My 5513 went ro RSC/Dallas with a 1520 and came back with at 1570

[Egret]

Many years ago I bought a 5513 from a very reputable seller. I had the watch inspected for authenticity under the principle of Caveat Emptor, and all check out fine. After a few years I sent the watch to RSC Dallas for service and on their itemized inspection report correctly labelled the movement as 1520. I got the watch back and it looked fantastic and I wore it in good health for several years thereafter.

Recently I took it to have new seals, timing adjustment, etc. to my watchmaker and upon looking at his itemized invoice listed the movement as a 1570. Wanting to impress him with my inside baseball knowledge I told him he incorrectly labelled my movement as a 1570 when it was actually a 1520, and only the 5512 had the 1570 movement.

He looked perplexed and opened the case and sure enough the movement inside said 1570.

I was dumbfounded because I knew for a fact when I bought the watch it said 1520. My watchmakers response was that sometimes a RSC might find it expeditious to simply install another movement they have that is running perfectly, rather than spend hours to disassemble and repair a similar movement.

Not that I am interested in selling the watch, but just for my knowledge: does the fact that my 5513 has a 1570 movement in it lessen it's value or "correctness' in the vintage world? In any case I feel like RSC/Dallas should have told me they had done this.

On another forum one of the regs said RSC would never do this but it the only possibility.

Thanks.

[Frogman4me]

I wouldn't be happy if indeed the entire movement was replaced with a later one without your consent. But below is something to consider checking before getting upset.

"The calibre number is on the winding assembly bridge and this is often replaced during service, as there is only one winding bridge, but it can come with 6 different calibre numbers, usually the watch will wear the wrong one.

The best way to tell the calibre is to look at the balance bridge, if it has a stick regulator, then it is the basic non chronometer movement, either a 1520 or 1530 (correct for the 5513) or of it is free sprung, then it is the chronometer version, 1560 or 1570 (which would not be correct for a 5513)."
~ James Dowling

[pdoukas]

Originally Posted by Frogman4me

I wouldn't be happy if indeed the entire movement was replaced with a later one without your consent. But below is something to consider checking before getting upset.

"The calibre number is on the winding assembly bridge and this is often replaced during service, as there is only one winding bridge, but it can come with 6 different calibre numbers, usually the watch will wear the wrong one.

The best way to tell the calibre is to look at the balance bridge, if it has a stick regulator, then it is the basic non chronometer movement, either a 1520 or 1530 (correct for the 5513) or of it is free sprung, then it is the chronometer version, 1560 or 1570 (which would not be correct for a 5513)."
~ James Dowling

I did not know this, thanks for this information David. Now I'm tempted to look at mine.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Egret

. . .

. . . " My watchmakers response was that sometimes a RSC might find it expeditious to simply install another movement they have that is running perfectly, rather than spend hours to disassemble and repair a similar movement. "

. . . .

Although this watchmaker may operate that way, it is very unlikely that Rolex would ever do so.. That's the whole point of the RSC.... servicing the watch you send in... If they were going to "swap it out", you would get the up-charge for a new movement and service serial records would reflect the change..

My bet would be that it is simply a 1520 movement with a 1570 bridge and this watchmaker only knows how to read and not how to identify...


However, sometimes the RSC tech will enter what they expect to see inside before they send it to the watchmaker because they do thousands.. The watchmaker (or other techs) are going to service whatever they have because they're not quite as OCD as we are..

[high5]

of course it will affect your watch price.

[Vincent65]

I think Larry hit it on the head