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Old 10 October 2018, 05:52 AM   #1
erhein
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Time for service soon?

Eighteen year old GMT II with 3185 movement, with average rate of +5.8s/d; beat error 1.4ms; and amplitude of 271. Is it time for a service, or can it wait? Any risk to the watch if it is not serviced now? The beat error is a little troubling to me. I don't know any prior service history. Thanks.
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Old 10 October 2018, 06:25 AM   #2
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18 years with no service history...I'd say yeah, time for a service. There's no way to know what has changed in that amount of time. Gaskets are probably crispy at this point too. And those oscillating weight axles like to eat themselves alive, especially after the oil has dried up.
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Old 10 October 2018, 06:29 AM   #3
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Yep! What he said.
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Old 10 October 2018, 06:46 AM   #4
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When we view watches that haven't been serviced for 10+ years under our microscope camera it's truly impressive seeing the crusty fossilized oil and all the brass metal dust and shavings from the jewels just completely destroying pivots. You find brass dust all over in places you would expect to find it. Basically turning good rolex parts into a what looks like a pile of sand.
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Old 10 October 2018, 06:49 AM   #5
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Really would love to get this watch into our shop see this movement under the camera.




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Old 10 October 2018, 07:14 AM   #6
erhein
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So, even if I assume it needs servicing, is it a bit of a crapshoot?
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Old 10 October 2018, 07:56 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by erhein View Post
So, even if I assume it needs servicing, is it a bit of a crapshoot?

There's no way to know until it's checked. Did it live on a watch winder? Worn one day a week for 2 hours? Sort of the difference between a car being a daily 50-100 mile commuter or a Sunday drive for a couple hours. Time isn't the only factor here.
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Old 10 October 2018, 08:13 AM   #8
erhein
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Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair View Post
There's no way to know until it's checked. Did it live on a watch winder? Worn one day a week for 2 hours? Sort of the difference between a car being a daily 50-100 mile commuter or a Sunday drive for a couple hours. Time isn't the only factor here.
Understood. Obvious when you really think about it, or when someone points it out.

Thanks everyone for the clarity.
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Old 10 October 2018, 08:15 AM   #9
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Good analogy.

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Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair View Post
There's no way to know until it's checked. Did it live on a watch winder? Worn one day a week for 2 hours? Sort of the difference between a car being a daily 50-100 mile commuter or a Sunday drive for a couple hours. Time isn't the only factor here.
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Old 10 October 2018, 09:10 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by ROLLiWORKS View Post
When we view watches that haven't been serviced for 10+ years under our microscope camera it's truly impressive seeing the crusty fossilized oil and all the brass metal dust and shavings from the jewels just completely destroying pivots. You find brass dust all over in places you would expect to find it. Basically turning good rolex parts into a what looks like a pile of sand.
Yet some will not service a watch until the movement finally freezes up
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Old 10 October 2018, 11:10 AM   #11
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Yet some will not service a watch until the movement finally freezes up
Penny wise and pound foolish.
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Old 10 October 2018, 03:09 PM   #12
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18 years without service? Yeah even if it wasn't worn I'd get the movement serviced.

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Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair View Post
18 years with no service history...I'd say yeah, time for a service. There's no way to know what has changed in that amount of time. Gaskets are probably crispy at this point too. And those oscillating weight axles like to eat themselves alive, especially after the oil has dried up.
The rotor axle gets a very nice patina

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Old 10 October 2018, 06:55 PM   #13
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18 years without service? Yeah even if it wasn't worn I'd get the movement serviced.

The rotor axle gets a very nice patina

Yes is it? If you theoretical buy a wristwatch, leave it 18 years in the safe add some moisterpads and wind it every month maybe 1 or 2 times and putt it back in, would that watch be not be about the same kind of damaged as a watch you wear like 3 years every week or so? I readed an article somewhere about NOS that some old pieces that never got worn are like new inside besides the lubricants, is this real? Always good to know this kind of things from a professional haha.

Thanx :)
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Old 10 October 2018, 08:01 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by crazymcmichael View Post
Yes is it? If you theoretical buy a wristwatch, leave it 18 years in the safe add some moisterpads and wind it every month maybe 1 or 2 times and putt it back in, would that watch be not be about the same kind of damaged as a watch you wear like 3 years every week or so? I readed an article somewhere about NOS that some old pieces that never got worn are like new inside besides the lubricants, is this real? Always good to know this kind of things from a professional haha.

