Trick to set date faster on non- quick set Rolex

[Aureliano_bnd]

Hope you guys can shed some thoughts or experiences on this here:

My oyster date is a non- quick set. Now, I own an old automatic Silvana that was my grandpa's and a watchmaker told me a "trick" to set up the date faster. Basically, you reach midnight and the date changes but instead of keep going forward, you go back in time to the 8pm position to re-engage the date mechanism and back to midnight. This will change the date again, then repeat as needed. This trick has not damaged the Silvana and I've been doing this for over a decade. Would it be safe to try it on the Rolex?
Has anyone here done this?

[Dan Pierce]

That's a common work around if you have no quickset function, don't think it harms the movement.
dP

[Mr. K]

cool, did not know that

[Aureliano_bnd]

It's a neat trick. Hope someone here who's been doing it on a Rolex shares their experience.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by Aureliano_bnd

It's a neat trick. Hope someone here who's been doing it on a Rolex shares their experience.

I have done it a number of times on my 1803; it seems like the best approach. I thought it was the standard.

Or was there some other experience you were interested in?

[Aureliano_bnd]

Originally Posted by HogwldFLTR

I have done it a number of times on my 1803; it seems like the best approach. I thought it was the standard.

Or was there some other experience you were interested in?

I just wanted to know if this was a safe workaround that wouldn't damage the movement of the Rolex. If my Silvana gets damaged, repair would be reasonable, the Rolex, however...

I've heard, as I'm sure many here have, the famous "never move the hands or wind backwards" statement. I therefore wanted to hear folks' experiences here. Thanks for your input, hope to hear form more users and see if there's consensus that this is indeed not harmful to the watch.

[Ravager135]

My ETA Navitimer worked the same way.

[mqs1]

doesn't seem to work that way..... i pulled it out of the drawer to try this and I wound past midnight to advance to the next date then when i "reverse" back to 8 it will also go back to the prior date. Weird......

[Aureliano_bnd]

Originally Posted by mqs1

doesn't seem to work that way..... i pulled it out of the drawer to try this and I wound past midnight to advance to the next date then when i "reverse" back to 8 it will also go back to the prior date. Weird......

Interesting...

[roverman318]

this is what i do with my 1803 as well because the other alternative is to wind it 24 hours forward to get to the next date until you get to the date you need. it would also make it impossible to set the day to match the date if you don't ever wind backwards.

[Aureliano_bnd]

Originally Posted by roverman318

this is what i do with my 1803 as well because the other alternative is to wind it 24 hours forward to get to the next date until you get to the date you need. it would also make it impossible to set the day to match the date if you don't ever wind backwards.

I assume that the 1803 was designed to be wound backwards because of the day adjustment/matching need. My concern, again, is for models like mine (1500 Oyster Date) that don't have the day display. Safe or not? Let's hope more folks add up heir thoughts.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Aureliano_bnd

I assume that the 1803 was designed to be wound backwards because of the day adjustment/matching need. My concern, again, is for models like mine (1500 Oyster Date) that don't have the day display. Safe or not? Let's hope more folks add up heir thoughts.

There is nothing that will happen if you turn the hands backwards on your Rolex.

[Aureliano_bnd]

Originally Posted by Tools

There is nothing that will happen if you turn the hands backwards on your Rolex.

Thank you, been searching the forum now and see you've answered this question a number of times. Thanks for taking the time to do it again for my benefit.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by mqs1

doesn't seem to work that way..... i pulled it out of the drawer to try this and I wound past midnight to advance to the next date then when i "reverse" back to 8 it will also go back to the prior date. Weird......

The Date on an early Rolex can be set backwards if that is a quicker way to get to the date you want.

To avoid this you need to go further past midnight than you think, probably to 1 or 2 oclock, to fully release the date change mechanism.