Extreme & not so Extreme Rolex
All images posted with permission
These images are compiled from various Rolex watch forum posts that show how tough as well as the limites of Rolex watches. Each of these images are posted with permission of the owners and are intended to show that Rolex watches are tough, but not necessarily indestructible.
Click on images for larger photos.
This Daytona was dropped onto a tile floor. It is commonly remarked that the safest place for a Rolex is on one's wrist, even while in the shower. Although sapphire is one of the hardest substances next to diamond, it easily shatters and breaks into miniscule pieces that can fall into the movement. If your crystal breaks, the first thing to do is hack the movement by pulling out the crown so that the watch stops, reducing the possibility of movement damage by crystal fragments. |
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| This stainless Daytona was broken while mountain biking. The crystals are not as robust as the rest of the watch. | |||||||||||
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| This DateJust was just serviced by Rolex RSC New York when it hit the bathroom floor. The watch has to go back to Rolex for a new crystal and hopefully this watch will not require another full service. | |||||||||||
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| These images were posted on www.r-l-x.de showing a brokern SeaDweller Band. It has been known that the first link is weakest link in Oyster bracelets. Apparently, there is a springbar that holds the bracelet to the Solid End Link (SEL). The Google translated English version is here. | |||||||||||
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| This SeaDweller image has floated around the Internet these last few years. Legend has it that this SD survived a motorcycle accident. | |||||||||||
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In this TimeZone post, asalles06 took his 16710 and put it in a glass of water and froze it for 8 hours. To thaw out his 16710, he then put it in a pot of boiling water for a 10 minute boil. Nine hours after removing the watch from boiling water, asalles06 indicated that the watch kept perfect time. Obviously not something that I would recommend to test the toughness of your watch, but this demonstration certainly illustrates the ruggedness of Rolex watches. | |||||||||||
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| Hannes posted these images on the WatchTalk Forums of a Lady DateJust going through a washing machine. The top four images show the damage after the washing machine, and the bottom four images show how the watch was restored. The red arrow on the after pictures shows one place that could not be restored. | |||||||||||
| This image is of a Rolex GMTII-C (116710) after it flew out of a bag stored in a locker. The watch landed on a tile floor. Other than the dent on the side of the case, the watch works as if it were still new. |  |
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| This image was found on a one of the Rolex boards. Photo origin unknown. Nonetheless, be sure to keep the crown snug and certainly tighten it when going underwater. |  |
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| Moose589 on WatchUSeek Forums put his SeaDweller in the Dishwasher. He was curious to see what happens to a Rolex when put through the full cycle in a dishwasher. His dishwasher is a Kitchen Aid and it takes water from the hot water heater, it then boils it internally, then washes the dishes. It also has a heat cycle that dries the dishes at about 200 degrees. Moose589 took his SeaDweller, put it in the dishwasher on pot scrub, heavy duty, heat dry cycle. He opened the dishwasher during the wash cycle, checked the temp with an infrared thermometer, it was well over 200 degrees. Moose 589 then opened it during the dry cycle to check out the steam. After a complete cycle, he took the watch out, which was almost to hot to hold, and rinsed it with cold water. Dried it off, and put it on his wrist. How's it running? Perfectly. There is no doubt in Moose589's mind that any modern Rolex dive watch would survive this. | |||||||||||
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| These images are from www.r-l-x.de of a broken Anniversary Milgauss crystal. It has been rumored that the early Anniversary Milgauss crystals had durability issues, but those rumors can be without merit. Umkarton indicated that he snapped this image with a webcam and a mirror as the watch face lettering is backwards. Umkarton did not elaborate how the crystal broke. | |||||||||||
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This is a classic post on TimeZonefrom Jacob Hagert who allowed me to repost this story about his friend's Submariner. The serial number indicates that this watch is from 67/68 and was given to the owner on his 18th birthday as a new-old stock watch. Jacob's friend works as a Skipper on small coast ships. In 1995 he lost this Submariner while doing some engine work. About one year later the watch was found lying in old spill oil & diesel under the engine!! The watch had a "sailor" service at once using soap & autosol. The cleaned-up Sub went back on the wrist the very same day working fine. Who says traditional Oyster bracelets are not strong. The amount of stretch is well within reason considering the life this watch has had. Notice the benefits of an acrylic crystal. Although one cannot buff out a ding like this, this photo clearly illustrates the benefits of acrylic as a sapphire crystal would have otherwise been shattered. The middle left photo shows another healthy crystal ding. The photo in the middle right shows how worn the bezel ring has become, but still very usable by "sailors fingers." The watch has been serviced twice after all these years. The last visit was Rolex, Coopenhagen. As the scans show, it´s been a while since it has visited an RSC. When this watch was initially lost, the owner purchased a 14060 to replace the lost Submariner. Upon finding his trusty Submariner, he put it on instantly as the bracelet on the 14060 still "felt stiff." Apparently, it takes years to break in a Submariner, movement, bracelet and all |
