Gifted a Rolex from my father, need advice on servicing

[Brokegunner]

Good morning, I'm new here and have never owned a Rolex before. I was visiting my parents yesterday and my dad surprised the heck out of me with this watch. My dad's cousin received this watch after many years of service with his company and needed money so my dad bought it and then gifted it to me. I know the only reason he bought it was to help his cousin out.

I am a gun guy and not really into watches but I like vintage stuff and consider this a family heirloom now since it came from a family member. I would like to get it serviced and make sure it's OK to wear once in a while. Since I am a neophyte to the watch world, I thought I would ask what's the proper way to get this serviced from a collector's standpoint?

I'm in central California and I see there is a rolex service center in fresno. Would it be OK to have it serviced there or is it better to find an independent?

I also see a lot of discussion on polished/unpolished and being a vintage gun guy I know that you can never "un-polish" something, so I'm inclined to not have this polished.

Thanks!

[Tools]

Your watch has been serviced and parts replaced.

Is it running poorly? Why would you be concerned with wearing it?

[Brokegunner]

Originally Posted by Tools

Your watch has been serviced and parts replaced.

Is it running poorly? Why would you be concerned with wearing it?

Hi Larry, thanks for replying. Can you help me understand how you can tell the watch has been serviced and parts replaced from just looking at the photo?

I am not "concerned with wearing it", I just want to know if it is recommended to have them serviced and lubricated after so many years. Since I know nothing about watches, I thought I would ask instead of finding out later that I may have caused accelerate wear by not having it serviced.

[hutch300]

The dial and hands appear to be service replacements. If you want the piece of mind of a service you could use many good independents in CA do it. It would help to know where you are located if you don't want to ship.

[Brokegunner]

[QUOTE=hutch300;12759410]The dial and hands appear to be service replacements. If you want the piece of mind of a service you could use many good independents in CA do it. It would help to know where you are located if you don't want to ship.[/QUOTCA.

Thanks for replying.
I'm near Fresno Ca.

[Gharddog03]

I had my GMT serviced through Wickersham ($800) with a 2 year warranty. Took about six weeks and been happy with the service.

[GGGMT]

Great gift! Welcome to forum. Research it by make model serial and enjoy the learning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by Brokegunner

Good morning, I'm new here and have never owned a Rolex before. I was visiting my parents yesterday and my dad surprised the heck out of me with this watch. My dad's cousin received this watch after many years of service with his company and needed money so my dad bought it and then gifted it to me. I know the only reason he bought it was to help his cousin out.

I am a gun guy and not really into watches but I like vintage stuff and consider this a family heirloom now since it came from a family member. I would like to get it serviced and make sure it's OK to wear once in a while. Since I am a neophyte to the watch world, I thought I would ask what's the proper way to get this serviced from a collector's standpoint?

I'm in central California and I see there is a rolex service center in fresno. Would it be OK to have it serviced there or is it better to find an independent?

I also see a lot of discussion on polished/unpolished and being a vintage gun guy I know that you can never "un-polish" something, so I'm inclined to not have this polished.

Thanks!

Suggest you take it to Rolex Service Center in Beverly Hills. You can ask for no polish if you want, but if it was me would probably have it polished to have a fresh start as the owner (won’t make it less valuable IMHO)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[skipstar]

I say go with a full RSC service including a full polish, yes I said it a full polish.
I have a good day and what a great gift.

[HogwldFLTR]

For some watches no polish is a really good thing. That would be for watches in good shape that are highly collectible. This doesn't fall into that category. I'd get it service and made new and enjoy it if it were me. Also, I believe Larry misread your post mistaking "many years of service" for it having been serviced. There's no way to tell if it's been serviced by looking at it.

[Kevin of Larchmont]

Since the watch came to you at zero personal expense I would splurge on an RSC service with whatever cosmetic enhancements they suggest that way when the watch comes back to you it is completely yours with documented Rolex service provenance. At that point you will be all set for a decade or more and then I would use it like the tool that it is.

Welcome to the forum!

[Subb]

Nice gift

[Brokegunner]

Thanks for the replies. All comments make good sense to me, and I would prefer to have a "like new" polished watch now that I know it will not hurt the value.

I think I'll get in touch with Wickersham in fresno, as their website shows they are an authorized service center.

[Calatrava r]

It looks as if this watch has been polished in the past. It is now all high polish. It probably had satin finishes on it in places when new.

[Brich436]

If the bracelet is in not great shape you can always put it on a nice vintage leather strap - I think that would look outstanding on that watch. Congrats on a cool gift received.

[Chewbacca]

Welcome

Does it tell time accurately over a few days wearing? If yes then just wear it. Looks like there’s an after sales service card with it and the dial looks sharp and possibly replaced but the links look well enjoyed . Just wear it. Rolexeses aren’t dainty and meant to be worn.

[dannyp]

Originally Posted by Brokegunner

Hi Larry, thanks for replying. Can you help me understand how you can tell the watch has been serviced and parts replaced from just looking at the photo?

I am not "concerned with wearing it", I just want to know if it is recommended to have them serviced and lubricated after so many years. Since I know nothing about watches, I thought I would ask instead of finding out later that I may have caused accelerate wear by not having it serviced.

Originally Posted by hutch300

The dial and hands appear to be service replacements. If you want the piece of mind of a service you could use many good independents in CA do it. It would help to know where you are located if you don't want to ship.

Besides looking newer than the rest of the watch, the clue to me that it's a service dial is that there are no "T" marks on either side of "Swiss Made" (which indicate a dial with tritium lume). In searching online, I cannot find any examples of an all gold OP Date produced after Rolex moved away from tritium. Good news is that a service dial means it was most likely serviced by a Rolex service center or authorized watchmaker.

By the way, the "service center" in Fresno will be an "Authorized Service Center" which is a Rolex dealer-based watchmaker certified to do certain warranty work and provide a Rolex service warranty upon completion.

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

For some watches no polish is a really good thing. That would be for watches in good shape that are highly collectible. This doesn't fall into that category. I'd get it service and made new and enjoy it if it were me. Also, I believe Larry misread your post mistaking "many years of service" for it having been serviced. There's no way to tell if it's been serviced by looking at it.

Generally true. But I would only want a gold watch polished by someone I really trusted. Had a conversation w/a jeweler once (not Rolex AD) who told me that many jewelers have a tendency to over polish gold in general because the accumulated dust is worth thousands a year in scrap gold. So the incentive is there to polish off a little more than necessary.