Justasgood Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Try spendin over $2000.00 on a gen and after the usual waiting agnst , it shows up and winds like turning a spoon in rocks. So my watchmaker cracks it open and finds: So back it goes. The seller (Whom I have had past dealings with) immediately puts a replacement watch in a FedEx Express package and now the wait begins anew All in all, it will work out pretty good. The initial watch was a 1991 14060 and the replacement is a T serial 14060M. Pics when it gets here.....Tomorrow I suspect. Stay tuned......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdubpower Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 please elaborate on your find, sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 please elaborate on your find, sorry Look at the finish work on the movement. It was making a grinding noise because the movement was so badly finished and rough. Question is, how do you think Rolex ever let that one get out of the house? Is it even a Rolex movement? /Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spa Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I'm starting to feel happier about my reps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justasgood Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 My "find" to elaborate is the edge of the winding rotor plate is chewed up. Grinding was caused by the shavings in the winding train. The movement did not look like this from the factory. After closer inspection of the watch, a ding to the bezel led me to believe this watch to a pretty good knock at some point. I believe the rotor bearing was damaged causing the winding rotor to griand against the plates as evidenced in the picture. Ugly Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 The Rotor's on these rollie's are all like this, very prone to rubbing against the movement...common defect, but the rotor is very efficient while winding, at the expense of having it rub... Hope it works out for you. RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 As Rob mentioned, all in house Rolex calibers are like this, as their rotors use a sleeve/axle instead of ball bearings like ETAs. If the axel goes dry, the axle wears out quickly, which can cause the rotor to tilt and rub against the plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section8 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Ubi or Rob, why doesn't Rolex use ball bearings on the rotor? That seems like a more efficient design to me. Or is it a case of "less moving parts is better" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Well, the axle/bearing for the rotor is probably quieter than the ball bearings, which may be why Rolex chose to go this route; I don't see any other performance gains from this type of set up, but Rob is more qualified than I to speak on that Since Rolex is an advocate of routine servicing, wear on the axle can be kept in check, and hence becomes a non-issue over the reliability of ball bearings (in their eyes). I myself believe that ball bearings are more reliable in the long run, and don't require routine replacement like the axle- I've seen a couple of Rolex calibers exhibit the problem Kurt originally posted, but not to that degree of severity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Interesting! Maybe this is why my gen 1680 keeps stopping after 5 or 6 days, even though I keep it on a winder when I'm not wearing it. All my other watches including the asians and the v7750's do fine on this quad winder, just the 1680 stops after a few days. I kinda figured it was in the auto winding mechanism and this tells me where to look first. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanx Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 So many people do not realize that gen's have their issues and quality control snafu's too. (not to the extent many reps do but no brand is perfect 100% of the time). Good that this is getting taken care of so quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsons Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I've read of this issue with rlx movements (lack of bearings on the rotor) but I would have never thought it could be this severe. I believe some of the older GMT movements use bearings and would not have this problem.....someone correct me if I'm wrong on this. The good news is that it looks like your in good hands and your dealer is sorting things out. I can just picture a rep noob buyer that received a watch with a similar problem. One could only imagine the contents of the post and all for a $200 watch. Best of luck, Kurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Hmmmm... Not sure this would be a QC issue per se; the watch probably left the factory in correct operating order back in 1991/1992. Over time, wear, negligence, etc. can have the kind of effect on the movement parts as exhibited here. But, you can probably chalk this one up to poor design on Rolex's part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justasgood Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I've read of this issue with rlx movements (lack of bearings on the rotor) but I would have never thought it could be this severe. I believe some of the older GMT movements use bearings and would not have this problem.....someone correct me if I'm wrong on this. The good news is that it looks like your in good hands and your dealer is sorting things out. I can just picture a rep noob buyer that received a watch with a similar problem. One could only imagine the contents of the post and all for a $200 watch. Best of luck, Kurt! LOL! Thanks for the well wishes. Everything has worked out perfectly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nietzsche0904 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I read a review somewhere that said rolex keeps using the axle/sleeve instead of the bearings because it is more effecient at winding. Meh. If yo uservice your watch often with Rolex i woul think this would be a nonissue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilty Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I would have to agree that with regular service and maintenance, that would be a non-issue whether it is a genuine Rolex or not. Could you imagine buying a car new off the lot in 1991, driving it everyday, and neglecting servicing! I'm sure if the watch was serviced properly, they would have found the problem, whether it is a defective part, or not properly lubed. For all we know, someone had the watch, opened it up, got their mucky fingerprints all over the movmenent, then tried to clean it, removing the lubricants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Try spendin over $2000.00 on a gen and after the usual waiting agnst , it shows up and winds like turning a spoon in rocks. So my watchmaker cracks it open and finds: So back it goes. The seller (Whom I have had past dealings with) immediately puts a replacement watch in a FedEx Express package and now the wait begins anew All in all, it will work out pretty good. The initial watch was a 1991 14060 and the replacement is a T serial 14060M. Pics when it gets here.....Tomorrow I suspect. Stay tuned......... Oh my lord... Did this seller have references?? Certainly he couldn't have NOT noticed this!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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