How To Service A Rolex Watch

Information technology's no surreptitious that Rolex watches have evolved to become a status symbol. Equally the brand likes to remind us, Rolex is synonymous with prestige and excellence. And while there is no denying the attractive qualities of the exterior of a Rolex, these watches would take not stood the test of fourth dimension without the movements that power them.

Yes, information technology is true that Rolex calibers are not the prettiest movements out there; they are after all hidden backside solid metallic screw-down case-backs. Merely what they lack in ornament and finishing, they certainly make up for in robustness, durability, practicality—and serviceability.

Rolex mechanical movements were always built for an active life—whether it is diving, cave exploring, mountain climbing, jet setting, or running an empire. They were never conceived as delicately decorated calibers to stare at through a transparent case-back crystal.

Some Rolex owners claim that these movements are so tough that they never need any maintenance. Other more responsible wearers however, understand that no matter how well built a Rolex caliber is, information technology certainly does need regular servicing to ensure optimal performance and increased longevity.

If you take ever wondered how a Rolex spotter is serviced, read our complete guide to learn more.

Rolex Movements

Earlier delving into how a Rolex watch is serviced, information technology is important to understand a little flake about the history of Rolex movements and highlighting some notable calibers and innovations along the mode. Rolex has filed around 400 patents throughout its history—a clear indication that the company places a premium on technical innovations.

While Rolex has certainly made manual-wound and quartz movements, the brand is nearly famous for making automatic mechanical movements for its watches. In fact, it was in 1931, that Rolex invented the first self-winding mechanism with a Perpetual rotor. This patented structure not only serves as the basis of all Rolex automated movements but also that of nigh self-winding watches from any brand since the invention went into the public domain in 1948. While the Rolex scout is being worn, the natural motility of a wrist causes the Perpetual rotor to swing back and forth, which then serves to automatically current of air up the watch. This replaces the demand to regularly wind up a sentinel.

Another innovation that has played a function in the success of Rolex watches is the company'due south emphasis on water resistance which actually came earlier the Perpetual rotor mechanism. In 1926, Rolex unveiled the Oyster case congenital with a spiral-downwardly crown, screw-down case-back, and a bezel securing the acrylic crystal to the example. This three-part structure keeps water and grit out of the lookout.

Since then, Rolex has improved the h2o resistance of its watches across the board with a rating of 100 meters for most of its models, 300 meters for Submariner watches, 1,220 meters for Sea-Dweller watches, and 3,900 meters for Deepsea watches.

In 2000, Rolex introduced a patented hairspring made in an sectional alloy of niobium, zirconium, and oxygen for optimal precision. In 2005, Rolex developed a patented process to care for the surface of the hairspring to reinforce its stability, which as well happens to turn the piece blueish. This exclusive motion component is called the Parachrom hairspring and Rolex maintains that it is resistant to magnetism and temperature swings, and it remains up to ten times more than accurate than a traditional hairspring in example of shocks, no wonder that watches made by Rolex tend to be more accurate than other watch brands.

In 2005, Rolex also introduced the patented Paraflex shock absorb system, which improves a lookout'south shock resistance past upwardly to l%.

How Long Does information technology Take to Make and Assemble a Rolex Motility?

Today, Rolex has four chief manufacturing sites in Switzerland. The Rolex Bienne site is where the company'south movements are produced. All Rolex calibers are made entirely in-firm now (this was not ever the case) and every single one is hand-assembled. Nonetheless, it is of import to note that Rolex houses incredible cutting-edge mechanism that manufactures the components of the movement very speedily. For example, Rolex produces base-plates at a rate of 100 per minute.

Information technology is this magic formula of high-tech machinery and easily-on adroitness that allows Rolex to produce up to 1 one thousand thousand (estimated) topnotch timepieces a year.

Rolex famously claims that it takes a whole year to make a Rolex watch from offset to end, simply lets be realistic. With the ability to produce hundreds of parts simultaneously, the entire process should not take longer than a week, unless the filibuster is a function of their marketing game. I'm just speculating, only in realist the wait menstruum for a new Rolex Daytona ref. 16500 is approximately 5 years unless yous are set up to pay double for what its actually worth. Call up that Rolex is a highly vertically integrated manufacturing company, making the majority of all the components that become into the sentry from the materials to the instance to the bracelet to the move parts in-house. And then while it may but take a few hours to assemble the scout, it takes much longer to manufacture all the pieces required and to conduct all the concluding testing to ensure tiptop performance.

