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Old 20 October 2017, 02:05 AM   #31
adg31
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Based on my recent experience of the UK RSC I'd leave it as long as possible!


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Old 20 October 2017, 03:05 AM   #32
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Originally Posted by Verdi View Post
Folks, don't waste your money on service every 5 years.

My informed decision is 10 years intervals unless the watch starts to behave funny.
Is that right???
What happens when your watch "starts to behave funny" at around the 5 year mark when worn on a daily basis?
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Old 20 October 2017, 03:07 AM   #33
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thats a valid opinion. Especially since its yours and you are not pretending its "official" unlike what AD's are telling people. Personally i don't care what people do with their watches, its the misinformation that is the issue.
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Old 20 October 2017, 10:32 AM   #34
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Took my sea dweller in for a 10 year however it was still running fine. Was concerned about gaskets and oils.
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Old 20 October 2017, 10:57 AM   #35
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Two distinct sides on this issue. Those who will service every 5 years no matter what and those who will only service a watch when it no longer functions properly. The 5 year servicers believe it is preventive maintenance which will prevent major damage to the movement. The non-servicers, unless malfunctioning, believe opening the watch does more harm than good, if the watch is working properly, as human error can break what is not broken.

Its your watch so do what feels best to you for long term ownership.
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Old 20 October 2017, 11:05 AM   #36
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Agree with some others above-- don't service unless there is something noticeably wrong (but do get pressure tested if you are diving or doing other water sports). It's not at all like a car where there could be something wrong that you don't notice, which leads to much larger charges when you finally notice something wrong and your transmission seizes up or something.
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Old 20 October 2017, 11:24 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tyler1980 View Post
that is moving the debate into the preventative maintenance vs don't fix it until its broke argument which is different.

Some people don't service their cars until the performance begins to suffer, and some service their car on a schedule no matter if the performance is suffering or not. Its the same principle. Some like the piece of mind that their watch never actually broke and it was always serviced before.

As far as official recommendation of 10 years, it doesn't exist.
In our modern world, for most of us, a car is a necessity. A Rolex is not. I buy used cars or trucks that are three to four years old and have no more then 45k miles. I have them seviced per factory recs except oil. These days many manufacturers say every 7500 miles i stick with the old 3000 miles for oil. My cars last for over 200k miles easily, some need a trany, shocks etc., but they are after fifteen or so years of ownership as cheap as you can run a complicated machine that gets beat to heck in normal use.

I have a Cellini thats over twenty years old. I just got it serviced last year; only because it was really getting long in the tooth. It has run like a champ for as long as i have had it.
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Old 20 October 2017, 11:26 AM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirt View Post
Is that right???
What happens when your watch "starts to behave funny" at around the 5 year mark when worn on a daily basis?
Reread what you quoted. You just agreed with the quote.
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Old 20 October 2017, 12:09 PM   #39
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. . There are real experts on this forum. Can anyone produce a statement from Rolex quoting a set number of years between servicing? I think their position is ..,service when necessary. Am I wrong ?

Even before the recent discussions Rolex has printed in their guarantee booklets "Service .... about every 5 years depending on use." This did not make an emphatic statement of service intervals.

Not sure if the latest booklets make mention of it at all.
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Old 20 October 2017, 12:34 PM   #40
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Servicing a mechanical watch is not the same as changing the oil or other fluids in your car for preventative maintenance. If your watch is running as it should and you're not doing any crazy deepwater dives or other extreme activities, just leave it alone until it starts acting up. Then send it in for service.

I thought about this for years but never really understood until I started working on movements myself. And after a few years I'm still not very good but I now get the point that "if it ain't broke don't fix it" absolutely applies to mechanical watches.
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Old 20 October 2017, 12:43 PM   #41
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I think it’s more of where someone feels comfortable. I was at Wynn Las Vegas today and in talking with Luis their watchmaker some people get it at 5yrs, some 7yrs and some not till it’s not working properly. I dropped of my 16710 bought new Dec of 1999 and it ran until this year. I asked him if my never servicing it hurt the watch so he took off the back for me and inspected it and said it was in perfectly fine shape. So I feel confident in servicing when needed.


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Old 20 October 2017, 01:09 PM   #42
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My frame of reference was a 1977 GMT Pepsi every three years at $350 (they had me trained their way). However, just as cars are now with synthetic lube 10K vs 3K with fossil oil in automobiles, and Rolex service approaching $1K, I agree with a minimum of 10 years for any Rolex these days. The oyster case is sealed so where is the (now) synthetic lubricant evaporating to? The friction is distributed over 30 friction points, some more than others. Most of us have several watches so not 100% usage, another factor in the equation.
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Old 11 December 2017, 12:42 AM   #43
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The good news is unlike a car the movement won't grenade itself if it's missed a service for too long.

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Old 11 December 2017, 12:55 AM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Libertine View Post
The less a watch is opened the better.
That's exactly the way I feel as well. The watch comes sealed from the factory and I'd like to keep that Swiss air locked inside as long as possible. Every time the case back is removed, unless of course to repair an issue, there's the potential for mischief. I feel this same way with a relatively simple Rolex Sub, and equally or even more so with a Patek grand complication.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SearChart View Post
That is what I'd recommend.
If you're in the water a lot I would however have the gaskets changed every 2 years or so and get a pressure test.
The educated voice of experience. Thanks Bas.


