The 3235 Movement and The Fix (2 years out)

[uhren917]

Originally Posted by Mystro

Sent ya all the info.

Thank you! I also replied back to you! Thanks again. Back to our favorite subject watches.

The comparison with the catastrophic failure of the 911 IMS has really put me in the shoes of current 32xx owners, though I dont own a Rolex with that movement.

[DocOc]

Originally Posted by Driver8

Wow, up to 10 pages now...

There seems to be two schools of thought here -

The first seems to be saying that we shouldn't worry about it and get on with the bigger things in life.... and on a global/macro level, that's absolutely correct. Health, family, the pandemic, all of that is infinitely more important than whether your watch is (to quote Bas from another thread) "shredding it's seconds wheel pinion" and losing time.

The other school of thought seems to say that the 32xx is clearly a complete lemon that will never be fixed and the heavens will fall.

Personally (and I speak as someone who owns an SD43 that was my most accurate watch for the first 18 months, and now loses upwards of 8 seconds a day irrespective of wear patterns or resting position) I think neither are 100% correct and that the "truth" is somewhere in between.

I have a reasonable collection of watches by a number of brands including a couple by Rolex, and when I pay around £10k for a watch I don't buy it as an "investment", I don't buy it as a safe queen, I don't buy it as non-functional jewellery, and I don't buy it as a paperweight. I buy it to enjoy, to wear, and to tell the time within the manufacturers' stated parameters. I enjoy watches and watch movements, and the level of accuracy that can be achieved from a few springs and wheels never ceases to amaze me.

Obviously the 32xx is new (well, new-ish as I'm not sure if 6 years counts as being new any more) and it's apparently 90% different to the 31xx. Teething issues are to be expected to a certain extent, and I totally get that as all the testing under the sun cannot replicate time spent in the real world on people's wrists. However, there's no getting away from the fact that when you spend the same kind of money on a watch that you could use to buy a perfectly functioning car, then you do expect a certain level of performance. And if that performance fails, you expect transparency from the manufacturer, and you expect the issue to be resolved painlessly and permanently. In both of these last two cases, Rolex are currently failing for those of us with this issue. There's zero transparency (as always with "the Crown"), and there are clearly a number of cases of watches having worn parts replaced with like-for-like, and being sent back out, only for it to happen again in a matter of months. That's not what we pay for.

Should I "just forget about it"? Maybe, as there are clearly more important things in life. But another part of me says, no, it may be "just" a watch, but it's also a reasonably expensive one in the grand scheme of things, and all the while there's a deafening silence coming out of Geneva, both in terms of acknowledging the issue and in terms of a permanent fix, then I for one (due to my personal experience) will not be risking another 32xx powered watch until I hear it's fixed.

There’s a third school of thought...

That there’s nothing wrong with the 3235 calibre, and that a handful of disgruntled individuals complaining about their defective units on a forum doesn’t prove otherwise.

[winst]

I have seen the 2 Year Out & 3 Years Out threads but feel this is like films and wouldn’t want to watch the Indiana Jones ones out of sequence. Can you point me to the 1 Year Out thread please someone, as we are in lockdown and I have all weekend to be able to get up to speed with ‘The 3235 Movement & The Fix Trilogy’.

[Davidt]

Originally Posted by winst

I have seen the 2 Year Out & 3 Years Out threads but feel this is like films and wouldn’t want to watch the Indiana Jones ones out of sequence. Can you point me to the 1 Year Out thread please someone, as we are in lockdown and I have all weekend to be able to get up to speed with ‘The 3235 Movement & The Fix Trilogy’.

Brilliant.

[alphadweller]

Originally Posted by Davidt

Brilliant.

X2

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by DocOc

There’s a third school of thought...

That there’s nothing wrong with the 3235 calibre, and that a handful of disgruntled individuals complaining about their defective units on a forum doesn’t prove otherwise.

If you say so.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by DocOc

There’s a third school of thought...

That there’s nothing wrong with the 3235 calibre, and that a handful of disgruntled individuals complaining about their defective units on a forum doesn’t prove otherwise.

You have a good point Doc.

However, the people that are coming out of the woodwork in addition to those with previous accounts of "the issue at hand", are sharing their stories with a high degree of credibility. At least as credible as one could ever expect on an internet forum.

