Water damage to DJ

[JonHideR]

Hi everyone, I need some help here. I went swimming in the ocean & my DateJust filled with ocean water. The crown is still closed, I know it was totally closed when I went into the water, I check it religiously. There is still ocean water floating around in there & I'm on vacation for another 4 days so I won't be able to bring it to anyone until I get back. I don't know what to do to try to minimize the damage...does anyone have any suggestions????? I love this watch & will be totally heartbroken if it is ruined...not to mention that I can't afford to buy another one =(

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks in advance.
Jon

[GerardoG]

If water is inside the case; best thing to do is pull the crown OUT to stop the movement (you do not want the gears to be turning with no oil) and send it back asap to Rolex for full service. After being submerged in water, air is the worst enemy as oxidation will start forming over time; the longer it takes for this to be serviced; the worse it could be.

May I ask where are you on vacation? (Some places, like St Thomas, have a very fast turnaround service at the AD).

[nektar]

i am sorry to hear this!people here will help you.

[Numismatist]

Yikes! Sorry man. Are you near an AD? Where are you on vacation?

Maybe any local watchmaker could open the case and drain most of the water until it can be fixed.

[JonHideR]

Thanks for the quick replies. Luckily (or unluckily...) it stopped on its own, I pulled the crown out just in case it starts again.

[Thomas]

Sorry to hear about that. I don't wear my watches in the water, waterproof as they may be. When I am swimming I don't need to know the time, or don't care. Certainly would be different if I were SCUBA diving however, but for recreational swimming I don't wear one into the water. Good luck with you watch.

[JonHideR]

Yeah thats the only reason why I was wearing it, but it was a shallow dive, like 50-60 ft...definitely didn't break 100 =(
I'm not sure where I could go over here. I'm in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Never been here before & so far I haven't really seen any nicer jewelry stores that I would trust at all to do this.

[GerardoG]

Originally Posted by JonHideR

Yeah thats the only reason why I was wearing it, but it was a shallow dive, like 50-60 ft...definitely didn't break 100 =(
I'm not sure where I could go over here. I'm in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Never been here before & so far I haven't really seen any nicer jewelry stores that I would trust at all to do this.

Dealer is ULTRAJEWELS/ULTRAFEMME, they are located in the Marina, next to Lorenzillo's restaurant (feet away from Hard Rock Cafe). They are also the AD in Cancun; largest in Latin America.

[Tools]

Sorry to hear this..

At this point it is damage control because if you do nothing it will be quite rusty by the time it gets serviced..

Leo's idea may save the movement..

Once you get it repaired, have it pressure checked every cou0le of years... there are seals inside the crown tube, at the casse-back, and around the crystal.......... any could get brittle and fail, letting water pour in............ just having the crown screwed down is not any guarantee...

Good luck.......

[rsg]

Originally Posted by JonHideR

Yeah thats the only reason why I was wearing it, but it was a shallow dive, like 50-60 ft...definitely didn't break 100 =(
I'm not sure where I could go over here. I'm in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Never been here before & so far I haven't really seen any nicer jewelry stores that I would trust at all to do this.

Ultrajewels in the Paraiso Mall near the marina can help you out. Any cab driver can get you there.

Oops looks like you already figured this out..........

[Idle Swede]

Originally Posted by rsg

Ultrajewels in the Paraiso Mall near the marina can help you out. Any cab driver can get you there.

Oops looks like you already figured this out..........

And they can use the left over olive oil for their Taco salad...

[VDENTALS]

http://www.loscabosguide.com/ultrajewels/index.html
rolex in cabo san lucas mexico is rolex ad

[Idle Swede]

Don't worry as your watch will not be ruined.

Here's what I would do.

Unscew the crown and hack the movement.

Put the whole watch in a cup of olive or vegetable oil and put a lid on it.

When you get home bring the cup, oil & watch to your watchmaker and they will fix it.

[Idle Swede]

Forgot to mention,

before you dunk it in the oilfilled cup try (with the crown pointing downwards) to shake out as much water as you can.

Remember, time is of essence here as you don't want it to start to rust.

[mborkow]

Originally Posted by Idle Swede

Don't worry as your watch will not be ruined.

Here's what I would do.

Unscew the crown and hack the movement.

Put the whole watch in a cup of olive or vegetable oil and put a lid on it.

When you get home bring the cup, oil & watch to your watchmaker and they will fix it.

You can't bring a liquid onto the flight home, right?

[Idle Swede]

Originally Posted by mborkow

You can't bring a liquid onto the flight home, right?

Sure you can, it has been done and it works.

[lwrm23]

How old is the watch? When was it last serviced?

[Idle Swede]

Originally Posted by lwrm23

How old is the watch? When was it last serviced?

What difference does that make in this case?

[Numismatist]

Originally Posted by Idle Swede

What difference does that make in this case?

I think it matters because he's wondering if maybe the reason this happened was because of old tired seals. Yes, the damage is done, but the conversation continues...

