Question about 3035 axle rotor

[tripreed]

I got married in December and my wife gave me a 1983 16030 Datejust as my wedding gift. It was purchased from Capetown Diamond out of Atlanta, who I took to be a reputable Rolex dealer. I wear the watch daily.

I wear my watch on a metal bracelet, which can be kind of jangly sometimes, but noticed the other day that it sounded like there was a different noise coming from the watch. I took it off the bracelet last night and confirmed the noise, and after doing some Googling, it seems to me that it is likely a worn axle rotor. The watch has still been keeping good time, though.

My question is whether this part has worn out since I started wearing the watch in December, or whether this is likely a part that was not replaced in a prior service. My watch did come with a 12 month warranty from Capetown and I plan to send it back to them for assessment/repair, but I am trying to determine beforehand whether they will cover it, or whether they will chalk it up to "normal wear and tear" and therefore not be covered. For what it's worth, the watch has not been dropped, nor has it had any significant impacts while on my wrist.

Assuming it is, indeed, the axle rotor, and it is repaired, is there any way to anticipate how long it will be until this becomes an issue again? I know that my wife is not going to be thrilled if we have to come out of pocket for a full servicing (as I have read can be the case with a worn axle rotor due to metal shavings in the case) after nine months on my wrist, especially if this happens every year or two.

Thank you.