We often see Rolex watches in our workshop. Rolex as a brand need no introduction – the brand is synonymous with high-quality, luxury timepieces. These watches are well worth maintaining and often become heirlooms passed down between generations. In this instance we have a vintage model – a Rolex Oyster Precision for repair.
On initial assessment this watch was barely ticking. Inspection of the calibre 1210 manual wind movement showed the oils and greases crucial for the correct functioning of the watch were completely dried up. This watch clearly hadn’t been serviced in many years, so we needed to change that!
A full service involves complete disassembly of the movement, with each part carefully inspected for wear. Once everything is stripped down, we run the parts through our specialist watch movement cleaning machine. The cleaning machine uses a series of jars containing specialised cleaning or rinsing fluids to give everything a thorough clean. We combine the use of the cleaning machine with a form of manual cleaning during the disassembly process – this way be can be certain we’ll have spotlessly clean parts when we get to the reassembly stage.
After cleaning, the movement is carefully reassembled and oiled, plus we fitted a new mainspring as the old one was out of shape. A mainspring in excellent condition is crucial to ensure a properly functioning watch – the mainspring is the source of power for the movement after all. Once everything is back together we adjust and test the movement, before the dial and hands are fitted.
The watch case is given a light polish and thoroughly cleaned and dried, before the watch is fully reassembled. Now the complete watch can be tested.
For watches like this we recommend servicing every 3-5 years. This is to ensure optimal performance of the movement (as the oils and greases needed to keep the movement running properly need to be kept fresh) and to allow the movement to be checked for signs of wear and tear.
After a full service and new mainspring plus a clean and polish of the case, this beautiful Rolex is running very nicely once again.
Yours sincerely
David Clark DGA PJDip PJGemDip CertGA
Managing Director
W.E. Clark & Son Limited