[Jocke]

Originally Posted by Idle Swede

What difference does that make in this case?

If it's too old maybe it's incontinent so the fluid was at the inside from the start.



Jocke

[JonHideR]

Thank you so much everyone for the quick responses! I just brought it to UltraJewels, they sent me to another place right by them & they will have it back to me by tomorrow!! Hopefully its not totally screwed from the salt water but I'll keep my fingers crossed. They think they can totally fix it. I'll let everyone know what happens tomorrow.
BTW - I had it services less than a year ago in a place in Staten Island, NY called B&A Jewelers. I had to bring it back to them 5 times in 1 year because of timing issues as well as a problem with the crown. I even specifically told them to pressure check it because I would be diving with it & they assured me it was in perfect condition. Needless to say...anyone in the NY area DON'T GO THERE FOR SERVICE!!!

[MortgageGuy]

I am sorry for you to hear about this. Good to have all the knowledge this forum brings, your in the right place, wish I could tell you what to do... I love TRF!!!!!!

[kcmo]

Sorry to hear about the mishap. You've definitely done the best thing by taking it to the AD. Let us know what happens!

[Rikki]

Yo guys what you want to do is open crown heat up with a hairdryer which will force out as much moisture as you can then screw down crown. You want to keep as much air out of the watch as you can it's the other ingredient needed to keep the oxidation process going. once sealed up the rusting should slow down quite a bit. With salt water you need to get it to someone within 24 hours or less or you're looking at massive rust new gears dial calendar balance wheel this method works well for me. When I get a wet one in I remove the dial and cal then drop the movement in naptha benzene which displaces the water then blow it off and start the dissesembly process. Hope that helps Rik the watchmaker

[KKB]

Originally Posted by Rikki

Yo guys what you want to do is open crown heat up with a hairdryer which will force out as much moisture as you can then screw down crown. You want to keep as much air out of the watch as you can it's the other ingredient needed to keep the oxidation process going. once sealed up the rusting should slow down quite a bit. With salt water you need to get it to someone within 24 hours or less or you're looking at massive rust new gears dial calendar balance wheel this method works well for me. When I get a wet one in I remove the dial and cal then drop the movement in naptha benzene which displaces the water then blow it off and start the dissesembly process. Hope that helps Rik the watchmaker

Very informative thread.

My only problem is with the above. Wouldn't drying the watch with heat cause the salt water to evaporate causing crystals of salt to form all over the movement which could severely damage all the delicate parts?

[minkysailing]

Excellent thread and a little conerning as I am about to embark on a holiday in Sardinia and intend as always to wear my YM plat/SS whether diving or swimming etc.

One thought struck me that no one appears to have mentioned......INSURANCE...!!! if my watch flooded due to no apparent fault of mine and the watch was in a good state of repair and serviced in the last couple of years then any damge whether partial or permanent is for the insurance company..... that why we have it!!!!

[Andad]

At the risk of disagreeing with a watchmaker and others, I would make the following observations.

IMO.

1) The OP was diving with his DJ and high pressure has pushed some water past seals and into the movement.

2) Opening the crown and shaking the watch will not remove water from the inside.

3) Heating the watch is the worst thing you could do. Rust is a redox reaction and heat will speed up this reaction.

4) In any event, heating it up with the crown open will remove negligible moisture from inside the movement.

5) Dipping the whole watch in a cup of olive oil will have no effect on the movement and you will make a mess if you drop the cup.

I do agree with the part about getting it to a Rolex watchmaker ASAP if not sooner.

I would remove the case back immediately, dip the whole shooting match in the handiest solvent I had - probably meths and this would buy some time.
Not everyone, however has a caseback remover.

Just my 2c.

[tthopp05]

Man,that sucks.Try and enjoy your vacation.It a watch and CAN be fixed.

[Rikki]

And how many wet rolexes have you worked on I stopped counting 500 ago. Rik

[Andad]

Some people have one experience in 500 things.
Some have the same experience 500 times.
I gave my opinion and I stand by it Rik.

Perhaps your >500 wet Rolexes might have been easier to repair if you did it 'my way'.

Lets look at the facts.

The DJ had been worn at maybe 60 ft but less than 100'.
It could have been subject to >30 psi of water pressure.
IMO it was likely that the seals leaked at some depth and associated pressure.
Once back on the surface I would have expected the DJ to be pretty well sealed back up and no amount of shaking or oil in a cup is going to get water out or oil in past the seals at this point in time.
How can you expect to open the crown and let water out then dip it in oil and expect oil to go in?
We now have salt water sealed inside the movement and the watch needs to be take apart and repaired asap.
If you heat the case you will speed up the whole internal rusting process.
It's all really very easy to understand Rik.

I am not a watchmaker I am just the simple MD of an engineering business. Seals are seals, pressure is pressure, facts are facts.
We have a lot of very clever Forum members - lets hear from some of them if there is a better way of fixing this problem in the absence of a handy watchmaker.