Time Machine

[R.W.T.]

My interest with Rolex started with my father's 3065 hooded bubbleback when I was a kid. I'm in my 60's. He would have been 100 this year.

So the poor little watches have fallen out of favor taking a back seat to the alarm clock size pieces that any gentleman in the 40's would have thought gauche.

I like them all. I like a nice sub or gmt as much as the next guy but my fascination with Rolex began with the golden age, when it was a big deal to make a better watch and to earn prizes and push the technology. Rolex was the mix of quality and time keeping and rugged dependability with innovation.

Higher grade pieces of greater delicacy existed but Rolex was always different.

A forum member contacted me about servicing his bubbleback. He found it in a box of watches of his grandfather's....When he sent me the photos my jaw hit the desk.

Time Machine..

I love finding watches like this because...not even being born in this lifetime yet...it's impossible to see what things were actually like first hand.

This watch obviously has seen very little handling in it's 70 years.

It comes from a very particular spot of about one year as best as I can tell, where the dials simply said "Certified Chronometer" as opposed to the earlier, simpler "Chronometer or Chronometre' " or the later Officially Certified Chronometer. This would 1947-48.

This all stainless model 3372 has a completely unmolested case. it has never been polished ever. The milled engine turn bezel is like a freshly minted coin. It has the original taper blue point crystal and because of the lack of luminous material, an near pristine dial.

WOW!

Inside the case back we see one service mark, although judging from the screws it's probably been apart maybe one or more times than that.

I'm a little relieved, because when they are perfect, you sweat every screw install and removal, because each mark belongs to you. We don't like to leave marks in this day and age. There are few places where he struggled with the case retainers. They are miserable and can be cantankerous. All in all it's a miracle watch. Can you believe it was in a box with a bunch of other watches...like it was just some other old toss off.

The hairspring has seen some reforming of the overcoil and it likely had a staff at some point and that was all done at the same time. It's not exact but I can see why he might have chosen to do it that way especially if it got out by accident when he was removing it. It's a bit more like an American spring. If it works nicely when it goes back together I will leave it. "if it works, don't fix it" is sometimes a good mantra.

The mainspring is odd. It's the wrong spring entirely. Far too big for this watch. As we can see it fills the barrel far too full. This would not really be ideal. It stuck out a mile when I opened the barrel. When I took it out...it's big enough for a 1570. Probably about 2/5 too long for this small barrel.

The automatic portion is simply amazing. There's almost no evidence of it ever being handled. The rotor cover is unmarked and the screws are as if they have never seen a blade.

As an enthusiast, who was first fascinated by the 1930's and 1940' Rolex models...who grew into a collector of sorts and went on to learn to work on them, this is what we wait for. Even though I have serviced literally a hundred or more of these movements, a mint one is still a high. This is the top grade 18 jewel, jewled to the center. Most were 17.

I left the piece of lint on the crown wheel photo for posterity. it was there when I removed the auto unit. It happens to everyone. :-) This one was actually under one of the crown wheel screws!

Enjoy!