Day-Date 1803 LOOSE MINUTE HAND
 

Hello you experts out there, need your help please, I have a 1970’s 1803, with a 1556 movement, Problem 1). I have recently noticed a few times that the minutes hands sometimes moves freely on its own with gravity for example like when I raise my hand, (say I check the time and it is 12:00, two minutes later I check again and the time shown is 12:30) initially thought that perhaps the hole of the hand had somehow gotten larger and was no longer making good friction with the tube that it is attached to, however, i realized the minute hand moves pretty smoothly with no hiccups of any kind when I pull the crown to set the time, or adjust the date with no issues.
Problem 2). When I unscrew crown and on its first position I try to manually wind it, crown turns freely with absolutely no resistance and no gear noise of any kind when turning crown like if it is not engaging the main spring. The automatic module seems to be feeding the main spring OK because the watch won’t stop ticking and keeps good time otherwise.
I would appreciate any assistance advise to help me diagnose the problem, I’m trying to gauge how expensive the repair may be, I’m also wondering if the two problems I have may be relatef
to the the issue, orb should I say one issue causing two symptoms?

Thank you so very much in advice.

Seriously ?? Is my request for help posted on the wrong site?? It has been 2 weeks with 250+ views and not one single reply, so nobody really on this Rolex Forum knows why a watch may have a loose hand?

It would seem that something is broken or loose.
Why not just take it to a RSC for a service quote?
This will take out all the guesswork.

:cheers:

TechXperts (as with all members) utilise this site at in our own time, for no financial gain.

The speed at which free professional advice is offered, if it is offered at all, is with all due respect, on our terms. I can only speak for myself, but I check the forum sporadically these days and respond appropriately, if I feel like it.

Your best course of action is RSC, given the age of the watch and the reduced amount of spare parts for it outside of Rolex for this particular calibre compared to more modern ones.

By going through RSC you pay for the service, not the individual parts.

As to what can cause it; loose hand or de-riveted pinion come to mind, but there’s a plethora of things to check in order to diagnose the fault, so it could easily be neither of those. Not to be rude, but the exact cause of both issues you have is irrelevant, the solution is a full service.

:cheers: