Lume fell off GMT hand

[whofeelitknowsit]

I have ~1978 matte dial GMT Master (ref 1675) that I purchased from HQ Milton a couple years ago. I live the watch and I wear it everyday. This afternoon, I noticed that the lume had fallen off the GMT hand and was floating around.

I took it to a local dealer, who was going to send it to a Rolex Service Center. After reading more here, I realize I don’t want that. It was too late to get it back today, but they assured me they won’t send it and I can pick up on Monday. (But that also means I can’t post pics.)

Can anyone recommend someone who can help me? I don’t want the watch polished or anything replaced other than the GMT hand if necessary - and I’d like to have the patina match the rest of the watch in that case. Ideally, someone will be able to reattach/re-stabilize the lume that came off. It’s still in one triangular piece.

I’m in the Philadephia area, but I would be happy to send it somewhere if I need to.

[whofeelitknowsit]

I’ve reached out to Mark Sirianni and Andrew Gallagher, both of whom I found through TRF. Anyone else?

[havingagoodtime]

That's too bad, but should be rather easy to get things ticking again. Why don't you contact Jacek and see if he can help you out with the repair? HQM has a Rolex trained watchmaker in-house and are very experienced in this type of repair.

[whofeelitknowsit]

That’s a great idea!

[okthenor]

Hq will take care of you

[whofeelitknowsit]

First response I received (not Jacek):

“In situations like this, I need to overhaul the watch along with the luminous repair. There is no way to reattach the old luminous, this material is brittle and can't be reused. The next issue is trying to match the color of the luminous on your hands, also not an easy task depending on the age and level of fading. This is not a simple repair, so you would be looking at the $200 overhaul, then replacing the luminous on all of the hands so they match, that adds about $40 to the cost. Next issue, will the hand color match the luminous on the dial? If not, then we need to have the luminous markers redone also. When you get the watch back, send a picture so that I can see what you have and will give you a better idea of cost at that time.”

Seems a bit much. I really don’t want the dial markers relumed. As you an see from the pic below, the hands have aged to a few shades darker than the dial. I just want all the hands to match one another and be close to the markers on the dial, and I want to keep the watch as original/authentic as possible...

[railgrail]

LAWW can repair this.

[whofeelitknowsit]

Thanks - who is LAWW?

[atm08]

LAWW is LA Watch Works

[zapokee]

I know from experience that HQ Milton's watchmaker is one of the best at lume matching. As you bought the watch from them originally, this would seem the natural choice.

When in doubt, contact Jacek.

[whofeelitknowsit]

Thanks all. Jacek got back to me and said his watchmaker can do it, so that's the way I'm leaning. I'll keep you posted as to progress. I'm still so pissed this happened, but I guess that's what can happen when you wear a 40 year old watch everyday.

[DLRIDES]

I know for a fact that LAWW can easily do this.

[whofeelitknowsit]

Thanks, I have an email into them as well.

[Casey VP-26]

I had this happen to me about 10 years ago. I had a local watch repairman reattach the lume and it was just fine a couple of years later when I sold the watch. Good Luck

[jban5]

$200 to overhaul and $40 to replace the lume on all the hands?

1. that they offer to overhaul that movement for $200 would worry me past dealing with them. That is a 1970's price.
2. that they would replace all of the lume, possibly even the markers just so they could match is preposterous. The damage that implies makes me shiver.

[whofeelitknowsit]

Here’s the current state of the watch:





I sent it to HQ Milton today. I talked to LAWW, but I went with hQ Milton since I’ve dealt with them before and they are already familiar with the watch.

I’ll update this thread when I have more to update.

[037]

I kinda like it with the missing lume. The downside is that it's floating around inside, so it has to come apart regardless.

Open 6s and 9s -- and an open GMT hand.

[SgWatchBaron]

Best to ask prices from HQMilton as well as LAWW and then decide on the best course of action.

[whofeelitknowsit]

I liked the guys from LAWW, but I went with HQ Milton because they know the watch and I've dealt with them before. Cost was similar for both - around $150 just to fix the hand. Full service would be $700, but it was serviced not that long ago.

[harry in montreal]

Same thing happened to my 16750 but it jammed my sec hand and the thing stopped. I lol now, but I was pissed. If the lume is a match, maybe a watchmaker can glue the dislodged piece into place on the hand

[Fabrice M]

I would send it to Bob Ridley

[whofeelitknowsit]

So, I should be getting the watch back today (in like an hour). The guys at HQ Milton were able to re-stabilize the lume that had fallen off, so it ended up being a relatively simple job. I will post pics as soon as I get it.

In the meantime, I posted this elsewhere but didn't get any helpful replies so I thought I'd post it here.

Can anyone confirm that this insert is authentic? I bought it the other day on ebay because the price was right:



I think it's real. The 2s and 4s look right. The only think that gives me pause is some of the numbers seem a little short (height-wise). Usually, there's a little less black on the top and bottom.

Thoughts?

[lee fowler]

Looks good albeit a later service insert.

[whofeelitknowsit]

That's what I thought. Thanks!

[whofeelitknowsit]