Notable Rolex Calibers

Rolex movements tin can be mostly classified into half-dozen categories: time merely, date, twenty-four hour period/date, GMT, chronograph, and almanac agenda.

Frequency rate indicates how many beats per hour the move operates. Today, all Rolex calibers operate at a frequency of 28,800 beats per hour, which is equivalent to viii ticks per 2d. This is why the seconds hands of an automatic Rolex looks like it "sweeps" around the dial compared to the seconds manus of a quartz sentry that "jumps" to the next position once every second.

Power reserve is the term used for how much power a watch tin shop while lying dormant before running out of juice. Depending on the caliber, Rolex watches can take anywhere from 42 hours to 70 hours of power reserve. Once an automatic sentinel depletes its power reserve, all it takes is some winding to become it going over again and one time it'southward on the wrist, information technology will go along to cocky-wind again thanks to the rotor.

When a picket has "hacking" role, it means that the seconds mitt comes to a consummate stop when the winding crown is pulled out to the second position. This allows for precise time-setting.

A quick set date (or mean solar day) feature means that the calendar window tin can be prepare independently from the heart hour and minute hands. To modify the engagement on a non-quick-set sentry means having to continuously turn the minute mitt around the dial past midnight until the correct date appears in the window, that is why it is a good thought to set up the date properly during the first attempt otherwise you will have to repeat the unabridged procedure over.

At present that nosotros accept covered some technical terms, hither is a list of some of Rolex'southward near notable calibers.

Rolex Time Merely Calibers

These movements power the uncomplicated fourth dimension-but Rolex watches, sometimes referred to as "three-handers."

Reference	Intro Year	Frequency Rate & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 1570	1965	– xix,800 bph – 42 hours	Oyster Perpetual, Submariner, Explorer	Hacking office added in 1972
Quotient 3000	1990	– 28,800 bph – 42 hours	Air-King, Submariner, Explorer
Caliber 3130	2000	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Oyster Perpetual, Air-Rex, Submariner, Explorer	Parachrom hairspring
Caliber 3131	2007	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Milgauss, Air-King	– Anti-Magnetic Parachrom hairspring – Paraflex anti-shock organisation
Caliber 3132	2010	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Explorer, Oyster Perpetual	– Anti-Magnetic Parachrom hairspring – Paraflex anti-shock system

Rolex Engagement Calibers

These movements ability the Rolex watches that accept a date window at 3 o'clock. It is interesting to annotation that there are currently more Rolex watches with engagement windows than without.

Reference	Intro Year	Frequency Charge per unit & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 1575	1967	– 19,800 bph – 42 hours	Sea-Dweller, Date, Datejust, Submariner Engagement	Hacking function added in 1972
Caliber 3035	1977	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Engagement, Datejust, Sea-Dweller, Submariner Engagement	Quickset date role
Caliber 3135	1988	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Date, Datejust, Sea-Dweller, Deepsea, Submariner Date, Yacht-Master	Parachrom hairspring added in 2000
Quotient 3235	2015	– 28,800 bph – 70 hours	Pearlmaster, Body of water-Dweller, Deepsea, Datejust, Yacht-Main	– Parachrom hairspring – Paraflex anti-daze organisation

Rolex Day-Date Calibers

These movements ability the Rolex Day-Engagement watches, which are also known as Rolex President watches.

Reference	Intro Yr	Frequency Rate & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 3055	1978	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Day-Date	Quickset engagement office
Caliber 3155	1988	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	Day-Date	– Double quickset: day and date – Parachrom hairspring added in 2000
Caliber 3255	2015	– 28,800 bph – 70 hours	Day-Date	– Parachrom hairspring – Paraflex anti-daze system

Rolex GMT Calibers

These movements power Rolex watches with an extra 24-hour hand, which are the GMT-Master and Explorer II models. Early versions of these models had 24-hr hands that were linked to the local hour hand. This meant that wearers had to plow the rotating bezel of the GMT-Master watches to indicate another time zone while the 24-hour paw of the first Explorer II but served every bit an A.M./P.M. indicator since that sentry model has a fixed bezel. When the 24-hour hand became independent, Rolex introduced the GMT-Master II model, which can betoken iii fourth dimension zones. Plus, the independent 24-hr hand meant that the Explorer 2 evolved into a dual-fourth dimension watch.