Besides, it seems these accounts with a common theme far outweigh those of people who are having ongoing issues with other watches
Of course, the average consumer may have been conditioned by exposure to the likes of the Internationally Renowned Celebrity Watchmaker and accept that in the event the manufacturer can't make it all right for them when the watch is out of warranty, then they have to simply pay up to the watchmaker in order to have their watch running as expected
Either that or re-purpose the watch to filling up space in the bottom of the drawer at home.
Or perhaps sell it to the watchmaker so he/she can fix it up in their down time to be re-sold by the watchmaker for a nice little profit.
And even though the watchmaker may not have a parts account, they can very easily source the parts required from a mate that has the required account.

In ways, that's just how the system works i'm afraid.
Of course that doesn't take into account the upfront expense of these watches and all that goes with it.

There are other scenarios which come to mind, but that will be the preserve of Rolex as they're totally empowered in every sense.

Hopefully, we remain

[CedCraig]

Originally Posted by alpareflex

Yes, 3135 is a workhouse, and I suspect the 3235 is more fragile. I read somewhere the barrel of the 3235 has thinner walls, making it impossible to replace the spring only. You have to throw away the barrel and replace it with a new one. Not ecological...

That‘s correct. This article calls it a draw between the 31xx and 32xx: https://bhi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads...-the-Month.pdf

[CedCraig]

I doubt we‘ll hear from Hodinkee or other major watch websites about this issue because the watch industry doesn’t really do investigative journalism. The watch websites need to suck up to the brands to get access to the goods. Sure, there‘s some wiggle room for a bit of criticism, but the criticisms are almost always fairly minor. It‘s too big, it‘s too small, it‘s too thick, the dial has too much text or too little, it‘s not a value proposition, they shouldn‘t have dropped the OP39, the availability is limited, etc. I recall Hodinkee raving exuberantly about the Tudor GMT, yet AFAIK they‘ve never mentioned the date wheel issue.

I‘m sure Rolex did rigorously test the 32xx movements, but likely did not do long-term, multi-year testing. If they did and noticed the problem and just said ah shoot some lube on it, it’ll be good, well, no that’s not good. It’s great that lots of people are posting that the watches they got recently run great. Well, so did the ones where the problem developed a year-plus out, so a new watch running well doesn‘t mean it won‘t develop the problem.

My expectation is that any good mechanical watch should run at COSC or better over a period of years. Heck, my late father‘s 1954 Omega Seamaster that had very minimal servicing over nearly 60 years of daily use had very few parts replaced when I had it overhauled two years ago (they sent back all the old parts) and that thing runs consistently at +3spd. I expect a movement released six years ago to have the bugs worked out.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by uhren917

Thank you! I also replied back to you! Thanks again. Back to our favorite subject watches.

The comparison with the catastrophic failure of the 911 IMS has really put me in the shoes of current 32xx owners, though I dont own a Rolex with that movement.

Not to hijack the thread as I have just completed the first Timegrapher readings on my DJ41.

The second readings will be done in 24 hours.

But:

My wife’s 2002 Boxster S has just turned over 200k km’s last week and she took this pix.

There is nothing in the service records relating to any work having been done on the IMS bearings.

Let’s hope I have the same luck with my DJ41.

[saxo3]

Originally Posted by Andad

... I have just completed the first Timegrapher readings on my DJ41. The second readings will be done in 24 hours

Great, as proposed to you and others. Would be interesting if you can take data in-between, e.g. after 8, 12, 16 hours, or anything similar.
In general, this topic needs DATA from the 3200 series movements bought from 2015-2021.

[Ashton_Horologist]

Originally Posted by Dirt

You have a good point Doc.

However, the people that are coming out of the woodwork in addition to those with previous accounts of "the issue at hand", are sharing their stories with a high degree of credibility. At least as credible as one could ever expect on an internet forum.

Besides, it seems these accounts with a common theme far outweigh those of people who are having ongoing issues with other watches
Of course, the average consumer may have been conditioned by exposure to the likes of the Internationally Renowned Celebrity Watchmaker and accept that in the event the manufacturer can't make it all right for them when the watch is out of warranty, then they have to simply pay up to the watchmaker in order to have their watch running as expected
Either that or re-purpose the watch to filling up space in the bottom of the drawer at home.
Or perhaps sell it to the watchmaker so he/she can fix it up in their down time to be re-sold by the watchmaker for a nice little profit.
And even though the watchmaker may not have a parts account, they can very easily source the parts required from a mate that has the required account.

