Tough & Broken Rolex Watches

Rolex are known for being tough. Here are some images that show the extreme.

All images are posted with permission

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These are some photos of a Daytona that was dropped and hit a tile floor. It's been said that the safest place for a Rolex is on one's wrist. Although sapphire is one of the hardest substances next to diamond, when it breaks it shatters into miniscule pieces that can fall into the movement. A crystal break of this magnitude will reqire a complete service of the watch in order to insure the removal of all the crystal fragments. If this happens to your Rolex, be sure to stop the second hand (hack it) by pulling out the crown, or else there can be further damage to the movement.

Ceramic

This stainless Daytona was broken while mountain biking. Although the owner was wearing his Rolex, the crystals are not as robust as the rest of the watch.

This DateJust was just services by Rolex RSC New York when it hit the bathroom floor. The watch has to go back to Rolex for a new crystal. Hopefully the watch will not require a full service.

I found these images on www.r-l-x.de showing a brokern SeaDweller Band. It has been known that the weakest link in Oyster bands is the first link. Apparently, there is a springbar that holds the bracelet to the Solid End Link (SEL). The Google translated version in English is here.

This SeaDweller images has floated around the Internet these last few years. Legend has it that this SD survived a motorcycle accident.

asalles06 from Brazil wanted to end all the questions regarding whether “can I take a shower with my Rolex” , “can I wear my Rolex in a hot tub”, or “if it is cold outside can I wear my Rolex”… posts.

In his post on TimeZone he took his 16710 and did the following:

First, he put it in a glass of water and froze it for 8 hours. it spent 8 hours; this is how it looked like afterwards.

To thaw out his 16710, he then put it in a pot of boiling water for a 10 minute boil.

Nine hours aftet removing the watch from boiling water, asalles06 indicated that the watch still kept perfect time.

This is something I would not recommend to test the toughness of your watch, but this demonstration certainly illustrates the ruggedness of Rolex watches.

Hannes posted these images to WatchTalk Forums of a Lady DateJust going through a washing machine.

The top four images show the damage after the washing machine, and the bottom four images show how the watch was restored.

The red arrow on the after pictures shows one place that could not be restored.

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This image is of a Rolex GMTII-C (116710) after it flew out of a bag stored in a locker. The watch landed on a tile floor. Other than the dent on the side of the case, the watch works as if it were still new.

This Explorer I (Model 14270) has been a daily user for ten years, and has seen as good as everything. It's been on the user's wrist when his children were born, when he did heavy renovation on his house, although he stopped wearing it while painting or working with cement as it is difficult to clean it, whilst training, on vacation, in the office.

In general, this Rolex owner is very careful with his watches, but he does enjoy wearing them, and does NOT hesitate keeping them on his wrist. It is a great feeling having the same watch on one's wrist whilst rebuilding a house during the weekend as one is wearing during the board meeting the following Monday...

The bottom photo shows a dent on the side of the case, but is still holding strong.

This image was found on a one of the Rolex boards. Photo origin unknown. Nonetheless, be sure to keep the crown snug, and certainly tighten it when going underwater.

Moose589 on WatchUSeek Forums put his SeaDweller in the Dishwasher. He was curious to find out what happens to a Rolex when put through the full cycle in a dishwasher. His dishwasher is a new Kitchen Aid, it takes water from the hot water heater, it then boils it internally, and washes the dishes with the boiling water. It also has a heat cycle that dries the dishes at about 200 degrees. Moose589 took his Dweller, put it in the dishwasher on pot scrub, heavy duty, heat dry cycle. He opened the dishwasher during the wash cycle, checked the temp with an infrared thermometer, it was well over 200 degrees. Moose 589 then opened it during the dry cycle to check out the steam. After a complete cycle, he took the watch out, which was almost to hot to hold, and rinsed it with cold water. Dried it off, and put it on his wrist. How's it running? Perfectly. There is no doubt in Moose589's that any modern dive watch would survive this.

