Sea Dweller Restoration

[gktii]

What an iconic watch! Congrats.


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[Jercdevil]

Not to Highjack James78 thread. That is a beautiful Sea -Dweller. I'm in sorta the same situation. I have a late 1980's Sea -Dweller late I purchased used around 1996. It's been an every day wearer watch for me. Today I noticed it had stopped running and there is some loose mechanism in the watch. I'm currently in Honk Kong on business.

I was hoping to get this fixed ASAP but after reading this thread maybe I should have it serviced the way you suggested James to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated. I will be in HK for 10 days then back home to Florida if anyone can suggest a good service shop.

[bzabodyn]

Amazing piece - cherish it and take care of that baby...

BZ

[SLS]

Originally Posted by Jercdevil

Not to Highjack James78 thread. That is a beautiful Sea -Dweller. I'm in sorta the same situation. I have a late 1980's Sea -Dweller late I purchased used around 1996. It's been an every day wearer watch for me. Today I noticed it had stopped running and there is some loose mechanism in the watch. I'm currently in Honk Kong on business.

I was hoping to get this fixed ASAP but after reading this thread maybe I should have it serviced the way you suggested James to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated. I will be in HK for 10 days then back home to Florida if anyone can suggest a good service shop.

Welcome, what you have is the same watch but different...if that makes sense. The OP posted an older Sea Dweller that is pretty rare an worth a nice sum of money to vintage Rolex collectors. You have the modern equivalent. There are a number of trusted watchmakers on this site, I believe one is located in Florida. Do some research but it sounds like you are due for a service.
Scott

[brandrea]

That's an amazing piece you have there, congratulations!

Personally I'd only trust it with. A CW21 watch maker. A service movement is all I'd do to it, I wouldn't touch the case, or anything else.

[James78]

Thanks for all the great comments!

[Limitless]

Great Sea Dwellers, guys! Take good care of your watches :)

[James78]

Thanks for all the positive comments & sound advice given - great forum!

[mike]

As mentioned, service the movement, crystal, and probably the crown and enjoy. Do NOT send to Rolex. Research a good watchmaker here and go that way.

Money aside ( it can be a lot) the heirloom valve is priceless.

[James78]

Thanks for all the helpful posts.

I tried using a little polywatch and has really made a great difference.

I was thinking of giving the watch a clean, don't think it has ever been cleaned & has quit a bit of 'crud' built up in the crevices.

I just wanted to ask a bit of advice. I have read that the best way to clean is just with some soapy water & a toothbrush. I obviously don't want to do anything that will devalue the watch or take away from the vintage feel. Do you think think soapy water & toothbrush is the best way to clean.

Many thanks in advance..

James

[Angrypuppy]

Originally Posted by James78

Thanks for all the helpful posts.

I tried using a little polywatch and has really made a great difference.

I was thinking of giving the watch a clean, don't think it has ever been cleaned & has quit a bit of 'crud' built up in the crevices.

I just wanted to ask a bit of advice. I have read that the best way to clean is just with some soapy water & a toothbrush. I obviously don't want to do anything that will devalue the watch or take away from the vintage feel. Do you think think soapy water & toothbrush is the best way to clean.

Many thanks in advance..

James

I would say probably. Or remove the bracket and drop it (the braclet only) in an ultrasound bath.

[roadie1]

Wow! Beautiful double red SD!

[fitzs]

If I were insuring it, I'd do a $100k policy. It's likely worth significantly more than a "regular" DRSD being that it was actually used to dive, is unpolished and totally original, and has extremely solid provenance being that it belonged to your father and you can pretty much account for its entire existence with bulletproof certainty.

Disclaimer: I'm wearing pajamas whilst watching football as I type this on my couch and should not be held liable for any advice I just gave you--whether it be perceived as legal, financial, or otherwise

Now go wear and enjoy the dang thing

[aliasneo07]

Originally Posted by harry in montreal

James, it's worth so much that you will need a professional appraisal.

Man, I'm new to these things, but you've peaked my interest!

5k? 10k? 50k?

And what makes this particular watch so valuable?

Thanks

[Angrypuppy]

Originally Posted by aliasneo07

Man, I'm new to these things, but you've peaked my interest!

5k? 10k? 50k?

And what makes this particular watch so valuable?

Thanks

Go to the for sale section and search "DRSD".

[AzHadEnuf]

Know that you what to do to the watch, all that is left is to ENJOY your dad's watch. A truly fantastic family heirloom! Wear it in the best of health.

[James78]

Thanks for the posts!

I guess what I am asking is if I use soapy water & a toothbrush on the watch, am I going to devalue the watch at all. The watch hasn't been polished and I am concerned that I will affect the vintage feel/value of the watch by cleaning it?

