Bracelet after 20 years of daily use.

[skprd13]

Awesome pics Gus. Just goes to show everyone "wear your watch" do not baby it! Your watch was made to wear not sit in a safe tucked away! I wear my watches daily and do not give it a second thought.
Aloha from Kauai.
Tom

[TimeOnHand]

Very cool!

[CKL1213]

20 years did not take off your watch, I will be more concern on your wrist, any marking or rashes?

[subtona]

Wow!
Thanks all for all the support, although its a while ago that it happened, its nice to know im not the only one who appreciates the sentimentality


Grady, rsc didnt put on SS, i sourced the SS bracelet through a wtb here on trf, after RSC told me the price of a new TT bracelet would be about half the original cost of the watch.

Thanks again, for all your reply's they are each really meaningful

Ps i wore the watch on the loose side, most of the time...just tight enough so it couldnt spin around my wrist.

[Sous]

Originally Posted by subtona

Ps i wore the watch on the loose side, most of the time...just tight enough so it couldnt spin around my wrist.

Great info, Gus, thank you for sharing your real life experience with your Sub

[Nycturbovr6]

Very nice

[subtona]

Originally Posted by cop414

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

Originally Posted by directioneng

Looks good.

Is that a replacement Tritium dial?

Tim,
Havent had a watched serviced since... Likely to use the recommends here on trf when needed...
I belong to the, if it ain't broke don't fix it camp.

directioneng,
In its life the watch was serviced twice, 1st time was around 1998, that was where they replaced the dial, after the watch came back from service with a scratch on it. The replacement dial did say tritium on it but it never had the same brightness as my original, i suspect they may have cut down their quantities of tritium in the manufacture by that time? The font on the new dial also had somewhat raised lettering on it vs the original which appeared printed.

[Steve748]

A salutary tale which reinforces the reasoning for not taking a vintage Rolex to the RSC for servicing. There is a big difference between restoring to 'todays' spec and an original 'birth spec' sympathetic restoration.

[cop414]

Originally Posted by Steve748

A salutary tale which reinforces the reasoning for not taking a vintage Rolex to the RSC for servicing. There is a big difference between restoring to 'todays' spec and an original 'birth spec' sympathetic restoration.

+1 on that...

[subtona]

found some pics of complete watch before service:

[rolex75216]

Originally Posted by cop414

Gus, that's a crying shame. You loved it for two deacdes and in one fell swoop they totally screwed things up. If you don't mind me asking who do you use now for any service or refurbishing?

Good question. I would also be curious on who you recommend for service type work these days. I think it is awesome that you stuck with the watch for 20 years. I bet you have a lot of great memories and amazing stories to go along with it. Would love to hear one.

[subtona]

Originally Posted by rolex75216

Good question. I would also be curious on who you recommend for service type work these days. I think it is awesome that you stuck with the watch for 20 years. I bet you have a lot of great memories and amazing stories to go along with it. Would love to hear one.

the scratch on the crystal between 6 & 7 came while doing rescue work down at the world trade center during Sept, 11 ... don't know exactly what happened but guessing it was twisted I-beam meets rolex.

the watch had a good run and never let me down

as far as service, i haven't used anyone else besides RSC up to this point, but when one of my current pieces finally breaks ill source someone probably from the recommends here on the forum

[rolex75216]

[QUOTE=subtona;4310082]the scratch on the crystal between 6 & 7 came while doing rescue work down at the world trade center during Sept, 11 ... don't know exactly what happened but guessing it was twisted I-beam meets rolex. /QUOTE]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Love hearing great stories like that!

[sea-dweller]

Wow, thanks for sharing.

[Billywiz]

Originally Posted by subtona

Tim,
I regret bringing it to RSC where they butchered it.... They tainted it enough that the magic was lost... But thats another story

& since then i have found some satisfactory replacements, thanks to TRF & the never ending supply of enablers

Sorry to hear that...I too dont trust RSCs...much rather use someone I know , listens and you trust.

