1989 16610 Issues

[bjscott05]

Good Day Gents,

I recently purchased a birth year (1989) 16610 from Bobs Watches that I am having issues with. On a daily basis, it is losing time. In fact, I set the watch this morning at 10:20am and only an hour later it was running four minutes slow. I've sent the watch back to Bobs Watches multiple times to have their service technicians look at it, and both times it has come back to me in (seemingly) the same condition. They keep saying it is running great when in fact it is not.

Any suggestions on what might be wrong with it and what steps I should take? I don't want to get rid of this watch because everything is in excellent condition and I love the patina on the dial, but it seems to me that my only options now are to have it serviced by Rolex or to get my money back from Bobs. I hate to buy a Rolex and have it run so poorly..

Thanks

[vintagewatch]

Are you manually winding the watch (if stopped) prior to wearing it? The rotor winding mechanism sometimes needs help to build up a power reserve in the main spring. The hour that lost 4 minutes, did you see the watch stop/start? If it's not a power issue has Bob's stated what they have done (if anything) to correct the problem? Loosing time could be caused by the watch getting magnetized. Demagnetizing the watch is relatively simple if this is the cause of the problem. Are you somehow exposing the watch to significant magnetic fields? Just some possibilities.

[Tools]

How are you checking the accuracy of your watch?

[bjscott05]

Originally Posted by vintagewatch

Are you manually winding the watch (if stopped) prior to wearing it? The rotor winding mechanism sometimes needs help to build up a power reserve in the main spring. The hour that lost 4 minutes, did you see the watch stop/start? If it's not a power issue has Bob's stated what they have done (if anything) to correct the problem? Loosing time could be caused by the watch getting magnetized. Demagnetizing the watch is relatively simple if this is the cause of the problem. Are you somehow exposing the watch to significant magnetic fields? Just some possibilities.

I am winding the watch 40 times if the power reserve is completely dead, and 20 or so just when resetting the time. I didn't see it start and stop, and it happened right after I gave it a time resetting wind. Bobs said their service team, "My guys went through the escapement and drive train, tested, cleaned and adjusted all tolerances and jewels."

Magnetization shouldn't be an issue, since I'm just working a normal desk job from home right now. Haven't seen any issues on my Tudor, Breitling, Omega, etc while wearing them from home, either. I've thought about trying one of the demagnetization tools, regardless.

Originally Posted by Tools

How are you checking the accuracy of your watch?

I am setting and checking the time via the Hodinkee app on iOS.

[AJMarcus]

Sorry mods. please delete. Thanks.

[AJMarcus]

Highly doubtful it’s magnetized unless you’re an airline pilot maybe. More likely you may need to manually wind it fully once per week. Quite often wrist movement alone may not be sufficient to wind the watch completely. Also, have Bob explain to you what they did when you returned it to them. Lastly, Do you have a local watchmaker with a Rolex parts account nearby? If so, that’s where I’d take it and have them take a look. Could be a very easy regulation fix

[bjscott05]

Originally Posted by AJMarcus

Highly doubtful it’s magnetized unless you’re an airline pilot maybe. More likely you may need to manually wind it fully once per week. Quite often wrist movement alone may not be sufficient to wind the watch completely. Also, have Bob explain to you what they did when you returned it to them. Lastly, Do you have a local watchmaker with a Rolex parts account nearby? If so, that’s where I’d take it and have them take a look. Could be a very easy regulation fix

Taking it to a local shop to see if they can regulate it is a good idea. I’ll look into that option as well.