Frankenstein 16030?

[Neverbunt]

I recently inherited a DJ 16030 from my father, I popped the band and noticed the ref. was 10630 and the serial was R625XXX. It does have the quickset date. The watch was in pretty rough shape as it was worn daily for 30 years or so. As far as I know this watch has never been serviced from when he bought it presumably new in the early 90's. So I have already sent the watch to RSC Dallas via my AD and I'll be sending the bracelet to Rolliworks in Miami sometime this week as it is stretched pretty bad. The acrylic was heavily scuffed but I was able to clean most of it off with some polywatch.

Ok so heres my concern, The watch is a full TT with the bezel(fluted), crown, dial cornet and hands being all being gold. I believe this ref. should be all SS.

I can always remember this watch always being two tone so I doubt my father would have converted to TT but perhaps it was done before the watch was purchased.


I really appreciate any insight on whats going on with this watch.

[Dan S]

It was pretty common for people to convert DJs. I'm not sure what an "R" would be doing in the serial number. Could it be a numeral that you are misreading, like an "8" with some damage due to rubbing?

[Neverbunt]

Originally Posted by Dan S

It was pretty common for people to convert DJs. I'm not sure what an "R" would be doing in the serial number. Could it be a numeral that you are misreading, like an "8" with some damage due to rubbing?

I checked the service request paperwork and they also put R625009 for the serial. It didn't raise any red flags with me because I didn't think it was uncommon for serials to begin with a letter.

[Chris]

The bezel should be engine turned not fluted, and as you say it should all be SS. As Dan says many people customise their DJs.

[Neverbunt]

Originally Posted by Chris

The bezel should be engine turned not fluted, and as you say it should all be SS. As Dan says many people customise their DJs.

I appreciate the info, I would think the RSC would try to restore the watch to original configuration, Would I be correct in this thinking?

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Neverbunt

I appreciate the info, I would think the RSC would try to restore the watch to original configuration, Would I be correct in this thinking?

Maybe, but since you sent it via your AD, you may not get fully accurate communication. In fact, some ADs send watches like yours to independent watchmakers and are a bit enigmatic about where the work was actually done. If I wanted work done by the RSC, I would only consider sending it directly, and communicating without a middle-man.

[Neverbunt]

Originally Posted by Dan S

Maybe, but since you sent it via your AD, you may not get fully accurate communication. In fact, some ADs send watches like yours to independent watchmakers and are a bit enigmatic about where the work was actually done. If I wanted work done by the RSC, I would only consider sending it directly, and communicating without a middle-man.

Thats pretty scary to hear, luckily I was assured and reassured my watch would be sent to RSC Dallas, but regardless I will follow up with that to make sure i'm not getting the run around.

Since its being sent without the bracelet i'm sure they will recommend a replacement. Do you have any idea what a replacement cost would be for a 20mm SS jubilee from the RSC?

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Neverbunt

Thats pretty scary to hear, luckily I was assured and reassured my watch would be sent to RSC Dallas, but regardless I will follow up with that to make sure i'm not getting the run around.

Since its being sent without the bracelet i'm sure they will recommend a replacement. Do you have any idea what a replacement cost would be for a 20mm SS jubilee from the RSC?

I've only had a couple of watches serviced by RSC Dallas, and never one with swapped parts, but it's possible that they might not care as long as the parts are authentic Rolex. Obviously, some of the parts on that watch could be aftermarket, but I have no reason to think that. They will definitely recommend replacement based on condition alone, and if the lume is flaking, they may require replacement.

If you want to have it restored to all SS, they would probably do it with modern replacement parts (dial, handset, crown, bezel), and so you should ask yourself if that's what you want. Or do you want to keep it as your father wore it, or restore it using period-correct parts. All these options are totally do-able and a matter of personal preference. It's your watch now, so you can do whatever you want with it. You could even keep the dial and handset, and replace the bezel and crown with SS parts, some people like that look a lot.

Regarding the bracelet, I would guess that a modern SS jubilee replacement for a 16030 would be in the range of $1k-$1500 from Rolex, but that's really just a guess based on second-hand information.

[Neverbunt]

Dan, I really do appreciate all the info. I definitely have a lot to think about.

Cheers

[TimeToGo]

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"R" serial would be around 1987

[Neverbunt]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

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"R" serial would be around 1987

1988 was my birth year so its pretty cool to own something that was made around the same time I was.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by TimeToGo

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"R" serial would be around 1987

Thanks for correcting me. For some reason, I didn't immediately connect the letter-based serial numbers with the acrylic 16030 reference. That was a bit of brain-freeze on my part.