Old parts

[travellingbrit]

Just got off the phone to a guy who I have not spoken to for many years who has an old (1960's) Rolex - Precision (I think), I can remember him wearing it when we went out partying - that watch must have taken some beating. However it recently stopped and he took it to the local AD who refused to service it, so it's currently in at a watchmaker for service......so it got me thinking, does anyone know if there is a defined time period for Rolex to maintain watches (10, 15, 20 years ? - I can't find anything on the web site) and do they actually keep parts for old watches. ie in cases like this will the watchmaker be able to get hold of Rolex parts ?,

[Tools]

Simon,
Rolex used to advertise that they kept parts for 30 years after a reference was discontinued.......

Here in the US, there seems to be a cut-off of around 30 years old for the watch itself without regard to the movement, and some vintage pieces with unique dials aren't touched at all.

It seems to be a worsening problem all around.

However, good news is that the Rolex is not a particularly complex movement and your local watchmaker should be able to repair his watch to very respectable standards... probably cheaper too..

[SPACE-DWELLER]

And other resorts could be suppliers of vintage watch parts, such as:

www.classicwatchparts.com

and

www.vintagewatchparts.net/shop

[f16570]

Interesting that they know they will make a watch the will outlive us all, yet when they discontinue a model they only keep parts for 30 years.
You would think that Rolex will have to address this issue.

f