Waterproofing a Noob Seadweller?

[GADGET213]

Hi

I just bought a lovely Noob seadweller (arrived today infact) and first time in the pool it leaked and has steamed up

Is there a way of preventing this in the future? other than staying away from water obviously.

And will a main dealer open it up to dry it out?

Thanks in advance for your help 

Gaz 

[GenTLe]

One of the rule is "never bring your rep to an authorized dealer"!!!

So stay away from them. But you can use a rep friendly independent watchsmith. He may be able to fix it.

Also because now you NEED a watchsmith because that watch must be opened and serviced, otherwise rust will make a mess inside

[GADGET213]

GenTLe Cheers I originaly thought MD because of opening the case glad I didn't just pop into one tomorrow like I planned.

[zero_deficit]

What I'd do is unscrew the crown and put your watch face down in a some uncooked rice, or even better if you have any desiccants like DampRid or something like that, those silica packets work well too if you have lots of them, put the watch inside a ziplock bag with those inside it. Leave it in there until you can take it to a watchmaker to have a look at, and properly waterproof it too if need be. The uncooked rice draws moisture away from inside the watch, and placing it upside down helps prevents the water droplets on the crystal falling on the dial, and possibly inside the movement.

 

Also, no authorised dealer will entertain the idea of helping someone with a replica of their product

 

Good luck!

[GADGET213]

Cheers its currently in a bag of rice as we speak, unfortunatly I slipped with my tool and scratched the back(gutted) will get into a shop tomorrow with any luck it'll be back up and running soon.

Thanks for the advice.

Gaz

[kbh]

Opening a case back isn't brain surgery. You should have immediately opened it up.

 

Roll up a strip of duct tape with the sticky side out, Use a lot of pressure and turn. "Lefty, Loosey". Then dry it out in a warm dry place. On a sunny widow sill for instance. Then use a little silicone grease on the case seal and close it back up. Make sure the back is tight and also open the crown and put a little grease inside the crown and you'll be fine unless you have already started rusting inside the movement.

[GADGET213]

kbh sorry I meant to say it was drying in the rice bag with the back off as soon as I had taken the pictures I was after any advice or some useful tips from people that know more than me.

Good job too as it would have been awkward when the MD found out it was a rep.

Thanks for the silicone tip I'm abit worried about the sellita movement if I'm honest I expected abit more from a $600 super rep.

[dovo1695]

Too bad. I'm sorry this happened to you.

As a general rule it's a good idea to keep reps dry. The super-rep designation has more to do with dial fonts and crownguards than it does to depth ratings!

That said, most of the high end reps can be waterproofed to at least 5atm. Some have been tested to 20atm or more. If you want to get a rep wet, and it's a valuable rep like the dssd that you bought, you need to get it waterproofed and tested. Some dealers pressure test before sending it to you and take qc pics of it being pressure tested (PT does this for example).

Keep in mind that even on the $10,000 gen, the only thing standing between a dry watch and ruined watch is a $0.01 o-ring and a caseback that's been properly tightened.

In short, this wasn't a watch failure, or a dealer failure, this was user error. It's a mistake that many people make. It's too bad it happened to such an expensive rep.

I strongly suggest that you go back and read "edges guide to replica forums" and a few other of the pinned posts before you contact a rep friendly watchmaker to service and watetproof your watch. If you had brought it to the AD for servicing, they most likely had seized it and destroyed it!

[GADGET213]

dovo1695 holy [censored] they would destroy it! I didn't think they would go that far, blimey.

You're quite right it was entirely my fault but in my defence I did expect it be pressure tested for such a piece.

Thanks for the reading materiel I will look into that.

Gaz

[kbh]

Sellita is a quite good Swiss movement. For years they were a supplier to ETA so I wouldn't worry about their quality. I'd personally rather have a new Sellita than some of the old and often refurbished ETA movements that come in a lot of reps these days.

[dovo1695]

It's considered taboo to even wear a rep watch into an authentic dealer. Even the most talented, veteran members here with $2,000 reps constructed piece by piece using primarily gen parts do not wear their reps into authentic dealers. It's rule #1.

 

Them destroying the watch was not the bad case scenario, it was the good case scenario.

 

You almost brought a rep into an Rolex AD to have it worked on! When you did, you probably would have given them your home address and a phone number where to reach you. A security camera would have recorded you bring the watch into the dealer. A good scenario would have ended with them destroying your watch. Depending on where you live, a bad scenario would have ended with a knock on your door from customs and immigration officials who had records of a shipment being made to your house from China shortly before you brought the watch to the Rolex dealer (who are the sort of people to call customs officials to report illegal merchandise). They might have had questions as to why you illegally, and knowingly imported an illegal, counterfeit watch into the country. I'm not saying that this happens often, but I've read some horror stories over the years. And to be honest, I've never heard of anyone actually bringing a rep into an AD to have work done! The story could have had a much worse ending to be sure.

 

I'm not saying all of this to make you feel bad, I'm saying this because there are a lot of new members who need to hear your experience, and how close you came to a big mistake. Everyone here was once a newbie to the rep world, and all of us have made mistakes when we first got started. I've destroyed my share of watches through boneheaded mods and clumsy fingers. The best thing you can do is read some of those pinned articles in the general discussion forum. Here is a link that isn't pinned, but is the best guide to new members I've ever read. The section on water-proofing and waterproof testing is at the bottom:

 

http://www.rwgforum.net/topic/85981-hey-noobor-not-so-noobread-this-now/

[kbh]

Let's not get too carried away. Nobody's going to come take you to jail for wearing a rep. It's not even against the law to own one in the US and the old wife's tale of an AD confiscating your watch and destroying it is a fantasy of someone's over active imagination. It will probably [censored] them off immensely though that you would bring one into their store.

[dovo1695]

Even in the US, if you left it with the Rolex AD for repair for a few days, you're probably not getting it back.

I agree that there is only an infinitesimal chance that anyone in the US would get a knock on their door over a rep watch. Not everyone lives in the US.

If you did it in Switzerland, who knows. They seem to have very little sense of humor about that sort of thing.

In any case I was talking about worst case scenario, even if it is a 5 sigma tail risk. Those handful of ordinary college students a decade ago probably didn't think they'd wind up with criminal records for downloading pirated mp3's but they got prosecuted just the same. When an industry wants to make an example of someone, they don't have much trouble doing so. It's a one in a million risk, but why take the chance?

Again, it's tremendously unlikely anyone will get a knock on the door for bringing a rep for service to a AD. It's a really bad idea just the same.

I'll leave it at that.

Edited July 1, 2014 by dovo1695

[GADGET213]

Dovo1695 I'm so glad I posted on here none of that had occurred to me, I was under the understanding that you could own a rep but not sell one under UK law not sure where I got that from but I took that as gospel.

I had been spending all my time comparing reps and getting tips on whats best and never given any thought to legal stand points or taboo's.

That will be changing!!!

I love watches and given the right size lotto win would be raping the local AD's stock for all things shiny but until then will stick with the reps and enjoy them for what they are, really beautiful bits of metal.

Thank you to all for the advice its very much appreciated.

Gaz