Sending my 116520 out to service. Polish or not polish

[jwill]

I’m about to send out my Daytona 116520 to do the service with Rolex. Need some suggestion out there that should I let them polish the watch and make it look brand new, or should I keep it the original condition and not to polish them. I’m not sure if 116520 was old enough for people to look at them as an vintage yet? Thank you in advance.

[EWY]

Here is a post on my experience at RSC BH. I had mine polished. It is your watch, do what makes you happy.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=877410

[harvey]

I would polish it…

[GradyPhilpott]

It depends on how scratched up it is.

If it looks like you've spent a year crawling through, over, and under concertina wire and busting bunkers, then it'd probably be a good idea to get it polished.

If it has the kind of scratches that are picked up under normal wear that you might get desk diving, playing golf, and bumping into a few door jambs, probably not.

I'm only against polishing out the normal, signs of daily wear that will be reacquired after only a few months after getting it back.

[joli160]

Not even close to vintage.

I like my watches come back from service looking brand new.
RSC does a pretty good job at that

[ArtNouveau]

Not a member of the never polish crowd, I would have it come back looking like new with its service.

PS: in 2008 I was preparing to sell my 4 year old daily worn black dial 116520 for sale. I had a local jeweler touch it up and I got a premium for it, the never polish crowd was not in vogue yet.

[Big Kahuna 0311]

I would go for the polish and enjoy it being new again.

[Cauhauna]

Don’t do it. You can always polish later

[LightOnAHill]

If the world were to end in the next decade, would you polish?

[thesharkfactor]

Light touch up with some polish to remove swirls is fine. Grinding the sides and lugs back to remove nicks and dents is bad.
If you watch has dents and nicks tell them not to refinish or they will destroy it, it’ll look like a used bar of soap.
You decide what you want.

[jwill]

After reading through all the comment. I think I will polish them. I have this watch for 9 years and don’t really baby them desk dive probably the worst I have on them. I’m also excited to see them back looking brand new again.

[HogwldFLTR]

Originally Posted by jwill

After reading through all the comment. I think I will polish them. I have this watch for 9 years and don’t really baby them desk dive probably the worst I have on them. I’m also excited to see them back looking brand new again.

Good choice, imho!

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by thesharkfactor

Light touch up with some polish to remove swirls is fine. Grinding the sides and lugs back to remove nicks and dents is bad.
If you watch has dents and nicks tell them not to refinish or they will destroy it, it’ll look like a used bar of soap.
You decide what you want.

This ^

I'm not a member of the "never polish" brigade, but I do agree that Rolex's aggressive method of removing dents and nicks by grinding away lots of material can really spoil the lines of the case. More serious dents/nicks would usually benefit from laser-welding which (AFAIK) RSC don't currently offer, so in situations like that I'd say don't refinish - at least not by RSC. But for desk-diving swirlies I'd say a light polish is fine as your watch will come back as good as new.

[VonSomething]

Keep it unpolished, whatever marks it has now will come back again anyways but you'll relive the pain of acquiring them once more.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by jwill

I’m about to send out my Daytona 116520 to do the service with Rolex. Need some suggestion out there that should I let them polish the watch and make it look brand new, or should I keep it the original condition and not to polish them. I’m not sure if 116520 was old enough for people to look at them as an vintage yet? Thank you in advance.

Well to be vintage made around in early the 1980s, and today there is a anti polish syndrome around. As long as any polish is done by RSC at normal routine service only now around 5-10 years depending on use. My own 16600 SD has been serviced and polished by 3 different RSC world wide. And had quite a hard life working underwater as a working tool watch, still ticking and looking good and almost 23 years young .And lets be honest most Rolex watches today get a very pampered life so most scratches will be superficial, so its up to you polish or not.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

It depends on how scratched up it is.

If it looks like you've spent a year crawling through, over, and under concertina wire and busting bunkers, then it'd probably be a good idea to get it polished.

If it has the kind of scratches that are picked up under normal wear that you might get desk diving, playing golf, and bumping into a few door jambs, probably not.

I'm only against polishing out the normal, signs of daily wear that will be reacquired after only a few months after getting it back.

Exactly the same Grady

[Onequik135i]

I wouldn’t polish it if it has normal wear & tear but that’s me. My black 2009 116520 has light wear unpublished & that’s it. I never intend on polishing it. And keep in mind the shiny SS bezels on these 520’s don’t look as clear after polishing in regards to the black enamel lettering.

[minute_man]

Originally Posted by jwill

After reading through all the comment. I think I will polish them. I have this watch for 9 years and don’t really baby them desk dive probably the worst I have on them. I’m also excited to see them back looking brand new again.

Good call, OP You get to enjoy a factory fresh watch, all over again

[Xky]

Originally Posted by Onequik135i

I wouldn’t polish it if it has normal wear & tear but that’s me. My black 2009 116520 has light wear unpublished & that’s it. I never intend on polishing it. And keep in mind the shiny SS bezels on these 520’s don’t look as clear after polishing in regards to the black enamel lettering.

That’s interesting!


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[1665fan]

Originally Posted by vonsomething

keep it unpolished, whatever marks it has now will come back again anyways but you'll relive the pain of acquiring them once more.

+1

[NachoNeal]

At my last service I opted for no polish.
I'm not anti-polish. The scratches just don't bug me enough.

[pursang_]

I'm in the no polish without laser welding camp.

The Daytona I'm more inclined to be in the more dogmatic anti-polish camp due to the lug design.

[Solo118]

This is just my 2 cents, but having been around Daytonas my entire adult life.... I say do not polish a 116520 for a few reasons

1) If they do not polish the bezel correctly, you either have to buy a new one, or have it look a bit dull (I have never seen an RSC polish come back missing enamel, but have seen more than enough of other polished Daytona bezels that were destroyed)

2) In case you did not already know, the lugs are asymmetric. If the right lugs get polished too much, they look anemic, and if the left lugs are polished too much it could make the watch symmetrical which is wrong! 18k watches do not have asymmetric cases, but at the same time those watches must be polished perfectly to maintain the lug shape.

3) You can ask them to polish the bracelet alone, I honestly can't say I have seen RSC mess up a bracelet, and they brush to perfection as well.

That being said, post some pictures, because there is a difference between a lightly worn watch with some swirls you can live with forever vs. a watch that is worn daily and scratched/pitted etc.

[jamesbondOO7]

I would leave the polishing to the bracelet only. I had the lugs on my 1986 16030 quite messed up at the HQ service centre in Geneva.

[Chewbacca]

There’s plenty of RSCs outside Poland.

[Fleetlord]

If it's truly unpolished, don't polish!

[RobJohnFL]

If it’s still nice to look at and not beat up badly, I wouldn’t have it polished.

[stewester]

Don't polish it. The scratches will return but the factory case profile will be lost forever.

[Beto737]

I’m in the “no polish until absolutely necessary” club. I’m getting close to sending my 116520 in for service as well.

[LateLearner]

No.


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