Can you fix a 1530 FRANKIN rolex

[cptnbob]

I have a Real frankinstine rolex, 1530 no auto wind just manual, with a trimmed down one speed king dial, football jubilee bracelet, Looks fantastic. It was a practice watch from my early years, now my Hans shake and bad eyes, nephew's kid stretched out my balance spring when they visited, lost the balance, and flooded with mobs oil and stored in a box for 18 yrs, can  anybody replace the balance, 2balance jewels and clean it and oil? for less than one thousand? please It needs to run again,

I forgot you guy's like pictures

[Revere]

since this is a genuine movement and genuine dial your best bet is bringing this to a good watchmaker.

 

i'm certain there is someone on this forum that could do the work but because this is a gen-franken there's no reason to limit yourself to RWG in your search for a watchmaker. 

 

when you reach out to a watchmaker just tell them that you have a genuine rolex that's had some parts swapped in and out over the years, and it needs some work on the movement to get running. 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Revere

[automatico]

Also posted this reply in the thread below: 

ETA or ? to replace Rolex Movement - The Rolex Area - RWG

 

This used to be a fairly simple fix and I hate to say it but a 1530 'balance complete' plus a few more parts, labor etc. can easily end up being $1 to $2 thousand dollars (or more) at today's insane prices.  To make matters worse, a good 1530 balance is getting hard to find.

I have been down this road a few times back when parts cost about one fourth of what they are today, it still cost quite a bit with only $$ spent for parts as we had a Rolex parts account back then and my labor is free.  

 

One option is to buy a ratty watch with a good 1530 movement but after having the movement serviced, you may still be upside down in $$ spent vs the current value of the watch.

I'm afraid there is not much good news on a project like this.

 

Kudos to the original poster on another forum.   

 (a few sentences/words not pertaining to your repair have been removed)

6-8-23   The 1530 and the 1520 movements have a large number of identical parts and it is often difficult to know how a movement started out as a lot of parts get swapped during servicing over the last 60 years or so. There were many versions of each movement produced as technical improvements were introduced during the manufacturing period, and also some markets had movements made with different jewel counts.

 

As stated above, the earlier 1530 movement had a frequency of 18,000 beats per hour whereas the later 1520 movement had a frequency of 19,800 beats per hour.
The two balance assemblies are different as the 1530 had a Brequet overcoil and Microstella adjustment whereas the 1520, intended to be a cheaper movement, had a flat hairspring and a stick type regulator.
The rest of the movement is virtually identical as only the third wheel was changed to accommodate the different beat rate.
Now comes the interesting part; you can fit a 1520 (19,800 beat) balance assembly into a 1530 movement designed for the 18,000 beat balance, and this has been a common modification by watchmakers unable to repair or source a 1530 balance.

If you change the third wheel for one geared for a 1520 balance frequency of 19,800 beats per hour all will be well and the movement can be regulated.
If however, a 1520 balance assembly is put in and the original 1530 third wheel is kept in the train the movement will run 10% fast.
Whatever the cause, a skilled watchmaker with experience of these two movements should be able to sort it out and if there are none local to the OP...

Communication by phone or email when trying to explain these types of issues is generally not easy, and it is far better to take the watch to someone you trust, tell them the symptoms and any other information you might have about its service history and let them examine it, disassemble it and then produce an estimate or quote based on what they find.

[cptnbob]

      51307 main plate number IS THIS 1520?? 0r 1530?

[automatico]

"Is this 1520 or 1530?"

 

I have never seen a serial number on a 1520,

...but I have not seen them all.  

 

Identification of Rolex Calibres 1520 - 1580 (superlativetime.com)

 

Rolex Caliber 1520 & 1530 - 1st Movements Created Entirely In-House (beckertime.com)

[cptnbob]

      51307 main plate number IS THIS 1520?? 0r 1530?  The balance bridge looks like the 1530  with the long regulator pointer? I'm having trouble downloading the bridge photo

updated photo of the bridge,,, 

Ok it looks like its a Form 1 1530 balance bridge? 