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Old 11 December 2017, 01:13 AM   #45
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Quote:
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I think it’s more of where someone feels comfortable. I was at Wynn Las Vegas today and in talking with Luis their watchmaker some people get it at 5yrs, some 7yrs and some not till it’s not working properly. I dropped of my 16710 bought new Dec of 1999 and it ran until this year. I asked him if my never servicing it hurt the watch so he took off the back for me and inspected it and said it was in perfectly fine shape. So I feel confident in servicing when needed.


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And right there he probably ruined the existing seals and wafted some dust into the watch. (Did he replace the seal?)
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Old 11 December 2017, 05:20 AM   #46
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Where it originated from was a letter from Rolex to dealers outlining the introduction of the new 5 year warranty.
The has been posted on this forum before.

Within the letter Rolex mentions that typical service intervals are at 10 years or something to that effect.
Ok, that all sort of seems reasonable enough taken at face value assuming one's comprehension is up to par.
But i believe it was padding in the letter designed to give dealers/sales staff a little more ammunition to pursuade a prospective buyer who may have been cross shopping brands.
You see there's a bit of a technology war going on between Rolex and Omega and Omega had released an official recommendation of about 7 years or something for their Co-axial movements.
So i can only assume Rolex felt the need to respond in their superbly non-commital way.
10 years. Really? Not 8 or 9, but a nice neat round lazy 10

Ok, so where it really goes wrong is some watch journalist on an internet article sights the letter and runs off the content of the letter on some tangent and some how publishes the "fact" that Rolex has officially recommended a 10 year service interval. Period.
That's the back story in a nutshell.
An internet myth is born.

And no, Rolex has never put anything in writing officially as far as i can recall over the past 40 odd years i've been playing with watches.
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Old 11 December 2017, 05:40 AM   #47
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I only service when needed—as in, there is a noticeable issue.
I do pressure test all my watches once a year or so as I spend a lot of time in the water.
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Old 11 December 2017, 05:44 AM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by daytonas View Post
My frame of reference was a 1977 GMT Pepsi every three years at $350 (they had me trained their way). However, just as cars are now with synthetic lube 10K vs 3K with fossil oil in automobiles, and Rolex service approaching $1K, I agree with a minimum of 10 years for any Rolex these days. The oyster case is sealed so where is the (now) synthetic lubricant evaporating to? The friction is distributed over 30 friction points, some more than others. Most of us have several watches so not 100% usage, another factor in the equation.
The car service interval analogy is not appropriate.

In the main engine technogy has changed dramatically and exponentially.
Where as not a great deal has happened in the last couple of hundred years or so with watch movement technolgies except for maybe the Daniels escapement and the Chronergy escapement along with the introduction of Synthetic lubes.

With ICE tech.
We have seen the introduction of very complex and sophisticated engine management systems over the last few decades that are able to lean A/F mixtures out to unprecedented levels and manage them across a wide gulf of parameters.
Including fuel quality and specs
Fuel quality has dramatically improved as a requirement to cater for the new tech engines.
More specifically ever decreasingly mandated Sulfur content. Not to mention the phasing out of leaded fuel.
Obviously Synthetic lubes in most of thier variations have helped as well

I can only dream of 10 year intervals.
About 5 is all i can get for a watch that's worn every day before it starts to show signs of having and issue or two triggering a service.
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Old 11 December 2017, 10:17 AM   #49
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Old 11 December 2017, 10:19 AM   #50
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That confusion over servicing intervals

I service my watches when something becomes noticeably wrong.


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Old 11 December 2017, 04:16 PM   #51
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And right there he probably ruined the existing seals and wafted some dust into the watch. (Did he replace the seal?)


Ha, your are right. I wouldn’t feel comfortable having him take off the case back otherwise. I dropped it off for servicing so it was nice to see the movement. Should be back this week from Dallas RSC.


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Old 11 December 2017, 04:27 PM   #52
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that is moving the debate into the preventative maintenance vs don't fix it until its broke argument which is different.

Some people don't service their cars until the performance begins to suffer, and some service their car on a schedule no matter if the performance is suffering or not. Its the same principle. Some like the piece of mind that their watch never actually broke and it was always serviced before.

As far as official recommendation of 10 years, it doesn't exist.
It's far different from a car, because, every time you send your Rolex to RSC, it's a essentially a full-engine rebuild, anyways, so you're not doing any long term damage by waiting. Even if RSC charges a little more to replace some parts that may not have needed replacing if serviced earlier, it's still the less costly way to go over the long term.

I would just wait to the watch started acting up, unless I was a professional diver or something, and my life depended on the watch (although I'd have a dive computer, anyways.)
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Old 12 December 2017, 08:36 PM   #53
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And unlike a car, RSC gives a warranty with that service.

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Old 13 December 2017, 05:09 AM   #54
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i am just a messenger, my AD said 10 years..now if you want to know what Rolex says..
contact them...and get back to us.

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Old 13 December 2017, 06:12 AM   #55
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If you dive with your watch, yearly. If you live in harsh conditions (heat/cold/dust) more often than regular service intervals. If you are a desk diver, less often. I will have my watches serviced when I notice a major change in their accuracy for an extended period of time.
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Old 13 December 2017, 06:19 AM   #56
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Well, I buy a new car every time it’s time to change the oil. So with that said....

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