Remove Fogging From Six Year Old Rolex Submariner Rep

[steiney]

Hello all,

I own a pretty high quality Rolex Submariner replica that I purchased in Manhattan's Chinatown about seven years ago for $50. I've never once gotten it wet, but I was at the springs last weekend, and for some reason I decided I had to know if it could go underwater. I mean, it's a Submariner, right? And it's not like it's some cheesy, garbage watch with "Rolex" stamped on the face.

Long story short, I learned that the watch is not water proof. I'm not sure how much actual water got in there, but when I was done floating down the river, there were small water droplets inside the watch, condensed onto the crystal. That was roughly 30 hours ago. The watch has been sitting in a tub of rice with the stem pulled open since then, and today I attempted putting the watch in the oven on a very low heat. Nothing bad happened, but the water didn't appear to come out.

My next plan is to buy one of the rubber ball things on eBay and hopefully that will open it and I can pull the guts out and clean out all the water. I have a jar opener that is basically a sheet of tacky rubber, but I couldn't get the case open with that.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Do I just need to leave it in the rice for longer?

I'm pretty surprised it didn't hold out the water, but then again, for $50, what can you expect. The fact that I can hold it up to a real one, and no one can tell the difference is pretty neat. Except that now mine has condensation inside of it, which I would say is a dead giveaway.

Thanks in advance,

steiney

 

Edited May 14, 2013 by steiney

[steiney]

I bought a large quantity of them from the dealer, so he lowered the price. There's no way I could throw it away, even if it is permanently ruined. I have a serious emotional connection to that watch.

[Jkay]

I bought a large quantity of them from the dealer, so he lowered the price. There's no way I could throw it away, even if it is permanently ruined. I have a serious emotional connection to that watch.

 

If you want to put a little money into it, then MD2020 is actually a watch technician here, and I'm sure he can take it apart, waterproof it, and change out the movement if it's rusted now.

[steiney]

How much is a little money?

[Nanuq]

There ARE other ways to get them open.

[watchguyoh]

There ARE other ways to get them open.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1368501899.566578.jpg

 

You sure have some clever ways to work on watches.  Must've taken years to master. 

[Nanuq]

Wait till you see my winder!

[steiney]

Good news! I got my case back opener ball and the case back opened up with ease. I put the whole watch, minus the case back in the tub of rice it had been sitting in, and by this morning every bit of water/condensation was completely gone.

There isn't a single bit of rust inside the watch case. Everything runs just as smoothly as before, it still keeps perfect time, etc. I'm very happy with the result. It almost looks clearer now than before, although I'm sure that's all in my head. Plus I've been looking at it all fogged up for the last 1.5 weeks.

Thanks to everyone for the help!