GMT II Problem(s)?

[av8ors]

Hello,

I have a 2 years old GMT II and it's been working great till about this May / June.

Normally I leave the watch in a Oakley watch case when I play golf (leave it in the golf bag) or working in the airplane (usually flight suite / backpack). During a recent work related trip down to central & south america, I often found the watch stopped when I took it out from the case. Since we were flying almost on daily basis and I would only get to wear the watch 2 ~ 4 hours max per day, I thought that was normal. Manual winding was part of my routine before I head to bed and sync it with an atomic clock source in the morning.

However, the problem had become worse. It would stop from time to time and I could no longer use it as a time piece! This morning I sync it at 5:05AM and by 7:12 AM it had already lost 25 minutes. The watch was still moving but the time was wrong. It seldom loses more than a few seconds a day before? Was it because I leave it in the case while flying (cabin pressure ~ 6500 ft, temp ~ 8 to 20 C depending on how well the heaters work that day)?

I think it needs a trip to RSC...hopefully it's still under warranty. I am not sure if I should take it back to the jeweler where it was purchased or bring it directly to RSC?!

Any advices are welcome! Thanks!

[Thunderball57]

I'd take it to the AD (?) you purchased it from first. Hope it's still under warranty. Good luck!

[T. Ferguson]

First off, I'm not a watchmaker so I wouldn't even try to guess what's going on. But I'd certainly get it looked at.

As far as whether it's under warranty, that's easy enough to determine. Just look at the date on the warranty card.

Warranty work is done by the RSC. You can take the watch to your AD and they will forward it, or you can send it directly yourself. If it's not under warranty then you can take it to any qualified watchmaker with a Rolex parts account.

[av8ors]

Thanks for the advices. I will need to retrieve the warranty card and pay the AD a visit tomorrow.

[joe100]

Are you absolutely sure you're winding it enough ? A full wind is 40 turns. It amazes me how many folks don't realize you have to wind the watch. The rotor only maintains the power reserve.

Best of luck!

[av8ors]

Originally Posted by joe100

Are you absolutely sure you're winding it enough ? A full wind is 40 turns. It amazes me how many folks don't realize you have to wind the watch. The rotor only maintains the power reserve.

Best of luck!

I usually count to 40 when I wind the watch. Actually I think my movement is losing time after I wind them. I just did another 40 turns at 20:08 PDT and it was 35 seconds behind the atomic clock at home. It's now 20:36 and my watch is 4 minutes & 21 seconds behind.

Same thing this morning...wind the watch before I shower and by the time I arrive work it had lost ~25 minutes within 2 hours.

Just open the safe and retrieved the warranty card...it is out of warranty. :-(

[T. Ferguson]

Guys, is it at all possible it got magnetized somehow? I know it usually speeds up when magnetized, but just a thought, and it's an easy fix.

[av8ors]

Originally Posted by T. Ferguson

Guys, is it at all possible it got magnetized somehow? I know it usually speeds up when magnetized, but just a thought, and it's an easy fix.

Good point… I will pay more attention to all the equipments surrounded me today. This GMT II slows down more often than speeds up though.

[av8ors]

I've taken it back to the AD...

It's dead, Jim. :-( Watch is on its way to RSC now.

[Vanessa CW21]

Originally Posted by av8ors

I've taken it back to the AD...

It's dead, Jim. :-( Watch is on its way to RSC now.

How long was it out of warranty? RSC usually covers up to a year past the warranty date if they feel the issue wasn't caused by the customer.
It's always worth a shot to send the warranty card with the repair.

[SeaAndSky]

It is always disappointing when quality things we purchase don't perform as expected. Let us know what was wrong with it when you get it back.

[av8ors]

It's about 6 months passed the 2 years mark. AD said the watch might be "dropped" but I couldn't think of anything that might had caused that. The watch is either on my wrist or in the Oakley watch case wrapped with a soft cloth. :-(

There is no strong magnetic sources around the equipments I've been working with. I am very interested to see what RSC says after they take a look at the watch.

[rmfnla]

Second dead GMT II posted, and both relatively new:

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=354094