Please watch out!

[Vanessa CW21]

Hi people!

Time for a story...

On Thursday I have a customer walk in with a Day-Date President bracelet Rolex, and he put it on the counter. My first thought was: "oh boy, another fake"
Well, it wasn't fake... What happened was that he had taken his watch to an independent watchmaker (grey dealer for Rolex) and trusted him with his watch to get it serviced. When this customer received the watch back, it had been polished completely with a high-polish finish! No more brush polish at all, not on the case, not on the bracelet.
That's why the watch seemed fake at first sight...
Needless to say, because the original brush polish was completely shiny, this watchmaker must have been polishing quite a while to get the grooves out of the bracelet, and the bracelet felt very light. (note; it's an older style president with the hollow links)

I told the customer I could put the original brush polish back on it if he wanted, which he accepted gladly, since it "didn't look the same anymore" to him!

This morning I finally had the chance to do so, and to my amazement I discovered that some of the links where so severely polished down that they had holes (!) in it!
I'll attach pictures down here to show you (they were taken with my phone, so bad quality, but I circled the holes).

Now, the point of my story is; if you are going to take your watch to an independent watchmaker, please check his or her status with Rolex. Make sure they are authorised and trained by Rolex to work on their watches. This is easy to do; just call Rolex and ask!
This customer probably paid half of the price for a service with this other guy, than what I would have charged, but now his watch is ruined beyond repair... Plus, he had to pay for me to put the brush polish on, so he probably didn't save anything in the end.

When a watchmaker charges half of what "all the other ones" charge, he's probably doing something wrong... He's not using genuine parts, if he replaces any at all! The gaskets HAVE to be replaced with genuine ones with every service, if you go to somebody who's not authorised by Rolex, he cannot get the genuine parts!
It's not because somebody is an AD, he's an Authorised watchmaker as well, please keep that in mind also.

Sorry for the long thread, but you have no idea how many "mess-ups" I end up trying to fix, because somebody was trying to save some bucks!
End of rant...

[oztimelord]

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches

[DS/B MINI S]

Originally Posted by oztimelord

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches

Yep, simple as that

[Art161]

Originally Posted by oztimelord

Cardinal Rule - If you can't afford to get it serviced don't buy the watch, or in my case less watches

Good advice if you are buying a new watch. But sometimes the price for service escalates way beyond what you might have thought. The Rolex I purchased from an AD in 1971 cost about $200. Yes, there has been a general increase in prices since then, but I think the cost of Rolexes and the service costs have risen more than the general rate of inflation.

[marshallr47]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[kcmo]

Wow, amazing story Vanessa. Thanks for the warning! Personally, I only send my watches to the RSC for service....can't beat that peace of mind; worth the money IMO.

[Mr Sandman]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Wow, amazing story Vanessa. Thanks for the warning! Personally, I only send my watches to the RSC for service....can't beat that peace of mind; worth the money IMO.

X2

Why buy a Rolls royce and then get it serviced at the local quick fit.

A lesson for us all.................Send to RSC for complete confidence

[marshallr47]

Wow, good info Vanessa. Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind for any future services.

[Steven79]

Thanks for the heads up Vanessa! Great info!

[Watch Collector]

Amazing that someone with a beautiful watch like that would be so careless and thrifty in trusting some hack to service his watch!

[Lisa]

Vanessa, thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to share this story. Every word from you is always gold!

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Vanessa, thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to share this story. Every word from you is always gold!

Agreed.....very interesting info, Vanessa!! Thanks for the update and sharing your experiences with us!!

[mickeydainish]

Thanx Vanessa.... It is good to be reminded. :-)

[Art161]

I notice that there are a lot of ads in the Yellow Pages that state that "genuine parts" are used, but they don't say "genuine Rolex parts." Let's be careful out there.

[briantheartist]

Wow, I hate hearing about that kind of stuff.

(Now I have a picture of the hand behind the voice )

[jasonbellevue]

Hey Vanessa, hope you and the Camry's doing fine.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, you get what you pay for, that's why I always send my watches to the RSC.

[Jedi]

Vanessa, doesn't Rolex provide authorised watchmakers with a diagram of how to polish/brush the various models?

[taylor]

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

[Goodwatch]

Originally Posted by taylor

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

Would you please consider rephrasing this? Or perhaps elaborate on this? I strongly advise you to do so.

[briantheartist]

Originally Posted by taylor

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

Thems be fighten werdz!

[Welshwatchman]

Originally Posted by taylor

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

It may have just been a deliberately ironic response by Taylor with his excruciating use of grammar being the punchline..

... or just a snide Troll comment.

BTW - If I lived on your side of "the pond" Vanessa there is only one place I would want to send my watches to.

You.

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by taylor

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

[rmcarlton]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

Here here.

[hsfrank]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

What the hell's that supposed to mean, buddy? Vanessa is a very long standing member of TRF and very respected too, I might add.

Where the heck do you get off with a remark like that? There are a lot of people on this forum to whom English is only a second lanaguage; yet they make a concentrated effort to post and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that prevails here.

You might want to rethink what you post and what you say.

JJ

...and if one is to be accurate, the phrase should be "yet, your written remarks are improper or ill constructed." Thus people who live in glass houses....

[timetravel125]

May I humbly ask, and with due respect, what is your definition of "Proper English?"

And, perhaps, you should be reminded that the United States is a county of many people and cultures. And, not all people living in the U.S. are excellent users of your "Proper English."

Awaiting your explanation of "Proper English," please?

Cheers.

Originally Posted by taylor

You claim to be from the United States. Yet, you do not speak proper English!

[Trurolexer]

Thanks for your info.

[CKay]

Great reminder Vanessa. Now the poor guy needs to spend thousands replacing the case and bracelet.

[acce1999]

Thanks. Worth thinking about. I feel for your client. It must be an expensive lesson for him...

Best,

A

P.S. Any opportunities to do more measurements on caseback thickness?

[toph]

very intersting/worrying
thanks for posting that

[ROLEX MAN]

some people shpuld not work on rolex's