[cptnbob]

Will my 1520 auto assembly fit on a 1530?  I happen to have a couple of those laying in a box somewhere,

[cptnbob]

OK!

 I just found a brand new 1570 balance with a broken hair spring in my old box of goodies! any thoughts on it working in a 1530 which is missing the balance ?

[automatico]

"I just found a brand new 1570 balance with a broken hair spring in my old box of goodies! any thoughts on it working in a 1530 which is missing the balance?"

 

The 1570 has a different beat rate (19800) vs a 1530 (18000) so I doubt it will work.   

 

"Will my 1520 auto assembly fit on a 1530? "

 

Yes.

[cptnbob]

I’ woulda trade two 1570 balances and one 1520 windings set up complete used in parts for a repairable 1530 balance or I need a hair spring I need something can I convert this 1530 to 1570  I know it beats at a different speed and all that stuff but can we change it from a 18,000 beats to a 19 five or whatever it is ? any help goes a long ways I haven’t done this in about 15 years any idea what parts it would take to convert it to a 1570 is cheaper than trying to find a new 1530 balance any input helps or I’m just gonna take this thing apart and sell it as a bunch of junk . Inside the back of the watch it says like 6485 or something on the case then the movement looks like a 1530 so it appears as though the 1530 has been put in a older case I’m not sure maybe it was a manual case from the 1950s or something so the movement plate is not original to the Watch the dial is from a speed king made to fit and it 

originally had no auto wind it appears as though it was being used is a wind up watch an older case so I think the main plate looks like a 1530 no no the back won’t fit on a 1531 with a winder on it but it came without a winder mechanism this Frankenstein‘s a little rough but it sure looks good. Ran like a champ only off about a second a day. Be nice to fix it or I’m just gonna sell all the stuff and buy myself a reasonable of one and work on that any update or help is good . I will pay about two or 300 for a used 1530 balancer I guess .  Notice in this last picture the back of the watch cover says 6584 scratched out and 6580 not. Wow!major Frankenstein watch,,, IT WAS ALIVE Dr. Frankinsteene….. back in the day

[freddy333]

I agree with some of the other comments above. For 1 thing, any competent watchmaker can service these movements. Even better would be a competent watchmaker with a Rolex parts account. That said, due to the current asking prices for vintage Rolex parts (if/when they can be found), sourcing replacements needed to complete the work will be the limiting factor, both in time & cost. Depending on a watchmaker's expertise & work load, some of the worn parts may avail themselves to refurbishment by an expert watchsmith. But this is where you will end up spending some serious cash due to the time/effort required.

 

I would start by googling watchmakers in your area. Unless you live far out in the countryside, you are likely find 1 or 2. Tell them you have a Rolex 1530 that requires service & be prepared to hand-carry the watch into them to examine before they are able to give you any definitive answers. You may find that, after examination, some may refuse to take the watch in for the reasons stated above, but I would be surprised if you are unable to find anyone locally. In that case, there are a number of watchmakers who specialize in vintage Rolex (eg, Bob Ridley) that you can ship the watch to for service.

Bottom line - if the watch is important to you, I would open your wallet & just bite the bullet to get it done.

Good luck.

[cptnbob]

Update I found my box of parts and have been hard at work some of these are to expensive for me to repair. 
I haven’t serviced a balance in 20 years

[cptnbob]

My case is a 6580? With a 1530?
that’s why no wonder! I remember now .

     I know I have some 1570’s and some parts for this yatchmaster that has a gmt bracelet on it,

back in the day we changed parts like underwear.

  I’m going to need some of those brain cell inhansers for this job. 

    I’m sure that when you get old and learn something new,

the new overrides the old memory and poof! You forgot your childhood. 
now where did I put that other box?

also forgive my spelling I was invented before computer phones 

[freddy333]

On 8/24/2023 at 10:03 PM, cptnbob said:

Update I found my box of parts and have been hard at work some of these are to expensive for me to repair. 
I haven’t serviced a balance in 20 years

 

 

Based on this pic, I assume you were able to assemble a working balance. Does it balance properly on your poising tool? If it does & you get the collet/spring reassembled without incident, you should be well on your way back to ticking heaven.