freddy333

4 hours ago, LHOOQ-PM said:

Who else have we lost, and who else will we lose, and never find out about?

Welcome back. Sadly, we lost Bob (Nanuq) recently.

There may be others, but I only recently returned myself, so I am not really up on the social aspects of RWG.

For reference - 5513 Comex with gen dial

Andrew is a reliable, long time vendor & there are often production/supply delays he is unable to do anything about. Repeated queries do little other than to add to these delays.

If you just ordered on the 17th, I would give it another few weeks before contacting Andrew again. If you do not hear anything by the end of the month, I would email him a simple, 'Hi, can you tell me the status of my order? Thank you.'

As they say, good things come to those who wait.

Overall, looks great, especially for a 1st build!

However, I am wondering if you have the correct crystal? It could be due to the angle of the watch in the pic, but it looks like the cyclops is not centered over the date window.

An interesting item, but definitely a case for buy the seller before you buy the watch.

I am not familiar with Fizcard & have not purchased anything from Andrew for awhile, but I seem to recall he had multiple payment options. You might try 1 of the other options, or email Andrew & ask him for assistance. He is usually very helpful.

Big Kahuna today --

There is crazy inflation & then there is crazy Rolex inflation. The latter is generally crazy even by crazy standards. That is why it is said that today's crazy Rolex price will be tomorrow's bargain.

I would disagree somewhat with your description of the 23-300 as being delicate. I have overhauled 2-3 of them (1 sitting on my bench now) &, while not in the tool watch class, I would have no qualms wearing 1 as a daily driver. But I will acknowledge that Pateks generally require a higher level of care when being maintained (due to their haute decoration), parts are costly & difficult to source.

Top shelf as always.

I am assuming you did this early on, but have you checked for damaged/missing teeth on any of the wheels in the train?

The mainspring would likely slip once per revolution of the offending wheel. This is something that should be easy to spot with a 24-hour timer record.

18 hours ago, Timelord said:

However, what  I did  notice is that as soon as I have lightly shaken the watch to get as many winds as possible, you can hear a slip  in mainspring,  almost feeling as watch has unwound!  It is a few hours after this that the impulse jewel  falls outside the balance fork. Or presumably that is what it feels like,  this is my real suspicion.  

If the mainspring is slipping, then most likely either the spring is slipping on the mainspring arbor, the click or click spring may be loose or defective, or the escape wheel is slipping past the pallets. If you left the pallets in cleaning fluid too long, it is possible they may have shifted out of position, which could result in the escape wheel slipping -- & intermittently unwinding the mainspring as this occurs.
Unfortunately, I know of only 3 ways to verify this type of problem -- replace the pallets with a new (or known good) set, put the movement on a timer with recorder for 24 hours & watch for telltale signs of slippage in the readout (eg, a sudden & significant drop in an otherwise regular pattern), or sit & watch the movement until it slips & see if you can see where it is slipping.

Since this is a 2783, I think the easiest avenue would be to replace the pallets since they are not expensive (here is a new 1 on ebay for $12).

Wearing the Big Kahuna

Presuming the entire movement is clean/properly oiled/demagnetized -- it sounds like either the cap jewels are dirty/worn (remove/inspect/clean/oil), the balance cock/bridge is not properly seated or the hairspring is hanging-up on an adjacent component (ie when the movement is moved/shaken).

If/when you eliminate the 1st 2 issues, I would remove the balance, remove the hairspring from the staff (use a small screwdriver to slide the hairspring collet off the staff) -- then re-attach the loose hairspring to the cock/bridge & allow it to sit on top of the cock/bridge. Inspect the hairspring's positioning for flatness/proper centering over the cock/bridge (if the collet does not naturally sit directly over the cap jewel holder in the cock/bridge, you will need to reshape the hairspring so that it does). There is a good guide on TZ that you may find helpful.

Correct as needed or post a few macros of the hairspring  (attached to & sitting on top of the cock/bridge) so I can see its condition/position.

Wearing The Big Kahuna today, but on her red/white Horus rubber strap --

2 hours ago, automatico said:

I've owned 33 cal 3000/3035 watches with 4 tangled HS and 3 balance staffs plus a few other ailments...all gone now.  About the same number of 3130/3135 watches with no problems other than a few needing c/o.  Had a few 3035 powered DJ with serious case corrosion, no 3135 powered DJ models with much corrosion but they were newer.  Saw a few rotten submariners used in salt water and not cared for. 

Owned about 50 models with cal 15xx and they had a few problems...MS barrel arbor hole in main plate worn out of round (no jewel or bushing), broken staffs from whams & bams, worn out reversers and rotor weight axles (usually because of too long between c/o), broken rotor axle jewels (W & B)...the winding weight axle and jewels are weak points under rough service imho.

That has definitely not been my experience with Rolexes, in particular, & quality mechanical watches (eg, ETA), in general. In the decades I have been collecting, I do not recall having come across any professional/full-time watchsmiths reporting these types of issues being more common with Rolex calibers than other brands.

Usually, it takes a pretty significant impact/shock (or monkey) to tangle a hairspring &, of those I have untangled, all were in watches that were either dropped, worn by owners involved in traffic accidents or mangled by third-world 'watchmakers' (who have been brought to 1st-world countries to do their damage). But I am just a part-timer, so I may be wrong.

I understand your hesitancy, but I have never found most properly maintained Rolexes to be fragile. My experience has been quite the contrary.

However, the fact that virtually every kid & crook clocks wrists today, searching for Rolexes to envy or steal, makes the wearer a target. But, then, I think that our rulers have permitted the crooked classes so much latitude that being clocked by a crook is just another reason to remain situationally aware -- & (lawfully) armed.

I worry more about watches developing problems because they spend too much time sitting idle rather than suffering damage from being worn.

5 hours ago, automatico said:

Biden says:  'Ok, we'll just bomb the country next to it, let's go get some ice cream.'

Sorry for the off-topic response, but I cannot help myself --

'Bidenomics is working.' -- Biden

Entering the new year with The Big Kahuna --

On 12/23/2023 at 4:30 AM, jackflash said:

6538 today

A beauty!

You inspired me to swap The Big Kahuna for 1 of my Subs --

On 12/23/2023 at 12:13 PM, automatico said:

Speaking of 'the gap',..here is an example of an early 5512 with the gap and without the SCOC blurb that came later... 

Are you sure about that gap? Here is a better pic --