Thanks in advance..

James

[Jfullm42]

Late to the game, amazing find and congrats!

[Fredrik]

Originally Posted by James78

I guess what I am asking is if I use soapy water & a toothbrush on the watch, am I going to devalue the watch at all. The watch hasn't been polished and I am concerned that I will affect the vintage feel/value of the watch by cleaning it?

The cleaning itself wouldn't, but I would not recommend you to do that just yet. The watch is about 40 years old and the gaskets and seals might very well be compromised. If you get it wet and you get some intrusion you are risking a whole lot! At a minimum, a pressure test first. But I suggest a movement only service with new gaskets and a pressure test. It will be cleaned during service.

You could clean the bracelet if you know how to get it off the watch, preferably in an ultrasonic cleaner. You can always try yo wipe of the grime with a dry cloth from the watch head.

[CGJJ]

James-

Be careful.

As well as the personal value that is a very sought after watch.

I would not let it out of my sight.

I would be too worried that it was returned with original elements replaced with fakes.

[James78]

Thanks for advice guys!

[1675-David]

Thats an amazing watch James and probably has some incredible stories to tell, I assume your Dad was working in the North Sea, one of the hardest and most dangerous working environments in the world and it looks like it made it through in great shape. If you intent wearing this icon please please please wear it as intended with the watch head on the outside of your wrist. It's so easy to ding a watch worn on the inside of the wrist when reaching for things and it would be heart breaking if it were damaged in this way.

[watchlovr]

Hi James, I'm also from Scotland, have recently had my Mk3 DRSD valued (For insurance purposes)
I'll PM you the price, be aware this is for Insurance, the value to actually sell the watch would be different.
Lovely watch, some good advice here, there are several people in the UK who could work on it if required.

Colin.

Originally Posted by James78

All,

Many thanks for all the valuable advice. I shall proceed with a lot of caution with any servicing/restoration.

For insurance purposes, any idea of value?

Thanks again..

James

[cht]

Originally Posted by Jercdevil

Not to Highjack James78 thread... I'm currently in Honk Kong on business.

I was hoping to get this fixed ASAP but after reading this thread maybe I should have it serviced the way you suggested James to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated. I will be in HK for 10 days then back home to Florida if anyone can suggest a good service shop.

huh....the crown guards look really strange on this when looking from the back...

Originally Posted by James78

As requested, I have attached some photos. I still think the watch would benefit from a new quartz to show off the face.....

Again, thanks in advance...

James

Anyways, to the op: just an FYI, your crystal is not quartz...it is acrylic.
Quartz refers the type of movement in watches that are ran off batteries and based off of piezooelectric effect.

[watchlovr]

Good advice and both excellent UK repairers, but I do not think they will accept a 1665, I spoke to both gentlemen a month ago, both told me 1665's need to now go back to RSC, Rolex will not give them spares for this model.

Originally Posted by Guitarfan

Lovely Double Red Sea-Sweller!

Try Polywatch as suggested, that should clean up the crystal. Mask off the bezel/insert before you do it though as it's abrasive stuff.

If you want to get it serviced, here in the UK I'd get in touch with Genesis Watchmaking and William Rice. They're authorised Rolex service centres and would be my first choice for a vintage model.

Good luck!

[Nycturbovr6]

Wow that's a beauty

[scooba]

Hi James,

As mentioned above don't introduce this beauty to water, Remove the bracelet its easy to do have a google but its simple

Clean the bracelet with soapy warm water ,as many times as is required to remove all the dirt ,dry it with a towel then refit it

I can't stress how important it is to ensure the watch head is kept dry until its pressure tested and proven to be water tight

Did you get Bill Rices number ?

[Sublovin]

Cool watch and story.

[eliwise]

Whoa. I love these "barn find" like stories. Whatever you do, don't send this thing to Rolex. And getting insurance is a fantastic idea as already recommended above.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Jercdevil

Not to Highjack James78 thread. That is a beautiful Sea -Dweller. I'm in sorta the same situation. I have a late 1980's Sea -Dweller late I purchased used around 1996. It's been an every day wearer watch for me. Today I noticed it had stopped running and there is some loose mechanism in the watch. I'm currently in Honk Kong on business.

I was hoping to get this fixed ASAP but after reading this thread maybe I should have it serviced the way you suggested James to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated. I will be in HK for 10 days then back home to Florida if anyone can suggest a good service shop.

Have it serviced at RSC.

The OP's Sea Dweller is a very rare and very very nice condition Vintage Double Red Sea Dweller. Yours is a modern version of it. Not rare, and no biggie on how to have it serviced. Worst case scenario for the OP would be to have his watch serviced by Rolex, only to exchange most of the valuable original parts (Dial, Hands, insert) and ruin the value of his watch.