Reference	Intro Year	Frequency Charge per unit & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 1575GMT	1967	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	GMT-Master, Explorer II
Quotient 3075	1981	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	GMT-Master	Contained 24-hour
Caliber 3085	1983	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	GMT-Main Two, Explorer 2
Quotient 3185	1988	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	GMT-Master 2, Explorer II
Caliber 3186	2005	– 28,800 bph – 48 hours	GMT-Master Two, Explorer II	Parachrom hairspring
Quotient 3285	2018	– 28,800 bph – 70 hours	GMT-Master II	– Parachrom hairspring – Paraflex anti-shock system

Rolex Chronograph Calibers

These below movements power Rolex chronograph watches. Prior to 1988, Daytona watches ran on manual-wound Valjoux-based movements.

Reference	Intro Year	Frequency Rate & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 4030	1988	– 28,800 bph – 54 hours	Cosmograph Daytona	Modified Zenith El-Primero motion
Caliber 4130	2000	– 28,800 bph – 72 hours	Cosmograph Daytona	– First in-firm chronograph caliber Parachrom hairspring
Caliber 4160 (updated to Caliber 4161 in 2013)	2007	– 28,800 bph – 72 hours	Yacht-Master 2	Programmable countdown with mechanical memory

Rolex Annual Calendar Caliber

This movement powers Rolex'southward almanac agenda model (with two time zones, date, and month), the Sky-Dweller. Information technology is considered one of the visitor's most complex mod-24-hour interval calibers.

Reference	Intro Yr	Frequency Rate & Power Reserve	Used in which Rolex watches	Notes
Caliber 9001	2001	– 28,800 bph – 72 hours	Sky-Dweller	Automatically adjusts to the correct month and date except when February turns into March

How Precise are Rolex Movements?

A Swiss chronometer is a watch that has been certified past the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) as having passed strict accuracy and precision standards. Rolex has been COSC'due south biggest client for decades, sending anywhere from 700,000 to a million watches for certification each year. COSC standards permit for an average divergence charge per unit of -4/+half dozen seconds per day for mechanical watches.

Nonetheless, in 2015, Rolex redefined its own Pinnacle Chronometer Officially Certified standard to guarantee an accurateness rate of -2/+2 seconds per 24-hour interval for its watches—which is double that of COSC.

Official Rolex Service Centers vs. Independent Service Centers

A frequent question that comes up with Rolex owners is if it is better to service their watches at an official Rolex Service Center (RSC) or at an independent service centre. Naturally, official centers will simply utilize Rolex-manufactured parts and provide a ii-year Rolex Service Guarantee.

However, RSCs are notoriously expensive and a service flow can be quite lengthy. Furthermore, when Rolex services a watch, information technology is standard operating procedure to gear up or replace any damaged or worn parts, regardless of the wishes of the possessor. This may be unfavorable for vintage Rolex watch owners since collectors typically prefer all original parts (flaws and all) rather than new replacement parts.

Another matter to keep in mind is that Rolex volition not service a watch if it has any customized parts (such every bit after-marking gem-setting or bracelets) or not-Rolex components. Additionally, Rolex will not service a sentinel that has been previously serviced by anyone other than an authorized service center.

These limitations have caused many Rolex owners to turn to skilled independent service centers, such as ours, to maintain and service their beloved Rolex watches.

Our Rolex Service Procedure

We have decades of experience repairing, restoring, and servicing Rolex watches. Nosotros exclusively use genuine Rolex replacement parts and highly specialized tools and/or machines. Our multi-step Rolex service procedure is as follows:

Stride one: Rolex Watch Disassembly

The first step required when servicing a Rolex watch is to disassemble it. This means carefully removing the bracelets from each side of the watch case then removing the screw-down fluted case-back characteristic of Rolex watches.

To practise this, a specialized fundamental is used to foreclose whatever impairment to the surface of the metal. Removing the instance-dorsum allows access to the movement inside the watch. The movement is and then carefully taken out of the case.

Step 2: Cleaning, Refurbishing, and Reassembling the Rolex Movement

Once the motion is out of the case, each movement part is disassembled and cleaned. It is vital that any oils or dirt is removed from these tiny components. Any worn out parts, such as the mainspring and reverser wheel, is replaced. Worn out gaskets are as well replaced to ensure the watch'south water resistance.

Lubrication is practical where necessary to minimize friction, preclude wear-and-tear, and heighten longevity and accuracy. The movement is and so advisedly pieced dorsum together.

