watch running fast

[LuCkyBST]

I happen to be the hapless owner of an WG/SS datejust. It was actually a lucky find laying on the ground. As to how it ended up there I can only imagine but hence the old adage finders keepers. I was origonally going to sell it but I fell in love with the fine detail and sheer beauty of the watch and decided to keep it. That was about 2 years ago. Shortly after I aquired the watch I brought it to a licensed Rolex dealer to both authenicate it and to fix if possible the 2 minutes a week it was gaining. I was assured it was genuine (I had thought so anyway just too perfect to be fake) and that he could adjust it. So I paid the $50 which I thought was reasonable to have a Rolex serviced. After about another week I could see that is was still running fast though only about 1 minute a week this time. Livable I suppose but from a $4,000 watch I would think it would be a little more precise. The other thing it does is the date changes at 11:58, 2 minutes early. Is this normal for a Rolex? The workmanship is flawless. The interworkings beautiful (I made the jeweler show it to me, in fact it was the only way I would agree to the work lol) I guess I just want to hear if these things are common and how worried I should be about correcting them. Thanks

Hi and welcome to TRF. Date change is normal. It can happen anytime over say a 15 minutes period but the change over should be instantaneous.

If it's running +1 minute a week, your watchmaker did you a disservice. That's outside the COSC specs 'your' watch was designed for. It would be no more than say +42 seconds a week to be on the outer edge of what's considered COSC specs.

Hope that helps.

[JJ Irani]

Hi Lucky,

A BIG welcome to TRF. You must be the LUCKIEST guy on this forum.

First, you find a Rolex just lying around and a genuine one at that. Then you get a service for a mere 50 bucks!! LOL!!

Give the watch a few weeks and see how it goes....then take it back. These babies can be adjusted to within a second per day (plus minus). Try and post a picture of the watch. We'd like to see it.

Cheers - JJ

[LuCkyBST]

This isn't the greatest of pics but gives the idea

[Mrdi]

I would write Rolex and report a found watch. I can imagine the dismay of the individual who parted with serious money and now finds himself w/o his beloved companion.

Mrdi

[LuCkyBST]

Originally Posted by Atomic

Hi and welcome to TRF. Date change is normal. It can happen anytime over say a 15 minutes period but the change over should be instantaneous.

If it's running +1 minute a week, your watchmaker did you a disservice. That's outside the COSC specs 'your' watch was designed for. It would be no more than say +42 seconds a week to be on the outer edge of what's considered COSC specs.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info. I guess if in 15min is normal I should be happy with 2! It does change instantly like a camera shutter. fun to watch :). I will probably wait another year to get it serviced again as I heard you are supposed to do it every 3 or so. Unfortunately it was just too long ago to go back now.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by LuCkyBST

This isn't the greatest of pics but gives the idea

Beautiful blue dial with Romans...love it!!

Hey Lucky, can you give us the serial number...just the letter and first 3 digits which will enable us to tell you the year of manufacture.

Thanks - JJ

[LuCkyBST]

I actually looked it up before and it was made in 2002 if I remember right.

[LuCkyBST]

funny thing I have noted about owning this watch over the last couple years. No one ever notices! I have yet for anyone to go hey nice watch or nice Rolex. I wont be tacky and point it out myself (well not usually lol) Just wondering if anyone else has had that experience

[LuCkyBST]

Originally Posted by Mrdi

I would write Rolex and report a found watch. I can imagine the dismay of the individual who parted with serious money and now finds himself w/o his beloved companion.

Mrdi

You know I actually considered trying to find the owner but then where I am honest about most things this went a little over my moral limit. I guess I will sit in the back of the church with the other sinners. Besides I would think anyone who could buy a Rolex would also get it insured.

[maverick]

Originally Posted by LuCkyBST

You know I actually considered trying to find the owner but then where I am honest about most things this went a little over my moral limit. I guess I will sit in the back of the church with the other sinners. Besides I would think anyone who could buy a Rolex would also get it insured.

