A Bit Of Advice Please

[reddiesel]

I have a GMT 2 which I bought just over 20 years ago and its never been off my wrist since . I work in Construction and having no Dependents I bought the Watch to wear rather than as an Investment or indeed to lay in a Drawer gathering dust .
The Watch recently has taken to stopping occasionally and with this in mind I thought I would book it in for its first Service . The Price I was quoted by an Authorised Rolex Dealer was £600 for the Service and after them examining the Watch they decided to forward it to Rolex for an appraisal . This in turn has now resulted in an estimate from Rolex of £4900 for various items including a new Bracelet and Bezel etc etc . In short I am going to be presented in the end with a fully refurbished as new Watch . I have always taken the view that something is only original once and any marks on the Bracelet etc are indicative of the life we have both led . If I wanted a new Watch then I would simply go and purchase one . What I want is the Movement serviced cleaned and oiled , nothing more . Can I ask for anyones opinion on this situation , I shall now have to find someone else to Service the Watch , I am in Milton Keynes , does anyone have any recommendations ? Thanking everyone in advance for their thoughts and any advice

[TWW]

reddiesel said:

I have a GMT 2 which I bought just over 20 years ago and its never been off my wrist since . I work in Construction and having no Dependents I bought the Watch to wear rather than as an Investment or indeed to lay in a Drawer gathering dust .
The Watch recently has taken to stopping occasionally and with this in mind I thought I would book it in for its first Service . The Price I was quoted by an Authorised Rolex Dealer was £600 for the Service and after them examining the Watch they decided to forward it to Rolex for an appraisal . This in turn has now resulted in an estimate from Rolex of £4900 for various items including a new Bracelet and Bezel etc etc . In short I am going to be presented in the end with a fully refurbished as new Watch . I have always taken the view that something is only original once and any marks on the Bracelet etc are indicative of the life we have both led . If I wanted a new Watch then I would simply go and purchase one . What I want is the Movement serviced cleaned and oiled , nothing more . Can I ask for anyones opinion on this situation , I shall now have to find someone else to Service the Watch , I am in Milton Keynes , does anyone have any recommendations ? Thanking everyone in advance for their thoughts and any advice

What a lovely watch that must be able to tell thousands of stories...

The good news: you can 100% instruct Rolex NOT to touch anything on the watch aesthetically - not replacing any parts, not polishing any of the watch, only servicing the movement.

The aurhorised dealer should be able to walk you through this process with very specific instructions to give to Rolex. Don't worry, this won't come across as onerous at all: many people are opting for this as a service as it protects the value of the watch. Replacement/ service parts can dramatically decrease the value of the watch.

There are some benefits to servicing things such as the strap: you might choose to have this rebuilt with new spring bars to ensure it will continue to hold up to your life but they can do this without polishing it.

With regard to your conundrum, I 100% agree that this should not be restored to 'as new' - not just for the financial implications but, as you say, the marks tell the story of yours and the watch's life.

Let us know how you get on - and share some photos!

[reddiesel]

Thanks for your kind reply but Rolex have deemed these replacements as necessary work . " Every timepiece leaving their workshop complies with its original function and aesthetic specifications " is the phrase that I have been quoted . I have been left with the impression ( I only got the Estimate by Email this evening ) that simply having the Movement serviced isnt possible . I shall have to phone the Authorised Dealer to clarify in the morning .

[Pflanzgarten]

You have to look at it from Rolex's view, they could of course service only the movement but should any of your old worn parts fail they'll be liable from their own warranty post service.

Of course you could say they should only warranty what they service but they don't work like that.

There is a massive service industry dedicated to preservation of old watches and patina, Rolex themselves aren't part of it. For better or worse they prefer to work on a return it "good as new" model. Neither is right or wrong, they're just different.

[Trev450]

A good independant watch maker will be able to do exactly as you want and at a fraction of the price. I'm not sure if Joe at Anglesey Watches is still accepting repair work, but he serviced and replaced the mainspring in my GMT 2 for less than Rolex wanted for an examination.

[e-mail]

[21ATS]

For what it's worth.

I don't quite grasp the idea of spending that much "servicing" a watch, despite the fact much of it is putting it back to as new condition.

I own a Breitling Aerospace (20 years old now). A watch that's looked down upon by most watch people as it's a quartz model. It needed a new battery, I took it in to my local dealer and similar to your story it ended up back at Breitling. £595 later it had new insides, just for a battery change.

I'm attached to it though. It's the first watch I'd ever really wanted and I have a thing for ana-digi display watches all the way back to the casio/citizen ones back in the day.

There was a number though over which I wouldn't have agreed, that number happened to be £600 - at which point I would have bought another one/new one. When the quote came in at £595 I had a chuckle that they must of read my mind and said yes...

This is a car forum, so to put this in to perspective I daily drive a Ferrari FF and I'd be irritated if I took that in for a service and it ended up at £5K if it wasn't one of the 4/5 year majors.

£5K for a watch service? It's not even a consideration.

[Error_404_Username_not_found]

reddiesel said:

Thanks for your kind reply but Rolex have deemed these replacements as necessary work . " Every timepiece leaving their workshop complies with its original function and aesthetic specifications " is the phrase that I have been quoted . I have been left with the impression ( I only got the Estimate by Email this evening ) that simply having the Movement serviced isnt possible . I shall have to phone the Authorised Dealer to clarify in the morning .

