16700 will not manual wind

[N0trub]

I bought my 16700 from Swiss Watch Expo in April. Did my online due diligence but it was not enough maybe done in haste and with little experience on this forum. Yesterday I let it wind down and went to reset and manually wind. Now it feels grinding and maybe four times harder to turn the crown and does not affect movement of the watch. Watch keeps good time and winds per internal rotor. Swiss Watch Expo was great on the phone yesterday when asking about their 18 month warranty but tried to convince me just to wear it that they all manual wind differently this really put me off but they were super nice. Yet agreed that manual winding should be smooth and affect the movement. You pay shipping to them and regardless they will pay to ship it back. You dont know what you dont know you live and learn I now regret purchasing there. The watch was advertised( took screenshots)as excellent and the paperwork that came after finally reading yesterday says very good(lol) should have read when it came. I have a 1655 that is perfect and inherited bought this cause rolex wont sell me a gmt i have been on the list and i wanted an everyday wear. I had no clue now i am sending it off to a rolex service center thinking dallas. Thanks for reading my post any advice/criticism/mocking is welcome Sincerely

[Dan S]

I guess it's your choice whether to send it to the seller to take advantage of their warranty, or to send it to RSC and pay.

[springer]

If it is winding rough, or feels like it is "skipping" as you wind it, or feels like there is grit or sand in it or winds hard - it needs a service.

[N0trub]

Thank you both plan on calling Rolex service center Dallas tomorrow and or stopping by my AD its 10 minutes away.

Seem to remember an edit function? All i can see is my poor grammar. Sincerely

[0nly5iv3Digits]

Service time, mate. Gritty reversing wheels for sure.

[Davidt]

Unless it was advertised as freshly serviced, I’m not seeing the issue with the dealer. It’s an old(ish) watch. If you bought it in April and it developed a fault 9 months later, that happens with old watches and is what warranties are for.

The next question is how much you trust a dealer to repair/service under warranty and only you can decide your comfort level there.

[fsprow]

For a watch of that age and without a verified recent service, I just send it in to the factory service agency (in this case RSC) for a full service and call it a day.

[sgwatchobsession]

Hey there, I had a similar issue with an ETA movement in my tudor. Turns out the issue was the little "Butterfly" rotors in the automatic movement, was a simple fix at the local watchmaker so that might be the cheaper option if you wanted to avoid the RSC hassle

[N0trub]

“Automatic Steel Mens Watch 167...
Hello Roy,
Thank you for reaching out to us and showing your interest in this stunning GMT Master in our inventory.
This beautiful watch comes in
Excellent condition and doesn't show any scratches, dings or any other character marks on the case, bracelet or crystal. I also can confirm that this piece comes with original dial and hands, and bracelet clasp code is X9 which refers to 1999 production year, same way as A75 serial number also refers to the same year.
I also can confirm that lume on a dial and hands is luminova and will glow in the dark! You can verify it by a
"Swiss" only mark at 6 o'clock which refers to luminova dials.
Watch was also fully authenticated and serviced by our Rolex trained master watchmaker before we listed it for sale,”




Cut and pasted. From communication with the seller. Its been 10 months anything can break especially if its twenty five years old. Thanks for all replies.

[swish77]

Originally Posted by N0trub

"Watch was also fully authenticated and serviced by our Rolex trained master watchmaker before we listed it for sale,”

If Swiss Watch Expo serviced this GMT just 10 months ago as they said, there's no way you should already be having a problem with the movement. They should make it right and you shouldn't have to pay a penny, based on the company's stated warranty policy.

This is a big company that sells hundreds of watches a year, and they're also loosey-goosey with their descriptions. I once wanted to buy an "unworn" watch from them. They emailed me better photos and the watch had minor scratches and was missing a bracelet link. When I questioned the "unworn" description, I was told that "unworn" can also mean worn just a little. What nonsense. I'd never buy from them.

[Dan S]

Send it back for warranty repairs. You presumably paid a premium for the warranty.

[Eric88]

"Watch was also fully authenticated and serviced by our Rolex trained master watchmaker before we listed it for sale" - this says it all...if it was truly "serviced" then it should be good to go for at least another 8-10 years or longer...a lot of folks like to do servicing on a 10 year interval or earlier if any issues arise.

If the watch was "fully serviced" 10 months ago, then the dealer should take care of making it right. My guess is that "fully serviced" may have been a bit of exaggeration and they just had someone looking at it.

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by Davidt

Unless it was advertised as freshly serviced, I’m not seeing the issue with the dealer. It’s an old(ish) watch. If you bought it in April and it developed a fault 9 months later, that happens with old watches and is what warranties are for.