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| Brian in Austin, TX writes that the breaking of this DateJust is typical. Sitting on bathroom counter, he swept it off with a towel and it fell and landed flat on the crystal. Brian notes that sapphire makes the oddest ping sound when it shatters and a sound that no one want to ever hear. | |||||||||||
| Chris_NorCal was out on business and managed to drop his Sub onto a hotel bathroom tile floor from probably 5 feet. It landed directly on the case and chipped the corner of the lug and the caseback. It amazingly had not affected the timing--still keeps the same time. |  |
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| James (jm433) dropped his 16710 while changing at the gym. He took it to the independent RSC in San Francisco and three weeks later it was back as good as new. See before (left) and after (right) pictures. Giovanni at the SF RSC did a fantastic job. James paid $180 to fix the crystal, but he also serviced the watch movement to ensure that no crystal fragments had found themselves inside the watch. The SF-RSC was able to do this work under the Rolex warranty. The service center cleaned, oiled and regulated the movement. There was apparently were a few small shards of glass that had gotten under the dial through the date window. The dial was not scratched -- James is appreciative to those who told him to hack the movement after the incident. | |||||||||||
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This is an image of what appears to be a newer style bracelet . Initially it was beleived that this image was from a fake Rolex, but it became apparent that broken bracelets are becomming an issue after seeing more of these images and stories (below). nylawbiz posted a similar problem on the Rolex Forums. It appears that this problem is a little more widespread as it is becoming more obvious. The clasp is a piece that is not entirely machined; there are some welded/soldered pieces. |
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| These are Rolex springbars that held a jubilee bracelet. During watch service, be sure to have the springbars checked. According to the watchmaker who posted this image, worn springbars like this are fairly common. |  |
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| Nick Hacko, a watchmaker and dealer in Australia posted these images on his blog illustrating how important it is to have your Rolex pressure tested each year, as well as getting it overhauled every five years. The first image shows a fantastic looking two-tone Submariner, but the inside of the watch is a mess.
The culprit is either a worn caseback gasket, or worn crown gaskets. Photos reposted with permission. See more of Nick's images and insight here. |
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Nick Hacko shared these images of a GMT II that was wrecked in a motorcycle accident on his blog. The motorcyclist only had a few minor scratches, but his GMTII did not. To get this watch back to its original condition, the following parts were required:
Internally, the following parts would also require replacement:
The only parts that were spared from the impact are the bridges, screws, the main spring and a few wheels underneath the dial. In terms of dollar-value, less than 10% of the watch survived and the rest was completely toast. |
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| Nick Hacko sent me these images of a Rolex president and the damage done to the bracelet after a golf game. There has been much debate whether a Rolex can survive a golf swing. There is no doubt that Rolex can survive a round of golf, especially when Rolex is major sponsor of various top level golf tournaments. In the course of the these debates, people focus on the effects of golf on the movment, but there was never any consideration of the bracelet. Look what happened to an 18 karat gold bracelet that holds a pretty heavy Rolex President watch head. | |||||||||||
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g340 on shared on The Rolex Forums and on WatchUSeek his experience when he removed his GMT-C watch at an airport security screening, only to find the ceramic bezel had fallen out. Fortunately, he found the insert, but could not press it back into the bezel ring (like one can with the older aluminum 16710 inserts). A few days later, g340 dropped off his GMT-C with the New York RSC who indicated that, "they have seen situations like this before, but that it is uncommon." Rolex indicated that the bezel insert is a press fit and held by the beveled edges of the bezel ring. g340 indicated that his visit to the RSC in New York was a "good experience." The watch was repaired in 24 hours and mailed back to him. |
