Advice On 1964 Air-King

[Fraserjim]

In 1964, 17-years old, I decided that my life wouldn't be complete without a Rolex. Got a job over Christmas and earned the $ 125, plus tax, for my 5500. Wore it daily until the late 70s. After it stopped, I took it into the local Denver Rolex retailer for cleaning. About 5-years later it stop again. Took it to the retailer. He replaced parts. Despite a couple of visits, the watch never again kept accurate time. At some point, the bracelet broke (I think just missing two side pieces on one link) and I put it away and moved on. My Seattle daughter has an interest in it, so I wanted to get some advice.

The watch will run if wound or moved, but loses about a minute-an-hour.

I don't want to invest money in the watch, give it to my daughter, and have her in a position of having to spend $ 1,000 on a regular basis to have it serviced. If I get it serviced, and she takes care of it, guesstimate on how long should it be between future services???

I talked to the Dallas RSC and they said that they didn't know if they still had parts. Also, they probably couldn't repair bracelet.

I talked to Nesbit's in Seattle and they said that they could get genuine Rolex parts for it. They said that they don't repair bracelets.

Recommendations to send it to RSC or Nesbit's or other??

Any recommendations for the bracelet repair in Seattle, or Denver, or other who may use genuine Rolex parts??

Thank you!

[Tools]

Nesbit's is a good option so you have a choice to make.

These older Air Kings look good on leather, or you could spend the 8 or 900 bucks that the RSC would charge for a new, more modern bracelet.

[dhknola]

What a great old watch. Check out Phil Ridley in Arlington, Texas as well.
I would keep the original band if you can; they are incredibly cool when they match the watch from the correct period.
That black dial is more valuable as well from a collector stand point than the white/cream. Can not tell from the photos but does it say precision or super precision at the bottom?
Great watch!!!

[Jonnyj]

Matthews jewelry and watch in highlands ranch excellent place to service your watch !!

[R!$]

$1000 sounds very high to get it serviced

[Dan S]

As mentioned above, there are still some independent watchmakers who maintain Rolex-approved shops with parts accounts. I know one in Colorado. He is semi-retired, but might work on your watch. On the other hand, having a warranty in Seattle would be convenient since that's where your daughter lives.

The bracelet might be repairable by a jeweler, or by Michael Young (http://www.classicwatchrepair.com). You can also purchase a vintage bracelet on eBay, but most will be stretched out anyway, so repairing your original would be a good option in my opinion.

[Fraserjim]

Thank you for the help. In response. The dial does not say Precision or Super Precision. The $1,000 came from the Dallas RSC quoting me $700-$1,200 to service the watch and Nesbit’s quoting me $850. I have no frame of reference on what is reasonable to get the watch back in shape and then what ongoing periodic service should cost?

Any service cost comments would be welcome.

Also, how often should the watch require periodic service?

Thanks again.

[Fraserjim]

On a 5500, what is the difference between Precision, Super Precision, and nothing (mine)?

It also sounds like I shouldn’t have the watch and bracelet cleaned and polished during service?

Thanks

[Old Expat Beast]

Blank dial means it has only 17 jewels, which was to avoid high import duties on luxury watches to the USA (or something like that). It's normal for a USA-bought Air-King from that period.

[dhknola]

I am pretty certain the difference between 'super precision' and 'precision' had to do with the movement. The super precision were fitted with a 1530 movement and the precision and no text had a 1520.

[scotrick]

Jim thanks for sharing that wonderful 5500 with the black dial and alpha hands. A nice addition to our early AK dial project!

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthre...36#post8108320

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Fraserjim

Thank you for the help. In response. The dial does not say Precision or Super Precision. The $1,000 came from the Dallas RSC quoting me $700-$1,200 to service the watch and Nesbit’s quoting me $850. I have no frame of reference on what is reasonable to get the watch back in shape and then what ongoing periodic service should cost?

Any service cost comments would be welcome.

Also, how often should the watch require periodic service?

Thanks again.

I will try to answer, but you are asking a difficult question. On a forum like this, some people are willing to make blanket statements about repair prices being high or low or whatever, but in reality, it's very difficult to say without knowing what's wrong with the watch. To use a car analogy, it would be like never changing the oil in your car for 30,000 miles, and waiting until it starting stalling and accelerating poorly, and then asking people on the internet how much the repairs will cost.

Once your watch is repaired and running well, I don't think you will need to have it serviced more frequently than every 6 years or so, and if you find an inexpensive independent watchmaker, maybe the cost will be in the $500 range, roughly speaking, assuming that all that is needed is a clean/oil/adjust (COA) service and maybe a minor occasional repair, crystal replacement, etc. A place like RSC or Nesbitts will charge somewhat more, since they have a lot of overhead, and maybe the $700 number is the RSC base price for a full service. I'm a bit surprised Nesbitts was willing to give you a fixed price of $850 without even diagnosing what is wrong with the watch. In my experience, a repair shop will usually give a base price, but then say that additional repairs will cost extra.

Based on your description, the watch was used without regular maintenance until it stopped functioning properly, and then it may not really have been completely and correctly repaired. There's nothing that can't be fixed, but it's quite likely that there will be significant costs beyond a simple COA. Rolexes are notorious for continuing to run even when the movement has experienced a lot of wear and tear, and if preventative maintenance is not performed for a long time, you can expect some parts to be in bad shape. A good repair person will need to carefully inspect all parts for excessive wear. No single one of those parts is terribly expensive, but they add up ... $25 here, $50 there, plus labor. You could get lucky, but in my experience, it wouldn't surprise me if there were $300-$500 in costs beyond a base COA, and the estimates you were given don't sound unreasonable at all.

Sorry for the lengthy response, but I hope this provides some useful perspective. And I apologize if I've just told you a lot of things you already know.