In ways, that's just how the system works i'm afraid.
Of course that doesn't take into account the upfront expense of these watches and all that goes with it.

There are other scenarios which come to mind, but that will be the preserve of Rolex as they're totally empowered in every sense.

Hopefully, we remain

You are unbelievable.

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by Andad

Not to hijack the thread as I have just completed the first Timegrapher readings on my DJ41.

The second readings will be done in 24 hours.

But:

My wife’s 2002 Boxster S has just turned over 200k km’s last week and she took this pix.

There is nothing in the service records relating to any work having been done on the IMS bearings.

Let’s hope I have the same luck with my DJ41.

Yes,but she is driving it,not you Oom !

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by Andad

Not to hijack the thread as I have just completed the first Timegrapher readings on my DJ41.

The second readings will be done in 24 hours.

But:

My wife’s 2002 Boxster S has just turned over 200k km’s last week and she took this pix.

There is nothing in the service records relating to any work having been done on the IMS bearings.

Let’s hope I have the same luck with my DJ41.

At the very least, make sure your oil filter is cut open at every oils change to inspect for plastic or metal shavings. You could try the same with the Rolex but Rolex doesn’t recommend this practice.

[HiBoost]

Guys, I'd wager I'm at least as big of a car nut as anybody in this thread but if you wouldn't mind taking the Porsche chat to PM it would be greatly appreciated. We're having a hard enough time keeping even the watch related comments halfway useful :)

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[Mystro]

Originally Posted by HiBoost

Guys, I'd wager I'm at least as big of a car nut as anybody in this thread but if you wouldn't mind taking the Porsche chat to PM it would be greatly appreciated. We're having a hard enough time keeping even the watch related comments halfway useful :)

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

For you,....anything. Back to the Rolex 32 series movement data collection thread of slow timekeeping and low amplitudes.


We may want to start a separate thread with a poll in it asking have you had a issue with your 32 series movement and how many times have you sent it in for correction. “Has your 32 series movement time keeping slowed down during ownership?”etc... Good simple way to collect forum data.

[JP(Canada)]

Originally Posted by Mystro

At the very least, make sure your oil filter is cut open at every oils change to inspect for plastic or metal shavings. You could try the same with the Rolex but Rolex doesn’t recommend this practice.

Good advice, on both fronts

[aff1]

Originally Posted by saxo3

Great, as proposed to you and others. Would be interesting if you can take data in-between, e.g. after 8, 12, 16 hours, or anything similar.
In general, this topic needs DATA from the 3200 series movements bought from 2015-2021.

That's a lot of needed data to be gathered.

[HiBoost]

Originally Posted by Mystro

For you,....anything. Back to the Rolex 32 series movement data collection thread of slow timekeeping and low amplitudes.


We may want to start a separate thread with a poll in it asking have you had a issue with your 32 series movement and how many times have you sent it in for correction. “Has your 32 series movement time keeping slowed down during ownership?”etc... Good simple way to collect forum data.

Done!

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=786299

[saxo3]

Originally Posted by HiBoost

Done!

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=786299

Me too, at the same time!
Just saw it now.
What should we do? Makes no sense to run 2 identical threads in parallel.

Edit: I deleted mine

[sevykor]

Originally Posted by DocOc

There’s a third school of thought...

That there’s nothing wrong with the 3235 calibre, and that a handful of disgruntled individuals complaining about their defective units on a forum doesn’t prove otherwise.

I'm certain many here are suffering from the following:

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.[1] People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs. Confirmation bias cannot be eliminated entirely, but it can be managed, for example, by education and training in critical thinking skills. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

[HiBoost]

Originally Posted by saxo3

Me too, at the same time!
Just saw it now.
What should we do? Makes no sense to run 2 identical threads in parallel.

Agreed, don't want 2. I didn't see yours though when I just now checked? If you think yours is better in some way we can certainly debate which to keep, otherwise maybe ask a mod to delete it?