crown tube pushed inside instead of threaded onto case?

[timelord]

I was contemplating on a buying a White gold Oysterquartz from a local but was turned off when he honestly mentioned that the crown tube had not been screwed into case but jammed into case as some previous incompetant watchmaker thought that it was put in like other watch brand such as Seiko that the case tubes are just pushed in. My question is has anyone ever come across to a problem like this and if so, is there anything that can be done about it to replace the crown tube at a future service or is the timepiece not worth bothering with????.

[wantonebad]

I'm not a fan of buying someone elses headaches, however if you're getting a reasonable discount (more than reasonable discount would be better) and you had it authenticated it could work out. That said I'm not a watchmaker and I would rather buy a 100% working piece.

[C.anderson]

I concur with the gentleman above. Also, if an incompetent watch maker made that silly of a mistake, no telling what other mistakes were made with the watch. Maybe this will bring some clarity to the situation, Say you buy an old muscle car and decide you are going to restore it. You dump a lot of time and money into it, eventually it's a fully restored muscle car and one of the nicest on the streets to boast. (OR) You spend a lot more money, you get a nice ferrari you can drive right off the lot. You see-- Its all about personal opionion. Personally, I like to be able to wear/use my watch the day I get it.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

I'm not a fan of buying someone elses headaches, however if you're getting a reasonable discount (more than reasonable discount would be better) and you had it authenticated it could work out. That said I'm not a watchmaker and I would rather buy a 100% working piece.

Originally Posted by C.anderson

I concur with the gentleman above. Also, if an incompetent watch maker made that silly of a mistake, no telling what other mistakes were made with the watch. Maybe this will bring some clarity to the situation, Say you buy an old muscle car and decide you are going to restore it. You dump a lot of time and money into it, eventually it's a fully restored muscle car and one of the nicest on the streets to boast. (OR) You spend a lot more money, you get a nice ferrari you can drive right off the lot. You see-- Its all about personal opionion. Personally, I like to be able to wear/use my watch the day I get it.

X2

Who knows what else this guy messed up. Unless you have the opportunity to have a competent watchmaker who has a Rolex parts account to do a complete and thorough evaluation first I would walk away.

[MoBe]

Originally Posted by timelord

I was contemplating on a buying a White gold Oysterquartz from a local but was turned off when he honestly mentioned that the crown tube had not been screwed into case but jammed into case as some previous incompetant watchmaker thought that it was put in like other watch brand such as Seiko that the case tubes are just pushed in. My question is has anyone ever come across to a problem like this and if so, is there anything that can be done about it to replace the crown tube at a future service or is the timepiece not worth bothering with????.

If what the seller says is true then the watch is worth little more than it`s weight as scrap gold because the case is ruined.

[2th Dr]

Walk away.

[handsfull]

I say run.

[timelord]

I like the saying buy the seller and not the watch and I praise the seller for being honest. However, my worry is with other Rolex Oyster models that are not new and may have had the same done to them without the knowledge of the seller.

How many of us buy second hand pieces and get them checked out to see if they are genuine or not and even get a quote for a service, only to realise later that the case tube cannot be changed as someone earlier had not screwed it in but pushed it in like other brand watches.

Surely even at Rolex service center when one gets a quote "do they remove the tube when quoting to make sure that there is no damage there by an incompentent person? I wonder what the look at when quoting a service? I have a divers Seiko that has a pushin case tube which is how they are designed.

[MoBe]

I doubt that this type of problem is very common,if anything I don`t think this type of thing has even been seen before.This is the first case I have ever heard of and I don`t expect to see it again.

[Rikki]

as long as not too much of the metal has been disturbed the case can be rethreaded and the correct tube put in but as some others have said who knows what other shortcuts have been made and would be best to walk away or pay substantially less for it and hope for the best. Rikki

[timelord]

Originally Posted by Rikki

as long as not too much of the metal has been disturbed the case can be rethreaded and the correct tube put in but as some others have said who knows what other shortcuts have been made and would be best to walk away or pay substantially less for it and hope for the best. Rikki

Wow, Rikki you have also come across to something like this? I had never ever heard of a case tube being jammed into the case and I was wondeiring how it is even possible to do unless the charlaten watchmaker was either blind or totally off his head? Surely a thread can be seen on both sides of the tube.

My only other guess of how this could have happened was that it must have been a non genuine case tube without a thread on one end and jammed in. If so, would the geuine crown screw onto the non genuine tube?

[Rikki]

My guess as to what happenned is the original tube broke when someone was trying to remove it and left the threads inside the case so when you look in you don't see threads you see a smooth round hole. This happens quite a lot in the extraction of a worn out tube that has been over locktited. You have to use a 6 sided brooch and jam it into the hole to grab what's left of the threads after you heat it up and then slowly unscrew the remaining threads. If they don't all come out you have to retap the threads and clean them up. Rikki

[timelord]

Originally Posted by Rikki

My guess as to what happenned is the original tube broke when someone was trying to remove it and left the threads inside the case so when you look in you don't see threads you see a smooth round hole. This happens quite a lot in the extraction of a worn out tube that has been over locktited. You have to use a 6 sided brooch and jam it into the hole to grab what's left of the threads after you heat it up and then slowly unscrew the remaining threads. If they don't all come out you have to retap the threads and clean them up. Rikki

did unthread the original tube but did not have the correct case tube which was threaded on both ends, but instead had one that pressed in the case which also accomodated a rolex crown?

[Rikki]

They're many tubes available out there for the thousands of different configurations so finding one and jamming it in isn't unheard of but quite stupid and unprofessional. So as I have said in the past knowledge of a subject like Rolex or any thing, if you are attempting to get involved with get somes books, tech manuals and study the basic construction and get familiar with these things, then in the future make it easier to slam a seller if he's trying to pass on inferior goods, if everyone got schooled up it would put the scammers out of business. I know this is a tall order because the next newest scam is right around the corner, but vigilance is the price we must pay. Ooof sorry got a little preachy there you have a nice day Rikki

[timelord]

Originally Posted by Rikki

They're many tubes available out there for the thousands of different configurations so finding one and jamming it in isn't unheard of but quite stupid and unprofessional.

and I feel very privileged to have someone like Rikki on board and anyone that has experience in this field.

I learn a lot on these forums and as Rikki said that it is incredibly stupid and unprofessional for someone to press in a case tube not made for a Rolex I wonder if the genuine crown would even screw smoothly and properly onto this tube as each tube is made for it's own crown - correct me if I am wrong?

[MoBe]

Originally Posted by Rikki

They're many tubes available out there for the thousands of different configurations so finding one and jamming it in isn't unheard of but quite stupid and unprofessional. So as I have said in the past knowledge of a subject like Rolex or any thing, if you are attempting to get involved with get somes books, tech manuals and study the basic construction and get familiar with these things, then in the future make it easier to slam a seller if he's trying to pass on inferior goods, if everyone got schooled up it would put the scammers out of business. I know this is a tall order because the next newest scam is right around the corner, but vigilance is the price we must pay. Ooof sorry got a little preachy there you have a nice day Rikki

I agree,unfortunately,with what you`re saying,Rikki.

The scam artists out there know that most watch buyers don`t have a clue and the scammers will continue to profit from this knowledge.Most buyers are simply too lazy to arm themselves with the information they need to make informed decisions and instead rely others opinions because they`re incapable of forming their own.

[GTS Dean]

I would buy a white gold DD OQ with this issue - only at a substantial discount from the market for YG.