Rolex GMT hand almost touches the Dial- Is this normal ?

[Chanakit]

Hi all

I do have a question about my GMT.

As I have inspected and compared this watch with my other gmt watches, I feel like the GMT hand is too close to the dial

Please kindly see the photo from this url link

https://scontent.fbkk11-1.fna.fbcdn....ff&oe=58A51538

Is this normal ? Will it get closer and ruin the dial ?

How should I fix it.

I asked my watchmaker and he said the only way to fix this issue is to replace this original GMT movement with 1655 service movement ( surely, I gotta give the original movement to Rolex )

[omitohud]

Interesting. It should have enough clearance under the gmt hand. But in your watch it seems the clearance between dial n gmt hand is minimal. Look at my pic below, as u can see the separation is even from top to bottom. I think a competent watch maker can fix it without too much issue. Nice watch btw.

PS I doubt it has anything to do with the movement, but I'm not a certified WM.



I blame it on the autoconnect.

[bayerische]

If it isn't touching, I don't see a problem. The hand will stay the same.

[StanGMT]

I agree with Andreas. Looking at the photo of your GMT it looks pretty much the same as mine and I've never really thought about it. Nothing is touching anything else, my watch is operating perfectly and, as Andreas says, it's highly unlikely that the hands are going to shift their relative positions.

Even with a high quality brand like Rolex there will be tiny tolerances within which no two watches will be exactly the same and yours almost certainly falls within these. If nothing is actually fouling and it's working ok I wouldn't worry about it.

Stan.

[T. Ferguson]

Assuming the hand isn't bent, it's going to have whatever clearance the space under the hand at the post has. If the post isn't straight then all the hands would be off. As long as it's not scraping the dial, it's fine.

[R.W.T.]

The 4 hand gmt stack is one of the trickiest to set. You have multiple factors there because the dial train is not "accurate" even new, especially on 6542-1675 versions. The "slop" makes nailing the calendar and getting all the hands to actually line up in real use very difficult. You see, you may line them all up at midnight...with the calendar perfectly timed, but the slop in that train will not necessarily show the same alignment in 24 hours. So it can be a bit of hunt and peck. Throw in 50 years of wear, etc.

Now the older watches with taller lume dots...even trickier. I've seen mini hands that looked factory...go up at an angle from the center and then have the triangle bent downward to be parallel to the dial surface hovering above the lume plots, but the actual pipe of the hand is considerably lower in the stack.

The 24 hour double toothed hour wheel is not a super tight tolerance with regard to the fit over the cannon pinion. The calendar wheel helps to stabilize this.

As one poster stated, if the post is straight then it won't touch. That is somewhat true except the "post" in this case is a fairly floating wheel with a bit of side shake, mounted over the cannon pinion on the center wheel post. After 50 years very often the center wheel hole on the main plate has a bit of wear. This can be dealt with to an extent but you still may have some slight rocking. I have jeweled center plates and replaced center wheels and center wheel jewels in the train bridge...it really depends on how bad it is. As you set the watch it may allow the entire hand stack to torque sideways...if the hand is very close...it may hit the dial. These are minute differences. It kind of either rubs...or it doesn't. Then putting the other hands above..on the early movements...in a perfect world all parts are new and they have "detent" levels...and the hands are all straight...the new dials have specific heights for the wg surrounds and the lume, presto everything is much simpler. This is another factor in why Rolex Service likes to replace everything. It saves time, headache, and come backs. New is new and in a perfect world once again, we would have an endless supply of new parts made just like the old ones so that you could have your vintage and eat it too...sadly that isn't the case...so some things you just have to deal with. On the plastic crystal models using old hands and tall lume dials...the hands you have to kind of cheat them. They may not all be perfectly straight even off of the watch. The lume is fragile. If you go to make the hand more straight the lume very well may crack out...it's a literal nightmare and you don't hear the conversations your friendly vintage watchmaker has with him self and your watch when this process is going on...begging the lord to be kind...coaxing your baby to be nice...etc. Then you have all the hands on...they clear the dial they clear each other...you case the movement..and the second is just high enough to rub the underside of the plexi and you have just enough clearance for the bottom side of the seconds hand to clear the minute hand which has a slight upward bow...but you can't change that because of the lume and if you lower it at the post too much it touches the hour hand which is already close to the 24 hour hand because that is angled up to clear the lume...it's not what you think. The watch has to come out again and all of the hands have to be readjusted to a tighter tolerance between each other. This may take several tries. Every time the watch comes out of the case you have that vintage dial surface once again exposed to moving in and out of the case. You could go in through the top but you have already possibly polished the case and tested it empty for seal. Removing the crystal retainer or bezel...you could get a scratch on the case..then what? Also it tested good for seal before...but now you have violated that seal and all bets are off...do you then, after the hands are righted, replace the crystal and bezel and water test....what if it leaks then. It's not the best plan. So out the movement comes possibly multiple times.

I know to many of you, and maybe I'm unique, that this seems like a rather mechanical process where stuff just works. I will grant you that I did not go to watchmaking school and learn everything from the ground up but rather learned as an apprentice to a master so to speak...but one thing you find out real quickly...they don't teach a lot of things in school...and you learn how to do things the way you can make them work. I think unless you are in specialized training in restoration at WOSTEP in Neuchatel...you are learning the art of repairing and servicing NEW watches. But I like to bring to light that when dealing with an old piece...it's not like some might assume. Just take it apart, clean it, lubricate-reassemble and presto everything is like a brand new watch. Every one of these watches has seen different wear and maintenance over 50 years or better sometimes. Many watchmakers have had to do their version of the same things. Often we are correcting the mistakes of the last 2 or 3 guys.

When someone has your pride and joy in their hands, with values where they have gone...and cosmetic parts as impossible to replace as they might be, every move is often a hold your breath situation. It's a kiss the ground moment when the watch is cased without error and running correctly over a few days without issue. Be kind and understanding of your watchmakers. They are trying to do something very special for you and the weight is on his or her shoulders. They are human. It's not magic. I remember George, my mentor told me in the beginning, "you've got to have patience." I told him I had none....he looked at me with one raised eyebrow and said..."you will learn patience." No truer statement was ever made by anyone. Oh how I miss that man.

Given the variables it's not always a simple process to preserve the integrity of your precious treasure...no matter how easy we might seem to make it look sometimes. :-)

T