[Marine1981]

Originally Posted by subtona

found some pics of complete watch before service:

Now that's bracelet stretch! I was at a marine corps reunion for my uncle John (3rd battalion 9th marines) and there was a marine wearing a single red submariner. He had been wearing it for a long time. It had significant wear and stretch. Lot of scratches, but the more I looked at it the more I thought... That watch has so many memories in those scratches.

[skprd13]

Thanks for the safety pin tip! Very nice sir!

[Foiel]

Bellissimo !
Thanks for sharing, Sentimentality has a lot to do with Passion in watches in my opinion. They share your time with you, bad times and good times.

[Kingair]

Thanks for sharing Gus

HAGOne

[travisb]

Impressive!

[bonbonson]

Funny how 1991 seems so recent but it was already actually 20 years ago. just like i realized my rolex is turning 60 soon (oh how time flies so fast)

[bayerische]

That's a lot of stretch!

[buke45]

Wow incredible!!!

[BawlaDK]

I have to ask - Since you apparently were a "1 watch kinda guy" for 20 years, where did this situation leave you afterwards? Did you get another watch that you are now wearing 24/7 or are you now trying on different ones?
Man if RSC had done that to my daily wearer for 20 years, I would have blown a headgasket and exploded.... They downright destroyed it. I would not have accepted anything less than a replacement watch or at least NEW parts to replace the ones they F*CKED up....

[mjclark32]

Whoa well worn, thanks for sharing

[joejoe1225]

Very Nice.

[MaxCargo]

Originally Posted by BawlaDK

I have to ask - Since you apparently were a "1 watch kinda guy" for 20 years, where did this situation leave you afterwards? Did you get another watch that you are now wearing 24/7 or are you now trying on different ones?
Man if RSC had done that to my daily wearer for 20 years, I would have blown a headgasket and exploded.... They downright destroyed it. I would not have accepted anything less than a replacement watch or at least NEW parts to replace the ones they F*CKED up....

Helt enig!

[esspee1200]

great commitment to a watch. cool pics.

[subtona]

Originally Posted by BawlaDK

I have to ask - Since you apparently were a "1 watch kinda guy" for 20 years, where did this situation leave you afterwards? Did you get another watch that you are now wearing 24/7 or are you now trying on different ones?
Man if RSC had done that to my daily wearer for 20 years, I would have blown a headgasket and exploded.... They downright destroyed it. I would not have accepted anything less than a replacement watch or at least NEW parts to replace the ones they F*CKED up....

I became a several watch man, after all the years of work, thankfully, i have the option to keep a few now
But, Being a one watch guy is easier for 20 years, i knew nothing of this forum

As far as RSC, there s very little recourse with them, there is no formal way to hear your grievance, no email, no phone #.... In my case only a pompous, arrogant & ignorant service manager (to put it kindly)

Part of the problem is that new replacement parts are not the same as original production parts, they were luminova vs tritium and had different shades of blue/gold and different fonts. Had the replacement parts been from original stock i would have lived with it.

I am pretty aggressive when it comes to sorting things, but RSC holds all the cards short of bringing them to court, but the nuances we here might argue for would likely be lost on the uninitiated?

Live and learn, i am happy with my current lineup, they may not have the personal history of that particular piece but they are well suited to my needs and are serving me just as well

Biggest lesson when having a watch serviced, is to be very specific in writing about what work you want done and what you do not want done.... Rsc for example took it upon themselves to polish my watch when it first had a necessary service, maybe that is fine, but they didnt think to advise me of their intentions with my watch. In essence, when you bring your watch into rsc for service, its as if they are servicing their property and not yours.... But you get to pay for it.

[subtona]

Ps if you take a moment to look at the bezel inserts of the original watch vs the newly serviced with replaced bezel insert, notice the font color on the old bezel insert vs the new...

The new was very bright yellow vs the old which was very pale and more to my liking.