Experience is with servicing/polish with Rolliworks?

[FL2024]

Thinking of bringing a Rolex for service and refinish/polish to Rolliworks instead of RSC. The reasoning because they are local but also faster turn around time and not having to deal w a large corporate operation. I am very selective as to who I let touch my watches.

For those who have used Rolliworks how was the experience? Satisfied or not? Were they able to achieve the exact Rolex factory finish in terms of rebrushing and polish? Any quality control issues arise after the fact (leaking, accuracy, etc)?

Thanks

[TeddyBallGame]

I've used Rolliworks back when they were located in CA to do some refinishing/brushing on a JLC bracelet and they did a fantastic job preserving all the bevels and angles! I can't speak to their servicing ability though.

I'm not sure what Rolliworks' turnaround time is, but I sent my Daytona directly to the Dallas RSC for a full service in Oct and had it back in less than 3 weeks. The watch looks great and is running about +2 sec/day.

[csaltphoto]

I used Rolliworks for a service when they were in CA. Watch was an unworn 5 digit sub but timekeeping wasn't great (+10 spd). Their service would be less and faster than RSC so I went with them. Turnaround was 3 weeks and 6 years later the watch is still +~ 2-3spd. I'd use them again. They do not have a parts account but have sources for parts. So service might be more than RSC if your watch needs anything besides generic parts (mainspring, gaskets, lube, yada)

[Solo118]

Had a steel Daytona polished there, it was perfection.

[pk552502]

Let's see some before and after pics!

[tsekh]

I had a very bad experience with them.

It was a 39mm Rolex Explorer 214270 MK2. I had another watch service by a local Rolex AD a couple of years ago, and it didn't keep time very well after servicing, and had to send it back to them to fix it. So when I needed to service my Explorer, I decided to give Rolliworks a try, since the reviews that I had seen up to that point was overwhelmingly positive. And I also said yes to the complimentary polishing.

They scratched one of the hands (don't remember whether it is the hour hand or the minute hand) during finally assembly. They emailed me apologizing and said that they would order genuine Rolex replacement part to replace the hand. Accident happens, no big deal, but ordering parts of Rolex took a while, which was annoying.

A few weeks later, they replaced the hand and sent the watch. My watch arrived with two problems. First, they replaced it with the wrong hand. My watch was a 214270 MK2, which had longer hands than the 214270 MK1, and they replaced the hand with a shorter MK1 hand. 214270 is not a obscure vintage watch... just Google 214270 and the first few links would tell you the differences between MK1 and MK2. For a watchmaker that's specialized in Rolex watches, I'm surprised that they did not know the differences. Second, the watch arrived with a very noticeable big scratch on the surface of the case near the bezel that was not there before. It appeared to be some sort of tool mark that they introduced either when removing or reinserting the bezel.

So the watch had to go back to them, and it took another few weeks for them to procure the correct replacement hand. When the watch came back to me, it had the correct hand and the scratch was polished out. HOWEVER, now there is a smudge under the crystal that obviously I couldn't remove it myself. And so the watch had to go back to them again.

In the end, I got my watch back with everything fixed, and the watch is keeping time fine. But the whole ordeal lasted for about 6 months or more, with very little communications from them. They never emailed me to provide any update and sometimes it took a couple of emails before they would respond to me. I definitely do NOT recommend them.

I had another watch serviced and polished by Zimmerman Watch Repair (https://www.instagram.com/zimmermanwatchrepair/?hl=en) and I had a really good experience. Fast turnaround and good communication.

[FL2024]

Aside from the service, How was the polishing job?

[tsekh]

Originally Posted by FL2024

Aside from the service, How was the polishing job?

Not great, but not bad either (if you ignore the part where they scratch one of the lugs and left some smudges under the crystal). About the same the quality as the polish done by my local Rolex AD (for another watch), but not particularly good either. Some edges could be sharper. But this was a simple complementary polish, and my watch did not have that many scratches to begin with.

Those laser welding and complete redo of lugs/bracelets you see on their IG account were probably done by someone more experienced.