Most owners would also report it stolen or lost. Having Rolex service it could mean it would be confiscated. I guess I am just stupid. I would have tried to find the real owner. Last year I was playing golf at one of my fav courses and as I walked up to one of the tees I noticed a gold bracelet just laying on the ground. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I could have easily kept it but turned it in to the course pro who I know well. The owner did get it back. (They were very appreciative) More importantly I felt good. =) maverick

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by maverick

Most owners would also report it stolen or lost. Having Rolex service it could mean it would be confiscated. I guess I am just stupid. I would have tried to find the real owner. Last year I was playing golf at one of my fav courses and as I walked up to one of the tees I noticed a gold bracelet just laying on the ground. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I could have easily kept it but turned it in to the course pro who I know well. The owner did get it back. (They were very appreciative) More importantly I felt good. =) maverick

[dman]

Gotta agree with Mav on this one 100%.

And I have found multiple Rolex watches (rich+drunk+golf=forget watch at course) and made sure each one got back to it's owner or at least made sure it was safe till it did.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by dman

Gotta agree with Mav on this one 100%.

And I have found multiple Rolex watches (rich+drunk+golf=forget watch at course) and made sure each one got back to it's owner or at least made sure it was safe till it did.

[Mr. K]

I have to agree that someone will be missing the watch.

Maybe you can contact Rolex with the SN to see if it was reported stolen.

"Finders keepers", you may consider yourself lucky, but in the big picture what comes around goes around.

But that is just me.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

[Islander]

Originally Posted by dman

Gotta agree with Mav on this one 100%.

And I have found multiple Rolex watches (rich+drunk+golf=forget watch at course) and made sure each one got back to it's owner or at least made sure it was safe till it did.

Funnily enough I was just thinking similar thoughts about sailing clubs and then I read your post saying similar things about golf LOL!...

There's quite often quality watches - and other gear like designer sunglasses and electronic gear etc - lying around in the vicinity of yacht and watersport clubs in public areas on this Island and in Cornwall. It's a testiment to the sort of people that hang around such areas that it's considered "safe as houses" and you rarely hear of anything "walking"

(Padi: I guess the same sort of thing applies in diving communities... my neighbour - a diving instructor - left his DRSD (the one I want LOL!) on the roof of his car last weekend and got a knock on the door with someone handing it back. Lovely!)

I found a YG Sub on the public pavement by the gate to the Island Sailing Club in Cowes three years ago. The Rolex AD is right over the road so I took it in to the manager (who I know very well). Low and behold the owner turned up first thing the next morning asking the improbable question about whether anyone had found his watch and handed it in! (By then the AD had also established that Rolex RSC had an address on file for the watch owner (not a local member of the sailing club, at that time anyway) - so he would have got it back OK in any case).

Turns out that he was carrying sailing gear, wetsuit etc out to a trailer and didn't realise that his watch must have been in the pile until he'd driven off some way. He'd gone back that evening - somewhat distraught because there was a sentimental attachment to the watch (hence insurance wasn't really the answer) - but no watch was found and the AD was closed. He had a very bad night but the rest is pleasant history.

One of my best experiences was having a meeting (and a drink ) with a very happy man and his lovely wife who are now good friends. (His wife even went to the same Uni as Veronica and me.) In fact, we're meeting up with them tonight for a meal (yes Shane... a curry )

It's no co-incidence that I "awarded" myself my GMTII with full domestic approval, (since Veronica had learnt something about Rollie owners ) soon after that experience and met up with many of "you lot" (at that other place ) the same week.

I don't mean to twist LuCkyBST's arm, (of course) but merely to point out that there's an upside to everything.

[Gedanken]

Hmmm.

Most people who know me would immediately agree that I am an opportunist, but in this case I'd agree with the prevailing sentiment. I know of very few people for whom the loss of that DateJust would be insubstantial, and I'd be uncomfortable at the thought of enjoying it at such expense for someone else.

I'm not sure how the laws operate where you are, Lucky, but over here we have a process of sending lost items to the police, and if the items remained unclaimed after a certain period of time, it's finders keepers. That way, if I did end up with the watch, I'd do so with the clear conscience that I had done all I could to return it to its owner.

[Prince]

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Always put yourself in the "losee's" shoes. I know that if I lost any of my babies, I would be distraught, and if someone turned it back in, I would be forever grateful - probably to the tune of a nice reward.

Lucky, I know that it would be difficult, after all this time, to find the rightful owner. But what an impact that would make if you DID find the owner!

[Mrdi]

Speaking of yachting clubs,....
My yachting club would let a group of Power Squadron people use (gratis) our Yacht Club, along the Pacific Coast, on Tuesdays to help the wanna be boat owners learn about rules of the road. Our club is closed on Tuesdays.
Tuesdays was the mid week day my crew and I practiced in our 505 racing dinghy for two hours, around the bouy practice. We would then rinse off the boat, take a shower and have a brew at the local establishment to discuss
tecnique etc.
The showers at the club have a small private dressing area for each stall with clothes hooks and a bench. I typically hung my 70's Rolex Cosmograph on the hook along with my clothes while in the shower.
Some kind recipient of our clubs hospitality decided my Cosmograph would be better served in his posession.
How kind.
My first Rolex, and the watch I used for timing race starts.
Very dear to me emotionally and financially.
It has been thirty years since that loss and I still have an emotional responseto that unkindly act.

Mrdi

To me saying that it was likely insured and therefore no loss to the rightful owner is simply a rationalization. The right thing to do is to turn it in. As Maverick has pointed out, if the watch was reported stolen and it ever goes to Rolex for service, it will be confiscated.

My wife and I once found an envelope with over $2K in it in the parking lot of a grocery store. We turned it in and the owner came back frantically looking for it. It was money for his families holiday, and he was very grateful that it was turned in. I would not feel right taking money in that kind of circumstance, regardless of some children's saying that some adults still cling to........

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Mrdi

Speaking of yachting clubs,....
My yachting club would let a group of Power Squadron people use (gratis) our Yacht Club, along the Pacific Coast, on Tuesdays to help the wanna be boat owners learn about rules of the road. Our club is closed on Tuesdays.
Tuesdays was the mid week day my crew and I practiced in our 505 racing dinghy for two hours, around the bouy practice. We would then rinse off the boat, take a shower and have a brew at the local establishment to discuss
tecnique etc.
The showers at the club have a small private dressing area for each stall with clothes hooks and a bench. I typically hung my 70's Rolex Cosmograph on the hook along with my clothes while in the shower.
Some kind recipient of our clubs hospitality decided my Cosmograph would be better served in his posession.
How kind.
My first Rolex, and the watch I used for timing race starts.
Very dear to me emotionally and financially.
It has been thirty years since that loss and I still have an emotional responseto that unkindly act.

Mrdi

Gawd damn, Mrdi, that's gotta hurt. I'd like to think that what goes around comes around, and some higher power has made the thief settle his accounts.

[LuCkyBST]

It would be hard for me to argue the moral implications in my behalf, but I thought I would share a little background with you. First of all this watch was not found at a club that I frequent or at a restaurant where it was likely just dropped. It was buried under snow for over a week (according to the date where it stopped) Quite an unlikely place actually in a fast food restaurant parking lot. I had passed it once dismissing it as someones discarded Timex or likewise before I actually picked it up. For someone like me that made less than 50k last year it is more then the latest babble. There would be no rewarding myself with a GMTII for my honesty. So if you are me and someone far more endowed then yourself is careless with his 4k watch then it isn't so hard to say "finders keepers". Would it have been the right thing to do to pursue finding the owner? Few would dispute that it would be. However I submit it is easy to be honest in that regard when you have, at least, a high six figure income and belong to exclusive yacht clubs and whatnot. It would be interesting to see who among you if scratching for bones, would turn down a steak.

[Gedanken]

Lucky, just because we love Rolexes doesn't mean it's a rich-boy's club here. For example, CJ is a cop, Alan From New York drives a bus and Mailman is, well, a mailman. We don't all have six-digit salaries as you assume. Speaking for myself, I'm on a five-digit salary and saved up for my SD, and my DJ is a graduation gift from my late mother, so losing either would sting me some.