I inherited a RedScript SeaDweller in ratty condition but I was able to specify what I didn't want touched when it went to Geneva for service.
Basically I asked that nothing aesthetic was touched and it came back with the patina it left with.
I sent it to them because nobody else would certify the chronometer with a written rate certificate, although some independents would test and certify the depth rating.
The result was that it retained value about 50% better than if returned to as-new which was handy as it fed us for a year and a half when I had to sell.

[reddiesel]

https://www.shwr.co.uk/#welcome-section


I am reading all your kind replies and thank you very much for them . I am contemplating getting in touch with this Bloke in the morning to get his thoughts also .

[Pflanzgarten]

21ATS said:

This is a car forum, so to put this in to perspective I daily drive a Ferrari FF and I'd be irritated if I took that in for a service and it ended up at £5K if it wasn't one of the 4/5 year majors.

£5K for a watch service? It's not even a consideration.

Might be worth looking at it as buying your FF, using it every day for 20 years and then getting the whole thing restored at Ferrari Classiche.

[SlimJim16v]

Duncan is highly regarded and did a great job on my Zenith. There was a waiting list though.

https://www.genesiswatchmaking.co.uk/

[21ATS]

Pflanzgarten said:

21ATS said:

This is a car forum, so to put this in to perspective I daily drive a Ferrari FF and I'd be irritated if I took that in for a service and it ended up at £5K if it wasn't one of the 4/5 year majors.

£5K for a watch service? It's not even a consideration.

Might be worth looking at it as buying your FF, using it every day for 20 years and then getting the whole thing restored at Ferrari Classiche.

I kind of get your viewpoint actually. But if we look at this from a value perspective relative to the initial price when new, I'd imagine the GMT 2 would have been around £5K new 20 years ago.

That's effectively the same as budgeting £275K to restore my FF in 2034.

That kind of seems a bit steep unless I'm intent on entering it in Salon Prive.

[glazbagun]

reddiesel said:

https://www.shwr.co.uk/#welcome-section

I am reading all your kind replies and thank you very much for them . I am contemplating getting in touch with this Bloke in the morning to get his thoughts also .

Not the cheapest but a top guy. One of the best guys to go to for older vintage stuff and, incidentally, also a good choice if you want all of the dents removed from your case.

[Pflanzgarten]

21ATS said:

Pflanzgarten said:

21ATS said:

This is a car forum, so to put this in to perspective I daily drive a Ferrari FF and I'd be irritated if I took that in for a service and it ended up at £5K if it wasn't one of the 4/5 year majors.

£5K for a watch service? It's not even a consideration.

Might be worth looking at it as buying your FF, using it every day for 20 years and then getting the whole thing restored at Ferrari Classiche.

I kind of get your viewpoint actually. But if we look at this from a value perspective relative to the initial price when new, I'd imagine the GMT 2 would have been around £5K new 20 years ago.

That's effectively the same as budgeting £275K to restore my FF in 2034.

That kind of seems a bit steep unless I'm intent on entering it in Salon Prive.

It does, but perhaps not if you consider the cost of whatever Ferrari would be selling by then as 75% more expensive than your FF cost in 2014-as the GMT is now.

[jules_s]

Depends what variant GMT2 it is but could be £13-14K's worth

I had the same (not Rolex) and insisted they left the patina (£200 for new hands lol)

Try Mallory's in Bath if you want an AD service

[EX51GE R]

Watchworks in Bristol are a good shout too, Rocco is brilliant, he only does rolex.

[Tresco]

I have a 1980’s Datejust with a Rolex service centre at the moment.

They’ve quoted £900 for recommended works - service, glass and crown and another £3450 for a bracelet. I’ve declined the bracelet replacement as I will get it re-pinned elsewhere.

[romeodelta]

Yep, just find a trusted independent to do the movement service only.

[Mark-r0xn8]

reddiesel said:

Can I ask for anyones opinion on this situation , I shall now have to find someone else to Service the Watch , I am in Milton Keynes , does anyone have any recommendations ? Thanking everyone in advance for their thoughts and any advice

Please dont bother with Rolex service centre. You will eventually get a new-looking watch back and in the process destroy any vintage value it might have if they replace dial, hands, bezel, etc.

The GMT has a very straightforward movement, absolutely nothing complicated about it, and replacement genuine movement parts are plentiful.

Get in touch with https://watchguy.co.uk/ using their Contact page. I've had a few vintage rolex serviced by them in about 4-6 weeks and have no hesitation in recommending them.

They show what they have on their bench here and always have a few Rolex under repair.
https://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/library?action=curr...

If it is just a movement service, a few hundred pounds should get it working perfectly.

[don logan]

Hi

In my experience they gave me a list of things they said were required in addition to the basic sevice

I picked the things I wanted done and the things I didn’t choose to do wouldn’t be covered by the new warranty

I also asked them not to polish the bracelet or case

Choosing to do this could end up being an expensive movement only service but it is possible in my experience in the last 6 months

[swanseaboydan]

It has a great personal history to you with the marks to show it. I’d leave it cosmetically and just do what’s needed to keep it running well. I don’t think you need a Rolex dealer for this as others have recommended too. A good independent watch specialist. I remember being quoted about 1000 for a service at tag heuer but instead go it done independently for about 400. As mentioned, we need pics on this thread !!! All the best.