3235….disappointed

[padi56]

Originally Posted by SublimeZ06

I’ve been out of the loop with Rolex for some time. My last couple of purchases were an 116710 in 2007 (which has been outstanding) and then a 14060M in 2015. Tuned out after that until very recently when I got the bug for a datejust 41 and a Sea-Dweller.

Just a couple of days ago, I discovered the tons of documented issues with the 3235 movement. I’m disappointed to hear of all of the problems and feel like if I were to purchase a new piece with this movement, I would never fully trust it. Has anyone else been turned off from buying new due to the many concerns with the 3235?

Many of the so called 32 series problems are very over exaggerated by many yes some reports of starting to loose seconds out of spec. But today there must be many millions of 32 series movement watches in this world. And Rolex can sell everyone they can make if it was such a terrible movement why do joe public still buy them. Its doubtful if many Rolex buyers even know what low amplitude means unless they read about it on forums from many with one of todays Rolex toys timeographer machines. And any problems you have a 5 year warranty when buying from any AD, myself have one watch at the moment with a 32 movement but although been wearing Rolex watches for well over 50 years now never felt the need to check continually to the exact daily second no matter the movement in the case.

[DavidUK]

My take on it:

https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...&postcount=163

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by DavidUK

My take on it:

https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...&postcount=163

Interesting read David, and I agree with a lot of what you said.

I honestly think some owners have had issues, that’s hard to deny after more than 4200 posts in the dreaded 32 movement thread … (albeit many are from the same usual suspects sort of).

Bottom line, the OP (and others) have to decide whether Rolex is a brand they wish to continue to buy (in 32 movement iterations), or whether they don’t based on their own believes and expectations.

I sort of land on it where you do. I’m not terribly fussed over the advertised accuracy and I’m willing to concede that there may be an issue.

[Gab27]

Your concerns are understandable.

However, many watch forums (sometimes including this one) can be quite hostile and dismissive towards those discussing the issue.

[prnceofpersia23]

Anecdotal evidence, but I have never had an issue with the 3235.

My only observation is that they feel a bit "gritty" when winding, but otherwise great performance from all of them.

[502 to Right]

Originally Posted by SublimeZ06

Has anyone else been turned off from buying new due to the many concerns with the 3235?

Yes. I bought new DJ36 in 2020 with the 3235 movement. A year later it was back with Rolex for a new service as it was too slow with too low an amplitude. That's unacceptable to me for a watch that costs as much as a Rolex. I got it repaired (under warranty) and sold it.

The Rolex diehards will claim there's nothing to worry about. My personal experience says otherwise.

No more 32XX movements for me until I'm certain this problem is solved.

[Tim Plains]

Meh. I'm not concerned. My 126610LN was around -1spd out of the box, 19 months ago, and it's around -1spd today. There are probably a few million of these 32xx movements out now. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual issue is less than 1% but you know all 100% of those people will be vocal about it.

[amh]

I love my 32xx movements, have three of them. All running perfectly and with quartz-like accuracy.

Don't worry OP

[Tridor]

Originally Posted by Subshark1861

I can't imagine it's a design defect as all watches with the 32XX would be affected. Maybe in terms of some of it is difficult to make or assemble to the correct specification, but not a problem when everything is within spec.

When you are making 1000's of items, things go wrong.

Design defects can be intermittent, as in this case. If Rolex doesn't fix out-of-warranty low amplitude issues without charge, then I think that the class action lawsuit(s) will begin.

[enjoythemusic]

What PADI said.

And relax, enjoy your time.

[Cbarryg1]

Originally Posted by Barada7

Basically:
- If you’ve had the issue, it’s an issue.
- If you haven’t had the issue, there’s no issue.

This^^^

I have a 126613LB (2020) and a 126710BLRO (2022) and both are incredibly accurate.

[Zuger]

Have 2 from 2021 and 2 from 2023. All within specs.

