Datejust gains 22 seconds on 75 minute walk

[GARY52]

Can anything be done with my Datejust which consistently picks up 20-25 seconds when walking for over an hour. The watch picks up 4 seconds just while taking a 15 minute shower! Motion screws this watch up. It's a 1575 caliber, model 1601/34. Rolex in NYC has changed the movement twice, but it has not helped. Anything they have done has not really helped - and they have been very accommodating to me, really trying to solve the problem. They told me, this movement just isn't as "stable" as the newer movements are. I've been told by one non-Rolex watchmaker that the barrel needs to be lubricated and then the mainspring reset in the barrel. Another non-Rolex master watchmaker told me I am stuck with the problem. The hairspring guard Rolex developed to correct the motion issue and its affect on the balance won't really work with the lower 19,800 bph on my watch. HELP!!

[padi56]

Originally Posted by GARY52

Can anything be done with my Datejust which consistently picks up 20-25 seconds when walking for over an hour. The watch picks up 4 seconds just while taking a 15 minute shower! Motion screws this watch up. It's a 1575 caliber, model 1601/34. Rolex in NYC has changed the movement twice, but it has not helped. Anything they have done has not really helped - and they have been very accommodating to me, really trying to solve the problem. They told me, this movement just isn't as "stable" as the newer movements are. I've been told by one non-Rolex watchmaker that the barrel needs to be lubricated and then the mainspring reset in the barrel. Another non-Rolex master watchmaker told me I am stuck with the problem. The hairspring guard Rolex developed to correct the motion issue and its affect on the balance won't really work with the lower 19,800 bph on my watch. HELP!!

You say that Rolex NYC have changed the movement twice thats very strange in my experience the 15XX series are very reliable and bullet proof.I have several 15XX watches that I have dived with, and wear doing whatever I want without any problems.And IMHO the 15XX series some of the best movements that Rolex has ever made, and they can compete with any of the past or present line up.If they put a complete new movement or serviced your watch correctly you should not have any problem doing any activity you want.Have you given your watch a full manual wind 40 full crown turns clockwise.??.Does this problem happen only when you walk for a hour or shower.??.Have you made any contact with a powerful magnetic field ??.I would take your watch back to the NY RSC and let them rectifier your problem, you should have had a two year warranty with service.And the BPH makes very little difference to how any movement performs if its serviced correctly.

[hndsmed]

I think your correct about the service provided by the independent watchmakers. Those local fellows with many years of experience can often tell you the same or more then the Rolex service center and get your watch back to you in a lot less time for a lot less money. My local repairman does a fine job and is very honest about parts, he will not use generic unless given permission and he will tell me when it needs something only the Rolex service center can provide. This whole thing about service on an on-going basis for an expensive watch has gone way beyond the practical world. I did not buy my two Rolexes to service them, I bought them to wear and enjoy. Thats the very very reason I gave up my Mercedes because all I did was service the thing when I thought I bought it to drive and enjoy. Lets face it 800.00 bucks is a lot of money to service a watch and for sure that gets split up a few ways behind the scenes, and this does not include parts if needed. I wore my old GMT for 22 years and the local repairman kept it cleaned and oiled for me, never had a problem with it. I finally traded it in for my new GMT 11.