Almost 5 months later, I have a serviced Datejust

[the dark knight]

Thanks for all the comments!

Just to address some of the flaws a couple of members pointed out:

I do agree the finishing on the clasp could be better. The clasp was completely swapped in, so I'm wondering if they had a fairly clean one lying around that they used and didn't finish to the same level as the rest of the bracelet. Having said that, the clasp they swapped in has an F12 code, which dates to December 1981. The watch's serial dates to a late 1981 production, so I'm glad they installed a "new" clasp and they made sure the time period matched up. Little things like that that I guess watch nerds can appreciate.

As for some of the black spots on the gold, I literally did not notice this until one of you pointed it out. No idea what that is. They do seem to be on the links there were added last minute when I picked it up. Mike saw that the watch was too tight, so he dug up 2 extra links and quickly polished them and installed. So not up to par with the rest of the bracelet. If I have to nitpick and point out something that was "missed", it is this. I was wearing the DJ when I brought it in to Rolliworks, and it fit me just right but that was on a stretched jubilee. Obviously it was going to be too tight when the stretch was fixed, so I recall asking Mike to install some extra links, but I think this was forgotten. Not a huge deal as I picked it up in person and the extra links were installed quickly, but I guess this could have been an issue of some annoyance if I had mailed the watch in and asked for extra links to be installed and it was mailed back to me without them. But luckily that's not what happened.

The entire servicing wasn't cheap, but at the same time I wasn't expecting 100% perfection. I do think the watch was in slightly worse condition than the pics show, and post-service it's in slightly better condition than the pics show. So I guess I'm approaching it from the standpoint of what condition the watch was in prior to service and what it is now, and am quite pleased so far at the insane improvement.

One more thing I'll note that has nothing to do with the servicing. It's been a very long time since I've worn a watch of this vintage (I briefly owned a 1601 almost 20 years ago). Man do I appreciate how much better the materials/engineering has gotten not just on modern Rolexes but modern watches in general. Was never a huge fan of the stamped metal clasps, and this one seems to dig into my skin. Much prefer the clasp of my 6 digit DJ. I can't help but think how amazing this watch would feel if I could put a modern jubilee on it, or even just a modern clasp.