P Series Submariner stopped running

[Glpstandard]

..yes I wound it.

I have a P Series Submariner Date that I bought from a well known pawn shop in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in August of 2018. Its ran fine for me every day and I wear it more than any other watch (about 75% of the time I wear a watch, its my Sub). Its literally been flawless for me the last two years.

When I take it off, I put it in it case, and let it wind down. When I wear it again, I always fully wind it before putting it on and set the time. The other day, after not wearing it for 3 days, I took it out, and wound it as usual, and set the time. Without thinking or giving it anymore thought, I put it on. 10 minutes later I looked at it, and noticed it hadn't changed time and wasn't running. It was completely dead. I wound it several times, tried "spinning" the pendulum, and couldn't get it working. When you set the time and date, all hands move as they should and the date changes fine. It just won't run.

I took it today to my "local" service center in Frankfurt, and they said that it wants to run, but it won't, and he says it needs a service. He was able to make the second hand advance 8 seconds (not sure how, he took it in back for a few minutes then came back out). He said he did not open it up.

I was amazed when he told me a service was 1100 Euros! When I lived back in the US, I had my Explorer II serviced at Rolex in NYC for around $600 in 2014.

So my two questions are:

1. Have prices gone up for servicing, or is this particular dealer just more expensive? He said they do it in house, and do not send the watch out. I will be shipping the watch back to the US or to Geneva before I pay 1100 Euros for a service.

2. Is it likely that the watch truly just needs a service? I don't know when the last time it was serviced is, but like I said, I've never had one single issue. I wind it, wear it, put it away, rinse and repeat, and it's worked just fine until it didn't work at all

I asked the dealer if they could open it up just to make sure there was nothing amiss inside, and he said he would need it for a couple days. I opted not to, because this dealer is about a 120 mile round trip drive for me, and I didn't want to come back in a couple days to pick it up.

On a plus side, they tightened the clasp on my wife's Ladies Datejust and demagnetized my Explorer II which was running very fast and got it to within +3 seconds per day, all for free (wasn't expecting it to be free, so kudos to them for their great service).

[tkc324]

chances are you def need a service. The prices to get a service at RSC should be around 700 + Tax. 1100 Euro without even opening up the case back seem way too high IMO.

[NKflyer]

Sounds like a broken mainspring which will indeed require a full service to replace. RSC prices have risen since 2014 but €1100 still seems high.

[SearChart]

Service for a professional starts at €700, but if it is more you will need to get an explanation for that. I wouldn't trust a watchmaker quoting €1100 out of the blue without any explanation.

Send it to Köln RSC.

[AndyWright]

Sounds like its due for a service. RSC take a look and make a final diagnosis

[GarbanzoNegro]

1.100€ is too much (IMO) for a service.

2 years ago I paid 700 € for my Explorer’s service (including polishing) at the RSC.

[Tools]

Stuff happens, although I hate it when it happens to me.

1.. Can't address costs in your area, but it does sound high to me.. I would seek a second opinion and ensure that the watchmaker had a Rolex parts account and proper training.

2. A service should disassemble the watch completely, replace any worn or damaged parts, clean and reassemble with new seals, then oil all critical areas.

This is as close to getting a new watch as you can get without buying one.

[Binky1]

Originally Posted by Glpstandard

..yes I wound it.

I have a P Series Submariner Date that I bought from a well known pawn shop in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in August of 2018. Its ran fine for me every day and I wear it more than any other watch (about 75% of the time I wear a watch, its my Sub). Its literally been flawless for me the last two years.

When I take it off, I put it in it case, and let it wind down. When I wear it again, I always fully wind it before putting it on and set the time. The other day, after not wearing it for 3 days, I took it out, and wound it as usual, and set the time. Without thinking or giving it anymore thought, I put it on. 10 minutes later I looked at it, and noticed it hadn't changed time and wasn't running. It was completely dead. I wound it several times, tried "spinning" the pendulum, and couldn't get it working. When you set the time and date, all hands move as they should and the date changes fine. It just won't run.

I took it today to my "local" service center in Frankfurt, and they said that it wants to run, but it won't, and he says it needs a service. He was able to make the second hand advance 8 seconds (not sure how, he took it in back for a few minutes then came back out). He said he did not open it up.

I was amazed when he told me a service was 1100 Euros! When I lived back in the US, I had my Explorer II serviced at Rolex in NYC for around $600 in 2014.

So my two questions are:

1. Have prices gone up for servicing, or is this particular dealer just more expensive? He said they do it in house, and do not send the watch out. I will be shipping the watch back to the US or to Geneva before I pay 1100 Euros for a service.

2. Is it likely that the watch truly just needs a service? I don't know when the last time it was serviced is, but like I said, I've never had one single issue. I wind it, wear it, put it away, rinse and repeat, and it's worked just fine until it didn't work at all

I asked the dealer if they could open it up just to make sure there was nothing amiss inside, and he said he would need it for a couple days. I opted not to, because this dealer is about a 120 mile round trip drive for me, and I didn't want to come back in a couple days to pick it up.

On a plus side, they tightened the clasp on my wife's Ladies Datejust and demagnetized my Explorer II which was running very fast and got it to within +3 seconds per day, all for free (wasn't expecting it to be free, so kudos to them for their great service).

Paid £550 for my Sub service with Rolex about 14 months ago, sent to Swiss took about 7 weeks...1100 euros smells really bad!