[Calatrava r]

We need to these issues out better to the Rolex buying public, so maybe I can finally get whatever I am on a list for. Been so long I can't even remember. LOL

[Stan Cooper]

With roughly 20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements having issues, I'm happy with my 23 year old 16710 and its rock solid 3185 caliber movement. Life is too short to buy an expensive luxury item with known issues.

[Jack T]

Originally Posted by Barada7

Basically:
- If you’ve had the issue, it’s an issue.
- If you haven’t had the issue, there’s no issue.

In my case, I haven’t had an issue, and I took preemptive action to avoid any issue.

Purchased a DJ 41 two years ago, knowing it had a 3200 movement, a beautiful Wimbledon model. It has run perfectly for the past two years, with occasional wear, maybe six or seven times a month.

One month ago I had the chance to trade it for a 116613 LN did so in a heartbeat. One beautiful watch for another, and a movement with more certainty.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by SublimeZ06

Looks like there are plenty of reports of slow 32XXs getting serviced and coming back fine for variable periods of time but then having issues again at a later time. After 5 years it's on your dime and you're out a watch for many, many weeks with how backed up the RSCs are.

That's it except people are also missing or are in denial of a few other key points.
Firstly, a good number of these new movements aren't getting out of warranty without serious problems, with some recurring multiple times within warranty. This was never a thing with the older movements back in the day.

Secondly, Rolex are claiming a 10 year service interval that people are keen to be subscribing to.
So what about the reliability factor if these new movements aren't getting anywhere near their promoted service interval before going haywire?
What about the value for money component given the purchase price?

Thirdly, the older movements were also held to the "Superlative Chronometer" standard from the point in time where Rolex changed the colour of the Chronometer hangtag.

In summary, most newer Rolex watches aren't what they used to be and Rolex keep implementing revised movements that are suspect by nature of key design elements.
The whole thing is utterly questionable if one may be able to expect a Swatch Watch to give better performance with the exception of water resistance

[SublimeZ06]

Originally Posted by Dirt

That's it except people are also missing or are in denial of a few other key points.
Firstly, a good number of these new movements aren't getting out of warranty without serious problems, with some recurring multiple times within warranty. This was never a thing with the older movements back in the day.

Secondly, Rolex are claiming a 10 year service interval that people are keen to be subscribing to.
So what about the reliability factor if these new movements aren't getting anywhere near their promoted service interval before going haywire?
What about the value for money component given the purchase price?

Thirdly, the older movements were also held to the "Superlative Chronometer" standard from the point in time where Rolex changed the colour of the Chronometer hangtag.

In summary, most newer Rolex watches aren't what they used to be and Rolex keep implementing revised movements that are suspect by nature of key design elements.
The whole thing is utterly questionable if one may be able to expect a Swatch Watch to give better performance with the exception of water resistance

Beautifully said. Exactly my concerns and couldn't agree more.

[drrd]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

roughly 20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements having issues…

Haven’t seen that quoted before. Link to source please.

[amh]

Originally Posted by Stan Cooper

With roughly 20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements having issues, I'm happy with my 23 year old 16710 and its rock solid 3185 caliber movement. Life is too short to buy an expensive luxury item with known issues.

How did you come up with that staggering figure? It cannot possibly be true. More like one out of 1000 - maybe.

[brandrea]

So we might as well just merge with the epic 32xx movement thread …

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Subshark1861

I can't imagine it's a design defect as all watches with the 32XX would be affected. Maybe in terms of some of it is difficult to make or assemble to the correct specification, but not a problem when everything is within spec.

When you are making 1000's of items, things go wrong.

The problem is we haven't had the sheer scale of the issues before.
Also you need to understand that it's far easier to make a Chronometer grade movement if one is making them on a large scale like Rolex, etc, etc, etc as opposed to smaller numbers.

