Caliber 3130 -- lots of slack when setting the watch?

[tom1969]

Hello,

I recently stumbled onto my first Rolex - a 2008 Explorer 114270 in near mint condition (on the outside). I love that watch and its stubborn precision -- it gains 2.5 sec a day no matter which orientation I place it at night (measured over two 10-day periods). Amazing.

As a bit of a watch nerd of course I must insist that the minute hand lines up exactly with a minute mark when the second hand is at 12 o'clock. I found that this is not so easy because the coupling between crown and dials seems to be quite loose. When I rock the crown back and forth between points of larger resistance (where the hands would actually start to move against the friction), the minute and hour hands rock back and forth as well, with an "amplitude" of about one minute. When I set the minute hand exactly to a minute mark (in forward direction) and push the crown in, it takes about 20 second until the minute hand starts moving. In other words, if I want a perfect lineup, I need to stop the watch with the second hand at the 4 o'clock position, set the minute precisely, and then push the crown in.

This doesn't bother me. I just want to know if this is normal behavior for the 3130, or if I should have it looked at. From a couple of ETA watches I own I'm used to a positive, slack-less coupling between minute hand and crown.