The next question is how much you trust a dealer to repair/service under warranty and only you can decide your comfort level there.

Tbh I'd expect 9 months to be well within rectification period/watranty. All UK dealers Watches.co.uk, blowers, watchfinder, watchmaster, xupes, Duggan, Rolex new fangled used scheme etc etc offer a 12 month warranty Unless they specifically state no warranty implied or offered as trade deal.

[N0trub]

So its off to RSC through my ad. I want a working watch i can wear with confidence. Service, crown, and a jubilee bracelet.

Was advised 8-10week turnaround.

I am excited to get it back however looking back i should have looked to the general consensus on this forum. Thanks for the help and smart people here. Love the journey!

[TuRo]

Hope it goes well. Suspect they'll relieve you of close to a thousand bucks (but you get an RSC invoice/card that helps come resale)...Oh, and you'll also get a laundry list of frankly ignorable 'advisables' btw !

Bit late, but a little tactic/ploy I've used if I've bought from a big A.D. that is desperate to keep their reputation :

1) Tell them you're on the forums/socials etc

2) Say you dont want to send it back to them as you dont feel confident in their work....but you would be happy for an RSC to do it and go 50/50 (or 75/25!) on the costs...having jumped up and down a bit on the 3 occasions I did that, it worked*

*A strategy for neo-vintage (c 1990-2005) like yours only though imho, as I'd not send a 6542/6538 or even 1675 to an RSC.

[GGGMT]

News flash:
Watch wasn’t serviced by SWE


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[0nly5iv3Digits]

Originally Posted by N0trub

So its off to RSC through my ad. I want a working watch i can wear with confidence. Service, crown, and a jubilee bracelet.

Was advised 8-10week turnaround.

I am excited to get it back however looking back i should have looked to the general consensus on this forum. Thanks for the help and smart people here. Love the journey!

Nice A serial GMT!

[Tools]

Originally Posted by N0trub

So its off to RSC through my ad. I want a working watch i can wear with confidence. Service, crown, and a jubilee bracelet.

Was advised 8-10week turnaround.

I am excited to get it back however looking back i should have looked to the general consensus on this forum. Thanks for the help and smart people here. Love the journey!

Good decision.

To me, if you already have doubts about the watchmaker at the dealer, why would you go through the headache and stress of dealing with them for what may likely be a quick-fix solution.

An RSC service will give you piece of mind for years, plus a nice 2 year worldwide Rolex warranty and a bit of provenance.

[kegan]

Nice watch and you’ve made the right decision. Just don’t let RSC have that awesome serif insert. I guarantee they will try


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[N0trub]

Interesting phone call today as I did not ask where my watch was going NYC or Dallas so i called my lovely SA and asked where? They are keeping it in house and onsite. Their watchmaker is Rolex trained and i am getting a new crown, jubilee bracelet and an overhaul of the mechanism nothing else. Also it was strongly advised to polish saying it will look brand new and the will take minimal metal if any and imperceptible to the eye. I agreed. I read a post about in house Rolex Ad watchmakers doing this work recently and looked into it. I never would have considered this an an option. Two years ago this same SA sent my 1655 to NY and they kicked it to geneva. 13 months and i got it back and i was thankful. On one hand i know what is going to happen no curve balls only ten weeks and it will be done on the the other this doesn’t sit that well with me
But i can’t articulate why. Thankful for your thoughts and if you see any reason for concern? I agreed to the work on 2/29. Roy

[N0trub]

Follow up. Very pleased with the local AD’s watchmaker Hunter did a very good job! I like the jubilee bracelet as a well driller we dont have conferences we have jubilee’s. There is not much of a difference for me compared to the oyster it disappears nicely on my arm but looks more fancy. Most impressive is i have had it for almost 18 hours and using time.gov it has neither lost or gained even a second, time will tell. Just glad to have it back and better! Thank you all for this forum and your contributions

It was polished!

[1William]

Looks great. Thanks for the follow-up.

[GGGMT]

Nice Roy. Wrong has been righted. Cautionary tale about a seller


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[Stan Cooper]

EDIT - Oops! I should have read the whole tread before posting. It sounds like you've got it sorted out.

Originally Posted by fsprow

For a watch of that age and without a verified recent service, I just send it in to the factory service agency (in this case RSC) for a full service and call it a day.

^ THIS!

Whenever I buy an older used Rolex without knowing its service history, I ship it to the NY RSC for service. When I get it back after 8 or 10 weeks, it looks and works like new, and comes with a Rolex warranty and paperwork with my name on them.