Price of service for a Rolex Submariner...?

[philcray]

I have a 2002 Rolex Submariner Date 16610 and just had a quote of £700 for a full service, clean and polish from Whittles in Preston. I bought the watch new from them 21 years ago and they are apparently one of the few Rolex dealers who are approved to do the work in house, they would have the watch for 3-4 weeks.

I thought £700 seemed fairly reasonable all things considered, any thoughts?

[Dave3166]

I was just going to ask exactly the same thing, my was last serviced in 2006.
Be interesting to see what others think on the price.
I’m in the south, so any recommendations for places to take mine would be great.

[hilly10]

Watches of Switzerland quoted me sending it to Rolex £600 that was earlier this year, so £700 is about right I suppose.

[bazza.]

We charge £275 for a standard auto Rolex service this includes new mainspring and gaskets and pressure testing , normal turn around time is 4 weeks https://ajhsl.co.uk/services/watch-servicing/

Edited by bazza. on Friday 29th September 22:55

[Badda]

I paid £300 at a local horologist. Would never pay Rolex prices after years of overpaying for omega, breitling etc now I’ve seen the light!!

[dvs_dave]

A genuine Rolex service warranty and card is more than worth the premium it brings. Wether or not that matters to you is a different question.

[bazza.]

dvs_dave said:

A genuine Rolex service warranty and card is more than worth the premium it brings. Wether or not that matters to you is a different question.

All depends if its just a service you need we are about £500 cheaper plus we send the replaced parts back to you

[the-norseman]

dvs_dave said:

A genuine Rolex service warranty and card is more than worth the premium it brings. Wether or not that matters to you is a different question.

Only really if your planning to sell it and actually when a watch becomes "classic", Rolex service isn't that great as they start replacing original bits with service bits and the price goes down.

The amount of subs that you see with service dials etc worth less than they should be.

I've personally used watchguy.co.uk for a Rolex service and really recommend him, my sisters sending her Rolex to prestige time services soon just as its not far from her house.

[hilly10]

dvs_dave said:

A genuine Rolex service warranty and card is more than worth the premium it brings. Wether or not that matters to you is a different question.

Nail on the head, if you know you may sell in the future a Rolex service will get you top money. But as said if it matters to you

[glazbagun]

That sounds about right. Rolex AD servicing all follows the same broad standard so accredited prices won't be much different from each other. They all have the same tools, their training is refreshed, Rolex know who serviced it, etc. Rolex have put a lot if effort into their network.

Non AD servicing is usually cheaper but it's very much a case of buying the seller. Some will be world class and leave you amazed, some will polish your case into a sucked toffee & scratch your hands. Genuine parts are unavailable to third parties so you have to rely on either the aftermarket or grey market.

Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 30th September 10:17

[Bernt Tuakrisp]

If you live near London, or fancy a day trip you can take the watch directly to Rolex in St James’s Square. You can discuss the precise requirements for the service with the team in their starched white Rolex badged lab coats. I’d definitely do that if you have an older model and have very specific instructions around polishing, replacing parts etc.

[the-norseman]

Bernt Tuakrisp said:

If you live near London, or fancy a day trip you can take the watch directly to Rolex in St James’s Square. You can discuss the precise requirements for the service with the team in their starched white Rolex badged lab coats. I’d definitely do that if you have an older model and have very specific instructions around polishing, replacing parts etc.

Thing is even if the OP says dont replace anything, they will send you a letter/email with a list of what they want to replace and they wont issue warranty unless these parts are replaced. If they insist on dial or bezel for example your stuck then.

I ended up going for watchguy because I didn't want new parts fitting to my late fathers watch and Rolex were insisting.

[Mercdriver]

I had a GMT master for thirty years, had it serviced locally until they lost the franchise like many others.

Main Rolex dealer did not repair locally and sent to Rolex who charged £500 but wanted to change the case and the bracelet, would not have been my watch anymore, like triggers broom.

After service complained it was not accurate, they replied that as I had not carried out their recommended repair they could not help me.

Sold watch, had a nice cruise in the med with the money bought a digital watch in the local Spanish market, big numbers on dial easy to read, keeps better time than Rolex and the battery lasts five years.

I just got fed up having to reset the watch to the correct time and wind it up every time I wore it, stopped wearing it all the time when I retired.

Take care Rolex will not sell parts to non Rolex watchmakers

[gregs656]

hilly10 said:

dvs_dave said:

A genuine Rolex service warranty and card is more than worth the premium it brings. Wether or not that matters to you is a different question.

Nail on the head, if you know you may sell in the future a Rolex service will get you top money. But as said if it matters to you

I don't think this is true - partly because of the use of service parts and polishing, partly because the cost of a service is well known, and partly because it is only a very recent service which would add any value.

[audidoody]

Mercdriver said:

Take care Rolex will not sell parts to non-Rolex watchmakers

I took a dual-metal Datejust with a faulty crown which would not engage with the winding spring, to a well-known and reputable repairer in Maddox Street, W1. It came back with a brand-new Rolex gold crown

[Badda]

Mercdriver said:

Take care Rolex will not sell parts to non Rolex watchmakers

Not sure if true. My local watchmaker fitted a rolex mainspring to mine ok.

[glazbagun]

Badda said:

Mercdriver said:

Take care Rolex will not sell parts to non Rolex watchmakers

Not sure if true. My local watchmaker fitted a rolex mainspring to mine ok.

It's true, in the UK at least. Generic pattern parts are available for many watches though. Mainsprings are about as generic as parts get- you order them by dimensions.

[Badda]

My watchmaker replaced it with an original Rolex - all the old parts and bag for new one were returned to me.

Read the first paragraph here: https://watchguy.co.uk/price-list/

He also supplies and fits Rolex mainsprings.

[the-norseman]

Badda said:

My watchmaker replaced it with an original Rolex - all the old parts and bag for new one were returned to me.

Read the first paragraph here: https://watchguy.co.uk/price-list/

He also supplies and fits Rolex mainsprings.

That is who I used for my Datejust, really happy with the service and got the old parts.

[glazbagun]

Badda said:

My watchmaker replaced it with an original Rolex - all the old parts and bag for new one were returned to me.

Read the first paragraph here: https://watchguy.co.uk/price-list/

He also supplies and fits Rolex mainsprings.

Our statements aren't mutually incompatible with some imagination.