This is an image from www.r-l-x.de of a broken crystal in a Anniversary Milgauss. It has been rumored that the early Anniversary Milgauss crystals had durability issues, but those rumors can be equally without merit.

Umkarton indicated that he snapped this image with a webcam and a mirror as the watch face lettering isbackwards. Umkarton did not elaborate how the crystal broke.

This is a classic post on TimeZone from Jacob Hagert who allowed me to repost this story about his friend's Submariner.

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The serial number indicates that this watch is from 67/68 and was given to the owner on his 18th birthday as a new-old stock watch.

Jacob's friend works as a Skipper on small coast ships. In 1995 he lost this Submariner while doing some engine work. About one year later the watch was found lying in old spill oil & diesel under the engine!! The watch had a "sailor" service at once using soap & autosol. The cleaned-up Sub went back on the wrist the very same day working fine.


The watch in all its glory	Notice the left over weld an collapsed end link

Who says traditional Oyster bracelets are not strong. The amount of stretch is well within reason considering the life this watch has had.

Notice the benefits of an acrylic crystal. Although you cannot buff out a ding like this, this photo clearly illustrates the benefits of acrylic as a sapphire crystal would have shattered.

The left photo shows another healthy crystal ding. The photo on the right shows how worn the bezel ring has become, but still very usable by "sailors fingers."

The watch has been serviced twice after all these
years. The last visit was Rolex, Coopenhagen. As the scans show, it´s been a while since it has visited an RSC.

When this watch was initially lost, the owner purchased a 14060 to replace the lost Submariner. Upon finding his trusty Submariner, he put it on instantly as the bracelet on the 14060 still "felt stiff." Apparently, it takes years to break in a Submariner, movement, bracelet and all.

Brian in Austin, TX writes that the breaking of this DateJust story is typical. Sitting on bathroom counter, he swept it off with a towel and it fell and landed flat on the crystal. Brian notes that sapphire makes the oddest ping sound when it shatters. One does not ever want to hear it.

Chris_NorCal was out on business and managed to drop his Sub onto a hotel bathroom tile floor from probably 5 feet. It landed directly on the case and chipped the corner of the lug and the caseback pretty bad. It amazingly had not affected the timing--still keeps the same time.

This is an image of what appears to be a newer style bracelet that I found posted on one of the watch boards. I have a strong suspision that this is a bracelet from a fake Rolex as I don't see how something like this can pass Rolex's quality control.

nylawbiz posted a similar problem on the Rolex Forums. Maybe this problem is a little more widespread as it is becoming more obvious that this piece is not entirely machined; there are some welded pieces.

Broken Bracelet

These are Rolex springbars that held a jubilee bracelet. During watch service, be sure to have the springbars checked. According to the watchmaker who posted this image, worn springbars like this are fairly common.

Rolex Springbars

Nick Hacko, a watchmaker and dealer in Australia posted these images on his blog illustrating how important it is to have your Rolex pressure tested each year, as well as getting it overhauled every five years. The first image shows a fantastic looking two-tone Submariner, but the inside of the watch is a mess.

The culprit is either a worn caseback gasket, or worn crown gaskets. Photos reposted with permission. See more of Nick's images and insight here.

Nick Hacko shared these images of a GMT II that was wrecked in a motorcycle accident on his blog. The motorcyclist only had a few minor scratches, but his GMTII did not.

To get this watch back to its original condition, the following parts are required:

New bracelet, middle case, rotating bezel, bezel spring, winding crown and stem, new crystal and crystal seal, new set of hands, calendar wheel and the dial.

Internally, the following parts would also require replacement: the rotor, balance wheel, escape wheel and all the wheels in going train, auto rotor wheel and case clamps.

The only parts that were spared from the impact are the bridges, screws, the main spring and a few wheels underneath the dial. In terms of dollar-value, less than 10% of the watch survived and the rest is completely toast.

Photos reposted with permission.