I can understand your thrill at finding such a watch, and despite the other guys speaking their minds about the appropriate course of action, I don't think anybody's judging you. That said, the circumstances under which you found the watch does not change the fact that its rightful owner is short of a reasonably expensive watch, and even if he is insured, if it's anything like my DJ, it could hold more than just monetary value. For all you know, it could be a pensioner's retirement gift after decades of hard work.

[bhrees]

You rich bastards should be ashamed of yourselves

I told my wife we are calling the insurance company and adding my watch to the jewelry policy ASAP

[Prince]

Originally Posted by LuCkyBST

...So if you are me and someone far more endowed then yourself is careless with his 4k watch then it isn't so hard to say "finders keepers"...

Actually, that is not the point. It doesn't matter how much or how little you earn. If you find something that doesn't belong to you, the "right thing to do" is to attempt to return it to its rightful owner.

Back in the late '60s, when I didn't have two nickels to rub together, I found a wallet with several thousand dollars in it. It was the Christmas season, and it would have been very easy to take the money out and turn in the wallet at the store where I found it, justifying it as a Christmas present to me and my wife. Instead, I turned in the wallet with all of the cash in it. I found out later that the owner came back looking for it, and was VERY pleased to get it back, because he had been out Christmas shopping for his family, and would have been hurting if the wallet had not been found (as you can imagine).

You have no idea about the circumstances of the person who lost the watch, or even HOW the watch was lost. You cannot make assumptions.

Thanks for listening to a rich bastard!

[JJ Irani]

After having read all of the above posts, I have only one thing to say: It makes me extremely proud to be in the presence of guys with so much integrity and honesty!!!

[Islander]

So if you are me and someone far more endowed then yourself is careless with his 4k watch then it isn't so hard to say "finders keepers".

Glad you don't live round here then The whole point of what we are saying above is that we value what we own, we worked hard for it and six figure salaries are as likely as us flying to the moon Each one of us (undoubtedly) - regardless of salary and status etc - has thought hard about their Rolex purchase(s) ... and yes "awarded" is not the wrong expression if one has waited upwards of 20 years or so for the excuse and means to buy our first quality watch.

As for sailing clubs and boats.... round here it's a family thing justified by the fact that we live on an Island and need a boat for work, shopping and general transport (there's no bridge, tunnel or other method of getting to the mainland.) It's boat or nothing... and this is our family home and workplace, not a rich playground! Please do not jump to conclusions.

[Mr. K]

Originally Posted by LuCkyBST

However I submit it is easy to be honest in that regard when you have, at least, a high six figure income and belong to exclusive yacht clubs and whatnot. It would be interesting to see who among you if scratching for bones, would turn down a steak.

I am not scratching for bones exactly, but make less than $30K a year. But then again I do not gamble, smoke, or spend tons of money on drinking either.

While there may be a few here with high six figure incomes I think that would be the exception and not the rule. I think most here are normal folks (well except for JJ ) who really like watches and can appreciate the quality offered in Rolex.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Mr. K

I am not scratching for bones exactly, but make less than $30K a year. But then again I do not gamble, smoke, or spend tons of money on drinking either.

While there may be a few here with high six figure incomes I think that would be the exception and not the rule. I think most here are normal folks (well except for JJ ) who really like watches and can appreciate the quality offered in Rolex.

I may not be so "normal" in most ways , but I can assure you I earn much less than NZ$50K a year. What do you expect from a council-funded museum salary?

[kingblackbolt]

Lucky,

I must say that for myself the temptation of finding and keepng a Rolex would be strong indeed... however being that I am not a rich man nor earn a large figured salary I would have to think for myself exactly how much time and effort I would have to put forth to get that Rolex and turn that baby in to it's more than likely heartbroken owner, who may be in the same salary range as you or I...



Also you never know the circumstances that lead to that Rolex being dropped there... would it make you uncomfortable or remorseful if say the person was attacked or mugged? What if the owner had a heart attack or seizure and the watch came off and was lost in the ensuing commotion?



I won't judge you as I don't have the right, but I would really have a very hard time justifying to myself keeping that baby.
That's my two cents (which is about all I can afford to give right now!)