Dust!!!

[smh223]

There are few things I dislike more than purchasing a Rolex and seeing dust on the dial. While I am a bit OCD about my watches, I don't own a loupe and am only talking about stuff that can been seen with the naked eye. Maybe I have bad luck, but I would say 50% of the Rolexes I buy have dust visible to the naked eye on the dial. (Maybe I have really good eye sight?)

Anyway, I recently purchased an awesome Z serial 16710 in mint condition. To my dismay, there was a piece of dust sitting right on the dial staring me in the face.

Since I live in NYC I had a few options for how to handle this. I could bring it to RSC NY, to a local AD or to a third-party watchmaker. Having had bad experiences in the past with RSC NY (including for this very same dust issue), I decided to give my local AD a try.

Stopped into the shop today and the watchmaker happened to be at the counter when I walked in. He overheard me talking to the sales rep about the dust and offered to look at it immediately.

He took the watch down to his shop in the lower level, and came back 10 mins later having removed the spec of dust and with the watch in perfect condition. Best of all, there was no charge. And an added bonus, he did not remove the hologram which is still intact (I agree it is lame to keep it on, but I like it, and RSC always removes them).

So, there you have it. A happy ending to my latest dust story. Here is a pic taken with my iphone just now.

[Michael M.]

Very nice GMT, glad it all worked out!

[horseco]

I applaud your attention to even the smallest detail...

[cht]

This is something that you could learn to do, I have done it twice on my older submariner.

Once you open the case back, there is only a couple of small flat head screws holding in the movement tabs.
Loosen them, remove the crown, and out drops the movement from the back.
I use aresolized air and spray it real quick, crystal and dial, and reassemble.

Look at it like learning to change oil on your car.
:)

[Megalobyte]

Wait, I'm certain I see a tiny speck just to the left of the 2 o'clock marker.


It's a peeve of mine too. I've found a tiny speck or 2 on many high end watches. Usually only noticeable if light hits the crystal from a sharp angle, like across it, I advise all dust freaks to never shine a strong flashlight through your crystal sideways, like from 9 to 3. To paraphrase Yoda, you may not like what you'll find. :)

[sleddog]

A happy ending!!

I think your eyesight is just to damn good...

[zeppe19avr]

sorry i`m not up to date with acronyms : what is OCD

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Originally Posted by zeppe19avr

sorry i`m not up to date with acronyms : what is OCD

Nothing to do with Rolex or watches.

Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder. Like the TV show Monk.

[Megalobyte]

I have CDO. It's just like OCD, but the letters are alphabetized, as they should be. :)

(can't take credit, saw it in someone's signature)

[Darlinboy]

Originally Posted by Megalobyte

...I advise all dust freaks to never shine a strong flashlight through your crystal sideways, like from 9 to 3. To paraphrase Yoda, you may not like what you'll find. :)

That was a really mean thing to say!

You KNOW they're all trying it right now.

[MortgageGuy]

Great looking GMT, congrats on getting it all taken care of

[HL65]

Perfect ending and you are now officially dust free!!

[Megalobyte]

Originally Posted by Darlinboy

That was a really mean thing to say!

You KNOW they're all trying it right now.

No, I said NOT to...

[tomee]

glad you got it sorted.

on the subject of finding things in your watch.
i bought my HV brand new and saw this

[Trev]

[Megalobyte]

Originally Posted by tomee

glad you got it sorted.

on the subject of finding things in your watch.
i bought my HV brand new and saw this

Change the date really fast for 30 seconds, maybe a vortex will suck it back in!

You never know. :)

I sent a grand carerra to Tag for regulation, came back with about 25 specks of debris inside the crystal, and both hands were scuffed and bent, and, they apparently regulated it to stop dead after 3 minutes and never restart.

Just say no to TAG.

[evanvito]

Glad your concern was solved.

[Puffy]

nothing like a happy ending

[travisb]

Glad to hear you had a quick resolution..

[steubi1]

I had exactly the same issue with my brand new SubC last year.

Went to the AD, they took the movement out and removed the dust on the crystal, no charge, 20 minutes of wait.

However, they need to open the watch, change the rubber seal afterwards and make a test for water proofness.

Not really nice, dust seems to be a major quality problem.

Tom

[watchf]

Why haven't Rolex solved this issue yet? No clean room while the watches are being assembled?

[steubi1]

Originally Posted by watchf

Why haven't Rolex solved this issue yet? No clean room while the watches are being assembled?

They have a kind of clean rooms, as most in this industry.

The problem that remains are the human beings: Hair, particles of the skin, clothes and so on.

You can resolve this problem only with assembly done by machines. So far, this has not been possible....

Tom

[rolexertion]

I have a brother who is very nearsighted. Without his glasses he is considered legally blind, (20/400 vision). This gives him an unusual 'advantage', however: He can see really tiny things close-up without his glasses. In the days of LP records he could look closely at a phonograph needle with his 'naked eye' and determine whether it was worn or not. (!)

I'm somewhat nearsighted myself, and thus even at my very advanced age I read without glasses. Even in my 60s I have people fairly regularly handing me something with very tiny print and asking me to read it for them, there is no way they can.

Point being, one person's 'naked eye' is not necessarily another person's naked eye. I tend not to look too desperately closely for imperfections, because, guess what? Perfection doesn't exist! OCD is unfortunately its own punishment.