If RSC was a hospital I'd probably be dead...

[Chadridv]

Ok so obviously I'm being melodramatic. Despite how it reads, my thread title is actually my attempt to make light of the situation.

So a couple weeks ago I dropped off two 1803 Pink Gold Day-dates at RSC NYC. They quickly contact me with the service estimate of the first watch, let's call that 1803 the "oyster bracelet". As for the second watch, let's call this 1803 the "diamond dial", I'm told they will need a couple weeks to confirm all the parts are original, and the process involves having specialists in Geneve review the watch carefully.


So fast forward 2 weeks, I get notification from RSC that the "diamond dial" is good to go for service with no issues regarding originality. However, after reading through the notes regarding the watch condition, I read that the 8385/8 Super President bracelet on the "diamond dial" 1803 is "not intended for this watch". So I call them and ask them about this.

I asked them if it's not the correct bracelet can they give me the reference number for the correct bracelet and if available to purchase can they give me the price. They say it's unavailable to purchase, but they'll find out the ref.#. After being on hold, the rep comes back and tells me the bracelet ref.# is actually correct, but the material is yellow gold, while the case is pink gold. I tell her that's extremely unlikely and I ask her to double check with her techs.

So, after a few minutes she comes back and says the bracelet is actually pink gold but looked yellowish due to the age of the watch. I'm a bit surprised by this but pretty much think, no big deal. I re-read the estimate and realize it says YG next to the info on the bracelet, so I ask her to revise the estimate to accurately reflect the watch and the parts.

Meanwhile, I decide to have another look over the first "oyster bracelet" 1803 estimate, and low and behold, the bracelet, case, entire watch is listed as Yellow Gold. Additionally the dial (which is also Pink) is listed as "champagne". So now I call up RSC again, and tell her the info on the estimate is incorrect. Again, she has her techs look over the watch and this time emails me after an hour to tell me they made another mistake and the watch is in fact pink gold. I also asked her to check out the dial color which I'm almost positive is pink. She comes back and says the techs made a mistake. It's not "champagne" the dial is "bronze". I'm quite certain the dial is pink and have asked her to double check that and please confirm. I'm still waiting to hear back about that.

OK so mostly I'm just sharing my story and venting a little bit. I'm not mad at them and still have confidence they will do a good job with the service, but I am a little shocked at so many mistakes in 2 estimates.

You may not think its a big deal, in fact I didn't at first, but let me put it to you this way. Let's say i decided to sell one of these watches down the road. I would of course enthusiastically advertise that the watch received a warranty and authenticity guarantee from Rolex. Upon a minor investigation/inquiry the buyer would certainly discover that the service history doesn't match the description of the watch I'm trying to sell. Also, each service estimate is priced upwards of $1400. That's more expensive than service for most cars. It's a lot of money to lack the attention to detail.

In a potential sale situation, can a blunder like that be explained? Maybe. Is it a deal breaker? I don't know, but I don't really feel like finding out. The reason why I mentioned the hospital is that in the medical field, this many mistakes could mean life or death. Obviously that's overly dramatic In comparison to this, but if I didn't read the estimates carefully and take the time to ask questions these watches would confusingly, and suspiciously, go down in the history of RSC as being made of the wrong materials, which frankly looks shady, especially if you're trying to sell them.

Just to be clear also, the rep at RSC I've been dealing with has been incredible. I don't blame her at all for the carelessness of the watch techs. I commend her for her patience with me and her colleagues.

Whewww!!! Sorry for the long post