Caring for a vintage watch

[Submariner_5513]

After close to a year of dealing with a difficult to rotate bezel on my 5513, I finally worked up the courage to pop off the bezel and tension spring in order to give it a good cleaning. It worked like a charm! There is nothing more satisfying than being able to fully utilize a vintage watch for tracking elapsed time, as this is a function I find myself reaching for regularly. It was also interesting to see the watch “naked.” Without the bezel assembly, that T19 looks huge! While more often used for timing pasta then decompression times - I can still pretend its a tool watch.


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[swaini3]

enjoy and keep it clean

[Ascari_2]

New or old, all my watches get a gentle rub-down with warm water and a touch of dish soap here and there. Less often for those which get worn less, but IMO a watch should be kept clean.

PS, I am sure all of you know, but you can easily use the bezel as a timer setting the pip x minutes ahead of your current time. Works great for timing pasta :D.

[Submariner_5513]

Originally Posted by Ascari_2

New or old, all my watches get a gentle rub-down with warm water and a touch of dish soap here and there. Less often for those which get worn less, but IMO a watch should be kept clean.

PS, I am sure all of you know, but you can easily use the bezel as a timer setting the pip x minutes ahead of your current time. Works great for timing pasta :D.

Haha yes, I fully agree! This one especially needed a cleaning under the bezel as its been handed down to me by my step grandmother who used it as a faithful diving tool in the 70s and 80s. I’ve been it’s caretaker for the past year and surely it will get more gentle treatment from me! One downside to the cleaning is the soap bath must have disloged some gunk from the insert pip as it seems a bit brighter. Knowing its a slightly later insert - it might give me motivation to hunt out a period correct one haha. Thanks for the comment, count up timing is very useful as well good tip!


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[Submariner_5513]

Originally Posted by swaini3

enjoy and keep it clean

Thank you, I will!


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[Filipão]

The satisfaction one gets out of those small improvements is something I can really relate to.

Great step forward! Enjoy your beautiful Sub!

[Submariner_5513]

Originally Posted by Filipão

The satisfaction one gets out of those small improvements is something I can really relate to.

Great step forward! Enjoy your beautiful Sub!

Thank you [mention]Filipão [/mention] ! Absolutely, it makes turning the bezel much more satisfying. All about the details!

I always enjoy catching glimpses of your awesome collection. Cheers!


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[shaunylw]

It is incredible how simple the bezel assembly and bracelet are on a lot of vintage Rolex, but it just works. It hardly ever fails and they last forever. There is something much more exciting for me about vintage, they each have a little bit of unique character.


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[Submariner_5513]

Originally Posted by shaunylw

It is incredible how simple the bezel assembly and bracelet are on a lot of vintage Rolex, but it just works. It hardly ever fails and they last forever. There is something much more exciting for me about vintage, they each have a little bit of unique character.


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Fantastic point - Just a simple piece of metal, an insert and a bent spring. Its a wonder that such a simple system is so robust, maybe that is due to great design. Theres a reason rolex is rolex afterall. Thanks for your thoughts!


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