So question is, what's gone wrong at Rolex other than they didn't see the potential issues with making a movement that is inherently low on amplitude to start with?
This doesn't give much room for error when in service out there in the wild after leaving the factory

At the end of the day, Rolex is the common denominator in this scenario.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by drrd

Haven’t seen that quoted before. Link to source please.

The data is clear over in the other thread.

[drrd]

Originally Posted by Dirt

The data is clear over in the other thread.

Ah, that data.

A sample of 1268 out of approximately 2,500,000 watches since 2021 and with highly biased selection does not fairly represent “20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements”.

[Goatrope]

I’m just curious to know if the OP was swayed in either direction…

[jbwm2311]

I have a 2022 DSSD 126660 with the 3235 movement and it's my daily/everything watch.

I last set the time when the clocks changed (Sunday March 12th in Indiana) and for the sake of this thread I just checked it. It's currently at GMT +2 seconds. Not per day, that's since March.

I have to caveat this by making everyone aware that when I picked up my watch from the AD last year fore the first month or two I tracked how it performed on my wrist as part of my life, where it gained, where it lost and I built a picture of roughly how the movement performed. So now I know it loses a little through the day, that it gains a little if I leave it crown down overnight, it keeps near 0.0 deviation face up and it'll lose a little if I keep it crown up.

So I just get on with life, mostly leave it crown down at night and once a week or so leave it face up.

If you want zero deviation get a Breitling Aerospace - beautiful, functional tool watch that will move about 0 - 10 secs a year regardless of anything (provided it has a battery, of course!!).

For me the 32XX movement example is simply a non-issue. I'd never pass on a Rolex I wanted because it had the latest generation movement.

[al503]

Originally Posted by jbwm2311

I'd never pass on a Rolex I wanted because it had the latest generation movement.

Same here.

3255 from 2016 started to slow down after a couple of years. I stuck that in the safe for about ~6 months after I received my SD43 in 2018, which also started slowing down. I sent the SD43 back in late 2018 and it's been -1 or -2 for the past ~5 years. When the SD43 was away, I pulled out the DD40 and surprisingly, it started keeping good time. I wear it sparingly (dress up/on vacations) but it's also about -1 to this day (about 7 years now) without any service.

[amh]

Originally Posted by drrd

Ah, that data.

A sample of 1268 out of approximately 2,500,000 watches since 2021 and with highly biased selection does not fairly represent “20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements”.

Thank you!

[DavidUK]

Originally Posted by drrd

Ah, that data.

A sample of 1268 out of approximately 2,500,000 watches since 2021 and with highly biased selection does not fairly represent “20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements”.

When you say "watches" do you mean watches with the 3235 movement?

If so, 1268 out of approx. 2,500,000 is 0.05%.

Sounds pretty good to me.

And the other approx. 2,498,732 owners are either happy, haven't joined in with the tiny number bitching, or perhaps have ALL sent their watches back without even knowing forums exist.

[Commander C.]

Originally Posted by drrd

Ah, that data.

A sample of 1268 out of approximately 2,500,000 watches since 2021 and with highly biased selection does not fairly represent “20-25% of Rolexes with 32xx movements”.

Why is the selection biased? Are you suggesting that members of this forum are statistically more likely to have problems with their Rolexes? If so, what is your explanation for that? I think the more logical conclusion is that members of this forum are more likely to NOTICE problems with their Rolexes, which is perhaps a form of bias but does not call into question the accuracy of the 20-25% failure rate.

[DavidUK]

Originally Posted by Commander C.

Why is the selection biased? Are you suggesting that members of this forum are statistically more likely to have problems with their Rolexes? If so, what is your explanation for that? I think the more logical conclusion is that members of this forum are more likely to NOTICE problems with their Rolexes, which is perhaps a form of bias but does not call into question the accuracy of the 20-25% failure rate.

No, they are statistically more like to POST about their unhappiness here.

Plus, we're far more anal on here about everything.

The majority of owners don't waste their time here.