reminded that the United States is a county of many people and cultures. And, not all people living in the U.S. are excellent users of your "Proper English."

Awaiting your explanation of "Proper English," please?

Cheers.

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English! :thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

[oneillba]

Thanks Vanessa, what a shame for that poor fellow!

[Dazza]

comment on proper English
the Americans never use it nor do 3/4 of the English
so no one really has the right to comment unless they use it themselves 100% of the time


mu thoughts are that this guy is making a mint out of ripping gold off people's watches surley in the US you have to have public liability insurance and a duty of care ... the 'repairer' should be held accountable to bringing the watch back to original condition
new case new strap

[Vanessa]

comment on proper English
the Americans never use it nor do 3/4 of the English
so no one really has the right to comment unless they use it themselves 100% of the time


mu thoughts are that this guy is making a mint out of ripping gold off people's watches surley in the US you have to have public liability insurance and a duty of care ... the 'repairer' should be held accountable to bringing the watch back to original condition
new case new strap

Oh wow Dazza.... I had forgotten all about this thread, with my lack of proper English!:lol:
Thanks for reminding me.... :dummy:

:justkiddi Welcome!! :thumbsup:

[deserted]

Vanessa i like your style!

[Vanessa]

Vanessa i like your style!

Thank you sir! :smokin:

[Dazza]

Oh wow Dazza.... I had forgotten all about this thread, with my lack of proper English!:lol:
Thanks for reminding me.... :dummy:

:justkiddi Welcome!! :thumbsup:


ty
with your lack of proper english can you help me on my other thread in this forum please Vanessa ;)

I am sure I will decypher it ;)

:clap::lol::dude::justkiddi

[Rikki]

Last week 2 Presidents came in one was partially fake the othe was amazingly fake they used a 3135 movement instead of a 3155 and glued the day wheel to the dial from underneath unbelievable I sent him on his way with my condolences he paid 15,000 dollars for it ouch. Rik

[HDHNTER]

Great post, thanks!

[hsfrank]

:thinking: What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

...and if one is to be accurate, the phrase should be "yet, your written remarks are improper or ill constructed." Thus people who live in glass houses....

[BarkMaster]

Will the spelling and grammar police please take a break?

(I speak Texan and often fail to proofread! lol)

[BarkMaster]

Last week 2 Presidents came in one was partially fake the othe was amazingly fake they used a 3135 movement instead of a 3155 and glued the day wheel to the dial from underneath unbelievable I sent him on his way with my condolences he paid 15,000 dollars for it ouch. Rik

OUCH is right.

[goduke1]

OUCH is right.

I can see it now 777, "Sir your watch had a lot of crud on the center links, Kinda looked like bark? So we put a high polish on it to get it back to it's original state..."

Double Ouch! :rofl:

[BarkMaster]

I can see it now 777, "Sir your watch had a lot of crud on the center links, Kinda looked like bark? So we put a high polish on it to get it back to it's original state..."

Double Ouch! :rofl:

BITE YOUR TONGUE!!! :nono:

Have I mentioned that I like the bark finish??? :thinking: :chuckle:

[hacampbell1360]

I do feel for the guy that took his precious watch to a hack shop for a service. But


how many of you send your car to an independent auto repair shop for maintenance?

i would think the majority would save a buck or two by taking their cars to independent auto repair shop. How would you know if they use genuine parts or cheap aftermarket parts?

[MonBK]

I do feel for the guy that took his precious watch to a hack shop for a service. But


how many of you send your car to an independent auto repair shop for maintenance?

i would think the majority would save a buck or two by taking their cars to independent auto repair shop. How would you know if they use genuine parts or cheap aftermarket parts?

You don't. :chuckle:

[marshallr47]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[SkyKing31]

I only send my watches to Rolex in NYC .. I dont care about the cost .. I would have had a stroke if my Day-Date came back in that condition

Robbie Wilsdorf