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Lubrifar went to change the bezel insert on his 16710, and the entire crystal ring that the bezel ring snaps onto pulled off. Typically, removing this ring requires a special ring puller. You can see how the crystal ring holds the sapphire crystal to the case as well as the gasket that assist with water resistance. The repair requires Rolex's crystal ring press. The story is posted on the TimeKeeper Forum. |
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John Brozek of InfoQuest Publishing posted these images depicting how the outside of a Rolex looks fine, but without regular maintenance, the inside can become quite dirty. John has a repair service located here. The watch above left is a 1997 GMT that had a damaged rotor pin as you can see how the rotor hit the inside of the caseback. The watch above right is a 1990 DateJust that had been neglected for about 10 years. |
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| This image was posted of a cracked SeaDweller Deep Sea. Both the Deep Sea and the ceramic bezeled Submariner have a raised pearl at 12 o'clock that allows for the diver to feel where zero is on the bezel. The original aluminum bezels had a luminescent ball, which also was known to fall out, but the Deep Sea version is quite pronounced and is subject to getting hit. The traditional aluminum bezels would flex when the pearl would be hit, but the Deep Sea bezel seems to crack. | |||||||||||
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| nylawbiz on the Rolex Forums shared a broken GMT clasp. This break is similar to the post above whereby the hole with which holds the safety clasp beaks off. There are two of these pieces that are welded to the clasp and are not machined as part of the clasp. nylawbiz will post an update after RSC fixes the problem. | |||||||||||
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This 116713-C was involved in a car accident. Fortunately, the owner is okay but the watch appears to have taken some of the brunt. The SEL on the bracelet broke as well as the springbar, and something obviously smashed into the lug as it is both dinged and bent. Some laser restoration and soldering will bring this watch back to new. These photos were sent to me by Time and Gems, a Rolex watch sales and service facility since 1997. |
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| Medic 103 had the pearl fall out of his DeepSea SeaDweller. Most likely Rolex will repair this under warranty. | |||||||||||
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| Here is an image provided by spogehead of a half-broken GMT-C clasp. It is becoming apparent that this welded piece sometimes breaks. Initially thought as being entirely machined, it has become apparent that the hinge is welded/soldered onto the clasp and sometimes breaks. Obviously a production defect, Rolex has replaced these clasps. | |||||||||||
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Akira posted on the Rolex Forums images from his Russian website of a frozen AirKing that continues to run. Akira is the moderator of the Russian watch forum Watch.ru. Akira shares that Watch.ru is the only watch forum that is entirely in the Russian language. The 2001 AirKing was a watch that had never been serviced and one he purchased for 1300 euros. He froze it for 14 hours. He observed that the watch continued to run by timing it against a Swatch (image above left). The watch lost 57 seconds during the 14 hours in the freezer probably because of the frozen/cold oil, nevertheless, the watch still ran. After the watch thawed, it returned back to its normal plus 10 (+10) seconds fast. The +10 seconds/day is probably as a result of the watch not being serviced at a regular 5-7 year interval. |
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| Postiff on the Rolex Forums posts his GMT-C mishap that happened on Christmas morning (2009). His 13 year old niece and her 18 year old brother were fighting at the house and he intervened. Postiff's niece was swinging a necklace of keys and key chains. Apparently, the GMT took the brunt of it. Postiff was surprised to find that there was no damage as she hit it pretty hard. He did not notice the chip for a few days as it is possible that the chip did not fall out until later. Nonetheless, watch was less than a year old and a cracked bezel is hard to take no matter the age of the watch. |
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| These DateJust images were emailed to me by a Minus4Plus6 reader. Apparently, the watch stopped shortly after it was dropped. The watch stopping could be attribued to the watch not being worn (a good thing) and the mainspring wound down, or broken sapphire found its way into the movement (a bad thing). With any broken crystal, be sure to hack the movement by pulling out the crown into the time setting position so that the movement stops preventing any further damage by crystal shards. Notice the amount of sapphire chips stuck to the underside of the crystal. | |||||||||||
| Justrolexes on the Rolex Forums attempted to pop off the bezel on his GMT II Z series to change the insert, and he inadvertently slid the cyclops.
On the older acrylic crystalled Rolexes, the cyclops was integral to the crystal. On the sapphire crystalled Rolexes, the cyclops is glued on. Some people haveintentionally removed the cyclops using a single edge razor blade, but this instance was purely accidental. Justrolex did have the crystal replaced. |
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