2018 Air King 116900 case & case back cross threaded

[Bosco#84]

Good Morning,
New to the Forum. Glad to be here & Thank You all in advance.

I recently purchased a 2018 Air-King 116900 aka “Bloodhound”. Aesthetically the piece is nearly flawless. The watch came as a full set. The watch is authentic as I inspected it for all the tell tale signs including the “ghost coronet” at the 6 o’clock index. Everything looks great.
The watch was sold as a “parts” watch. The caliber is a bit loose which leads me to believe that one if not both screws that hold the caliber to the mid case are loose or one is rolling around internally. The second issue is the caliber is not functioning whatsoever. I knew this prior to purchasing the watch. The dial has what appears to be micro 904L shavings on the dial. In addition, the outer case back and mid case threads are damaged…one is unable to screw down the case back.
If the case back and mid case threads are viewed through a jeweler’s loupe you can clearly see this. The seller failed to disclose this in his description/posting. I was aware the watch was not operational. That was acceptable as I understood that the piece was still under it’s (5) year warranty. The seller claimed that he’d brought the watch to an authorized RSC in Austin TX and somehow they had damaged the watch whilst removing the initial case back (there are two (2) total…the second is an anti-magnetic case that protects the Faraday cage internal parts).
I was caught unawares in regard to the cross threaded issues. Overall as I stated the watch is aesthetically pleasing, it comes with a full set…it’s under a (5) year warranty. Problem is the RSC has no record of the mishap with the watch. The seller has no receipt of the problem other than his email on a popular bidding site that he communicated to me. I am not fully committed to throwing a ton of money into the watch especially now that Rolex just released the Air-King 40mm 126900 for $7,400.00 USD. Although the Air-King I have now is fetching 12,000-20,000 USD on that popular bidding site.
I could invest a couple grand into it’s repair or throw it back to this person if possible…Paypal/the bidding site are withholding my payment for (60) sixty days.
I’m curious to know if 1.) Rolex will honor the Authenticity Guarantee/Warrantee and 2.) is it worth paying for a full service and/ case and case back knowing what this watch could be worth when 100% functional.
This may have been a foolhardy venture but I’m protected. I want the watch for myself but if it’s too expensive to repair/replace the case I don’t know that I should. I paid $5,500.00 USD. It was a knock down battle for a $5,500.00 paper weight…lol!

Please offer any constructive criticism and/or advise please and thank you.

[HiBoost]

Originally Posted by Bosco#84

Please offer any constructive criticism and/or advise please and thank you.

I can't speak to the timing of getting a refund, but sending the watch to RSC for a full analysis would be a good first step. Most threads on most items can be repaired by either a chasing or a tapping step, assuming they aren't too terribly damaged. It may also be possible that the case could be chased and the case back could be replaced. I have no idea what Rolex would or wouldn't do in this case (i.e. if they'd insist on new parts instead of repaired parts). I also know that RSC's are getting laser welders at various locations, so a case repair may be an option as well and the fact that they are getting these pieces of equipment show they aren't 100% "replace only" in their policies. Just comes down to cost vs benefit on your end.

You could also check in with a 3rd party such as Rolliworks to see what they'd offer along these lines. Some detailed pictures would help as one's imagination comes up with many different images when picturing "damaged threads". If it takes a loupe to see, that's one thing. If it's really hammered, that's another.

[Old Expat Beast]

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=849353