Opinions on RSC finding

[shie6523]

Hello,

I recently purchased a full kit 16600 Sea-Dweller from 2006 from a shop who sells pre-owned Rolex watches. The watch came with a 12 month guarantee/warranty which covers all the internals of the watch.

Because of its age, I was concerned with the waterproofness of the watch (deterioration of seals/gaskets) and decided to send the watch in to Rolex for a full service via my local Goldsmiths.

Goldsmiths contacted me last Friday to let me know that the Rolex Service Centre had been in touch with them.

Apparently the oscillating wheel in the watch is damaged and needs replacing at a cost of £79. Additionally, the crystal is chipped and Rolex did not want to replace the chipped crystal when waterproof-testing the watch in case the crystal fractured. The replacement cost of the crystal would be £127.

The shop where I bought the watch from have agreed to cover the cost of the oscillating wheel but not the crystal (which I understand).

What I am curious to learn is that how does the oscillating wheel manage to become damaged inside a sealed watch case? There was no visual evidence of any major dents or dings on the watch case which could indicate a large impact. The shop where I bought the watch from bought it from a watch fayre so the history of the watch is unknown. The only other thing I could think of is that the watch has possibly been serviced in the past and the watchmaker may have made a poor attempt at re-installing the oscillating wheel.

Any opinions would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Darren.

[fskywalker]

The oscillating wheel is a wearable part, it is not uncommon for a Rolex watch to need parts upon a service. Tipically RSC covers the cost of all seals and wearable parts on their full service cost.

RSC is not recomending a full service? Perhaps your AD sent the watch to an independent RSC center and not to an actual Rolex operated RSC center? Not saying an independent RSC center is not good, just surprised they are quoting just the oscillating wheel and the sapphire crystal versus recomending a full service.


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[shie6523]

The watch is in for a full service, at a cost of £585. The service centre is based down in Kent apparently.

[enjoythemusic]

Parts do have normal wear and tear. Yes, please get her all sorted including a new crystal and she'll be just like new with two year Rolex warranty :)

[Calatrava r]

To answer we would need to know exactly what the damage is. Is it just wear or something else.

[andrewjb88]

Originally Posted by shie6523

The watch is in for a full service, at a cost of £585. The service centre is based down in Kent apparently.

Yeh there is 2, Kent and London.

My Datejust went to London (I then took it to Watchguy.co.uk), my Tudor GMT went to Kent.

I had the same thing with my Datejust, needed a new crystal because it had a tiny chip in it on the outside. It then end Watchguy.co.uk serviced it for £260 including all the new parts it needed and did all the waterproof testing etc. Got about 100 photos of it in pieces from him as well.

Crystal wasn't replaced in the end and it sealed nicely.