Nick Hacko, sent me these images of a Rolex president and the damage done to the bracelet after a golf game. There has been much debate whether a Rolex can survive a golf swing. There is no doubt that Rolex can survive a round of golf, especially when Rolex is major sponsor of various top level golf tournaments. In the course of the these debates, people focus on the effects of golf on the movment, but there was never any consideration of the bracelet. Look what happened to an 18 karat gold bracelet that holds a pretty heavy Rolex President watch head.

g340 on shared on The Rolex Forums and on WatchUSeek his experience of removing his GMT-C watch at an airport security screening, only to find the ceramic bezel fell out. Fortunately, he found the insert, but could not press it back into the bezel ring (like one can with the older aluminum 16710 inserts).

A few days later, g340 dropped off his GMT-C with the New York RSC who indicated "they have seen situations like this before, but that it is uncommon." Rolex indicated that the bezel insert is a press fit and held by the beveled edges of the bezel ring. g340 indicated that his visit to the RSC in New York was a "good experience." The watch was repaired in 24 hours and mailed back to him.

Photos re-posted and touched up on g340's behalf and with permission.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images..

Lubrifar went to change the bezel insert on his 16710, and the entire crystal ring that the bezel ring snaps onto pulled off. Typically, removing this ring requires a special ring puller.

You can see how the crystal ring holds the sapphire crystal to the case as well as the gasket that assist with water resistance.

The repair requires Rolex's crystal ring press.

The story is posted on the TimeKeeper Forum. Photos reposted with permission.

John Brozek of InfoQuest Publishing posted these images depicting how the outside of a Rolex looks fine, but without regular maintenance, the inside can become quite dirty. John has a repair service located here. The watch on the left is a 1997 GMT that had a damaged rotor pin as you can see how the rotor hit the inside of the caseback. The watch on the right is a 1990 DateJust that had been neglected for about 10 years.. .

This image was posted of a cracked Sea Dweller Deep Sea. Both the Deep Sea and the ceramic bezeled Submariner have a raised pearl at 12 o'clock that allows for the diver to feel where zero is on the bezel. The original aluminum bezels had a luminescent ball, which also was known to fall out, but the Deep Sea version is quite pronounced and is subject to getting hit. The traditional aluminum bezels would flex when the pearl would be hit, but the Deep Sea bezel seems to crack.

nylawbiz on the Rolex Forums shared a broken GMT clasp. This break is similar to the post above whereby the hole with which holds the safety clasp beaks off. There are two of these pieces that are welded to the clasp and are not machined as part of the clasp. nylawbiz will post an update after RSC fixes the problem.

This 116713-C was involved in a car accident. Fortunately, the owner is okay but the watch appears to have taken some of the brunt. The SEL on the bracelet broke as well as the springbar, and something obviously smashed into the lug as it is both dinged and bent. Some laser restoration and soldering will bring this watch back to new.

These photos were sent to me by Time and Gems, a Rolex watch sales and service facility since 1997.

Medic 103 had the pearl fall out of his DeepSea SeaDweller. Most likely, Rolex will repair this under warranty.

Here is an image provided by spogehead of a half-broken GMT-C clasp. It is becoming apparent that this welded piece sometimes breaks. Initially thought as being entirely machined, it has become apparent that the hinge is welded onto the clasp and sometimes breaks. Obviously a production defect, Rolex has replaced these clasps.

Akira posted on the Rolex Forums images from his Russian website of a frozen AirKing that continued to run. Akira is the moderator of the Russian watch forum Watch.ru. Akira shares that Watch.ru is the only watch forum that is entirely in the Russian language.

The 2001 AirKing was a watch that has been never serviced and one he purchased for 1300 euros. He froze it for 14 hours. He measured that the watch continued to run by timing it against a Swatch (image on lower right). The watch lost 57 seconds during the 14 hours in the freezer probably because of the frozen/cold oil, nevertheless, the watch still ran.

After the watch thawed, it returned back to its normal plus 10 (+10) seconds fast once the watch returned back to its original temperature. The +10 seconds/day is probably as a result of not being serviced.