Thanx :)
My personal opinion: If you're going to throw a watch in the safe for 18 years as a future gift, throw it in the safe and don't wind it. There's no point in wearing it out if you aren't going to wear it. 18 years later you can have the movement cleaned and oiled without having to replace major parts (excluding seals), assuming no unforeseen corrosion issues.

I would venture to guess that 18 years of winding once per month would show more wear on the movement than 3 years of consecutive use purely due to oils migrating or drying up. Your tube and crown would have far more wear as well since you'd have ~216 winding events compared to only a handful a year on a daily watch.

Personally, I'd wear the watch and enjoy it. I'd rather receive a worn watch from my father than one in mint/NOS condition. A worn watch has history, soul and inherent sentimental value. An unworn watch would be intimidating to wear far too tempting to sell for current market value or put back in the safe for another 30 years. But, that's just my take.
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Old 10 October 2018, 10:37 PM   #15
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Totally agree. Cheers. -Norm

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My personal opinion: If you're going to throw a watch in the safe for 18 years as a future gift, throw it in the safe and don't wind it. There's no point in wearing it out if you aren't going to wear it. 18 years later you can have the movement cleaned and oiled without having to replace major parts (excluding seals), assuming no unforeseen corrosion issues.

I would venture to guess that 18 years of winding once per month would show more wear on the movement than 3 years of consecutive use purely due to oils migrating or drying up. Your tube and crown would have far more wear as well since you'd have ~216 winding events compared to only a handful a year on a daily watch.

Personally, I'd wear the watch and enjoy it. I'd rather receive a worn watch from my father than one in mint/NOS condition. A worn watch has history, soul and inherent sentimental value. An unworn watch would be intimidating to wear far too tempting to sell for current market value or put back in the safe for another 30 years. But, that's just my take.
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Old 11 October 2018, 04:15 AM   #16
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Offcourse i do not want safe queens lol.. But just for the sake of education purpose ) thanx for the info btw
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Old 11 October 2018, 04:26 AM   #17
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My personal opinion: If you're going to throw a watch in the safe for 18 years as a future gift, throw it in the safe and don't wind it. There's no point in wearing it out if you aren't going to wear it. 18 years later you can have the movement cleaned and oiled without having to replace major parts (excluding seals), assuming no unforeseen corrosion issues.

I would venture to guess that 18 years of winding once per month would show more wear on the movement than 3 years of consecutive use purely due to oils migrating or drying up. Your tube and crown would have far more wear as well since you'd have ~216 winding events compared to only a handful a year on a daily watch.

Personally, I'd wear the watch and enjoy it. I'd rather receive a worn watch from my father than one in mint/NOS condition. A worn watch has history, soul and inherent sentimental value. An unworn watch would be intimidating to wear far too tempting to sell for current market value or put back in the safe for another 30 years. But, that's just my take.

Great info. Same goes for quartz watches. People seem to think that just because they never wore it, it's still perfect. Sadly, batteries tend to leak, and that's just total destruction. I always tell people who want to put quartz watches aside to pass down, to let me at least take the batteries out!
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Old 11 October 2018, 10:02 PM   #18
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Be cool to have a picture taken once it is open up! Just to see how the movement has lived for 18 years
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Old 12 October 2018, 01:45 AM   #19
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Offcourse i do not want safe queens lol.. But just for the sake of education purpose ) thanx for the info btw
Sure thing.
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Old 12 October 2018, 05:40 AM   #20
erhein
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Be cool to have a picture taken once it is open up! Just to see how the movement has lived for 18 years
I’d be curious about that myself.
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Old 12 October 2018, 05:42 AM   #21
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Does no service history mean that it is unknown if/when it was last serviced or does it mean that it wasn’t service in the past 18 years?


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Old 12 October 2018, 06:48 AM   #22
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Sounds like it's a complete unknown per the first post.

Regardless, it's probably best to assume no prior service and that movement parts are now wearing considerably with daily use. The sooner a service can be performed, the better.
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Old 12 October 2018, 06:53 AM   #23
erhein
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Does no service history mean that it is unknown if/when it was last serviced or does it mean that it wasn’t service in the past 18 years?
Unknown if it's ever been serviced.
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