Need help dealing with RSC!

[edgware14]

Hi, looking for someone with more knowledge than me to help with this situation.

So my girlfriend sent her Rolex 16233 in for a service. This was due to her leaving the crown unscrewed after setting the time and not realising until moisture had fogged the crystal.

Her watch was the attached model, I'd describe it as a cream dial. It's the second one she has had with that dial as she really likes it. I bought the first one off here for her which we ended up selling as we got offered a great price for it. It wasnt too hard to source another one for her anyway.

So anyway, Rolex look at the watch and say it'll cost £930 for all the work including new dial and hands. She agrees and a couple of months later she goes in to collect it.

When she looks at her watch she sees it has a pure white dial. She tells the receptionist the problem and eventually a watchmaker comes out and tells her that originally her dial would have been white, and it was water damage that turned it cream.

She explained it was always cream but he insists they didn't make a cream dial with gold numerals, he then shows her the attached picture of the dials available on a 16233. She points at the cream one and says - that's my dial! He says - no that one has black numerals not gold. I think they appear black in that picture due to a reflection of some sort and not because they are black. I have never seen a cream rolex dial with black numerals like that personally.

So now I don't know what to do, they've charged her for the work but can't put a cream dial on the watch for her.

Was there ever a cream dial made for the 16233 with gold numerals? Or is it just a white dial that has aged and turned creamy over time?

Any help would be really appreciated!

[JP Chestnut]

Cream dials turn to cream over time. The guy was 100% correct. Check out cream dialed exporer 2's - it's the same thing. I wouldn't have sent that watch to an RSC.

[mtgjr]

Originally Posted by JP Chestnut

Cream dials turn to cream over time. The guy was 100% correct. Check out cream dialed exporer 2's - it's the same thing. I wouldn't have sent that watch to an RSC.

You mean white? So they never made a cream colored DJ dial?

[JP Chestnut]

Originally Posted by mtgjr

You mean white? So they never made a cream colored DJ dial?

Perhaps quotes - the so called "cream dials", such as the exp2, turn to cream. They start white. Any time I hear "cream dial" from this era of Rolex, I always assume it's a discolored white. Clear now?

[edgware14]

I hope cream dials do turn to cream over time

Well aware of the cream dialed explorers, but the official dial list show that they did supply 16233s with this creamy coloured dial.

I'm not saying I'm right, I would just like a definitive answer from someone who knows this dial.

[THC]

From what I know, Any time RSC is involved, they will put the watch dial, hands, bezel, etc, exactly the way it was when initially bought, way back when.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by edgware14

Hi, looking for someone with more knowledge than me to help with this situation.

So my girlfriend sent her Rolex 16233 in for a service. This was due to her leaving the crown unscrewed after setting the time and not realising until moisture had fogged the crystal.

Her watch was the attached model, I'd describe it as a cream dial. It's the second one she has had with that dial as she really likes it. I bought the first one off here for her which we ended up selling as we got offered a great price for it. It wasnt too hard to source another one for her anyway.

So anyway, Rolex look at the watch and say it'll cost £930 for all the work including new dial and hands. She agrees and a couple of months later she goes in to collect it.

When she looks at her watch she sees it has a pure white dial. She tells the receptionist the problem and eventually a watchmaker comes out and tells her that originally her dial would have been white, and it was water damage that turned it cream.

She explained it was always cream but he insists they didn't make a cream dial with gold numerals, he then shows her the attached picture of the dials available on a 16233. She points at the cream one and says - that's my dial! He says - no that one has black numerals not gold. I think they appear black in that picture due to a reflection of some sort and not because they are black. I have never seen a cream rolex dial with black numerals like that personally.

So now I don't know what to do, they've charged her for the work but can't put a cream dial on the watch for her.

Was there ever a cream dial made for the 16233 with gold numerals? Or is it just a white dial that has aged and turned creamy over time?

Any help would be really appreciated!

Originally Posted by THC

From what I know, Any time RSC is involved, they will put the watch dial, hands, bezel, etc, exactly the way it was when initially bought, way back when.

i'd leave it alone. rolex may use the closest genuine replacement available at time of service.

which is why there's open numeric date wheels, different font dials, longer or shorter hands, etc...

[train-time]

I am not aware of a Cream Roman Dial option being available for the 16233. I bought my first one back in the early '90's and chose the Ivory Pyramid Roman over the White Roman because the Ivory was a much softer color than the stark White Roman. I would have opted for a Cream Roman in a heartbeat if it was available from the factory but it wasn't an option.

[Ar_Mi]

Ive deff seen some 16233s with a distinctive cream dial, and im pretty sure it would take like 50 years of UV exposures for it to go from full on white to that color beige.. so it was deff factory beige

[Dirt]

If you're adamant your position is correct about the cream dial.

I see only one course of action in this matter.
First, respectfully and without prejudice do not accept the watch and leave it with the dealer or RSC(which ever the case may be).
Secondly follow up with a very nicely worded letter sent directly to Rolex in Geneva without delay and state your problem. They may be able to help if at all possible, but take their(Geneva's) position as definitive.
If they can help you out expect a further and slightly extended delay in getting the watch back.

Failing that, purchase another watch with your preferred dial and don't leave the crown unscrewed EVER AGAIN. Then sell the repaired watch at your convenience.

Good luck.