Step 3: Rolex Sentry Exterior Restoration

Forth with the move within the watch, the outside of the watch is also meticulously cleaned and restored.

A myriad of different pastes, polishers, and techniques are employed to restore the case, bezel, and bracelet of a Rolex spotter to ensure the original integrity of the metal finishing. What's more than, painstaking intendance is taken to not alter the silhouette of the watch, which is something that tin happen when a scout is unskillfully over-polished.

Dials tin can also be restored back to its original condition, even on desperately damaged or rusted surfaces. If necessary, the crystal of a Rolex watch tin can also be replaced.

Step four: Testing the Rolex Sentinel

Once the Rolex watch has been disassembled, cleaned, restored, and reassembled, the timepiece is rigorously tested with specialized pressure machines to ensure proper functioning, accuracy, and water resistance.

What is Included in a Rolex Service?

All labor, standard parts, and testing are included in our Rolex service fee. Any additional components required outside of the standard service (new bracelet, punch, crystal, etc) will conduct an additional price simply volition ever be cleared past the client outset.

Our Rolex service also includes a one-year Service Warranty.

Other Rolex Lookout Related Services We Provide

In addition to our complete Rolex maintenance service, we also provide other services such every bit engraving bracelet resizing, and bracelet replacements.

How Oftentimes Should I Service my Rolex?

There are many factors that tin can make up one's mind how often you should service your Rolex, such every bit how old the model is, how much time it spends on your wrist, how ofttimes it comes into contact with h2o, and so on. Notwithstanding, in general, nosotros recommend servicing your Rolex lookout man at least every three years—merely more frequently if your spotter is subjected to a very active lifestyle. Remember, prevention is always cheaper and easier than repairing long-term damage.

How Exercise I Know if My Rolex Needs Servicing?

If you take not serviced your Rolex in more than 3 years, it is probably fourth dimension to send information technology in. Other things to await out for include if your Rolex runs likewise fast or slow or if your sentry runs out of power reserve quicker than usual.

Also, if y'all notice any moisture underneath the crystal, you accept to send your Rolex in for servicing immediately. This is a sign that water has leaked into your sentry and if it is non addressed straight away, information technology can crusade permanent (and expensive) damage to your Rolex.

If you accept your Rolex frequently into the water for swimming or diving, we recommend inspecting it for h2o resistance every couple of years. That way, any worn out gaskets that serve to go on the water out of your lookout man can be replaced if necessary.

How To Treat Your Rolex In-Betwixt Servicing

In betwixt servicing periods, you can accept certain steps to properly care for your Rolex watch, whether you are wearing information technology, cleaning it, or storing it.

If your lookout has run out of power reserve while it was off your wrist (or watch winder), wind it up manually to start the movement earlier putting it back on your wrist. When yous are wearing your Rolex, always make sure that the winding crown is screwed into the case to forestall any moisture or dust from entering into the watch. The h2o depth rating written on the dial of a Rolex sentry is only applicable if the winding crown is screwed down.

When you are not wearing your Rolex, brand sure to store it in a cool and dry out (not humid) place, away from whatever magnetic fields. Prolonged exposure to magnetic fields can magnetize your lookout man, which will throw off its timekeeping precision. A quick manner to tell if your watch is magnetized is with a compass. Place a compass on a apartment surface and position your lookout man above it—if the compass needle moves, your watch is magnetized. We can also de-magnetize your sentinel during servicing.

Also, it is not necessary to store your watch on a winder. In fact, keeping information technology on a winder for too long can somewhen cause wear and tear to the motility—fifty-fifty a mechanical watch needs to rest once in a while!

Finally, you can as well lightly clean your Rolex at dwelling house to keep it in tiptop condition. Built-upward crud and clay can actually crusade bracelet stretching over fourth dimension, so it is a proficient idea to keep your Rolex metal bracelet as clean as possible. All it takes is some warm soapy (mild ammonia-complimentary soap) water and your fingers to gently rub the dirt away from the links. Then dry out it well with a soft cloth. It goes without saying that this is only applicative to metallic bracelets and not leather or cloth straps. Once more, ever brand sure that the winding crown is screwed in and avoid submerging erstwhile vintage Rolex watches in water.

The best mode to make sure your Rolex sentinel stays in great status is to maintain a regular service schedule with a watchmaker yous trust. Allowing a trained specialist to service your watch every three years or then will increase the likelihood that your cherished Rolex volition last forever—or at least for several generations.