How Often Do You Bathe Your Rolex?

[Trade2Fly]

Hi ladies and gents,

I just got my first Rollie 3 days ago. A beautiful 16233 2-tone, champagne linen dial with stick markers. It's a 2002 K series model. And I absolutely love it to bits. Got it from a pawnshop and given that I have 5 hours before I depart for the States, I can only authenticate it at RSC when i get back.

After authentication, I intend to take it to either Chuan, Koh or JW for servicing and polishing.

In the meantime, for the past 3 days, I have been using a gentle brush and some Johnson and Johnson to bathe it lovingly. gently scrubbing the links for any dirt and grime as well as the fluted bezel.

After that, I will dry it with a bit of tissue before polishing it with a polish cloth.

Am i too over? Or am I suffering from the Rolex fever, as a first time Rollie owner?

How often do you guys bathe your Rolex?

Also, just to check, how do I see the laser etched crown at the 6 o'clock position on a 16233?

Regards
Bryan

[ngokyc]

It really depends on how frequent I wear it and worn it for what occasion. Probably shower it once a week or month for daily wear. Will wash and clean it after in contact with sea water or from the pool.

[taxico]

Hi ladies and gents,

I just got my first Rollie 3 days ago. A beautiful 16233 2-tone, champagne linen dial with stick markers. It's a 2002 K series model. And I absolutely love it to bits. Got it from a pawnshop and given that I have 5 hours before I depart for the States, I can only authenticate it at RSC when i get back.

After authentication, I intend to take it to either Chuan, Koh or JW for servicing and polishing.

In the meantime, for the past 3 days, I have been using a gentle brush and some Johnson and Johnson to bathe it lovingly. gently scrubbing the links for any dirt and grime as well as the fluted bezel.

After that, I will dry it with a bit of tissue before polishing it with a polish cloth.

Am i too over? Or am I suffering from the Rolex fever, as a first time Rollie owner?

How often do you guys bathe your Rolex?

Also, just to check, how do I see the laser etched crown at the 6 o'clock position on a 16233?

use a gentle bleach solution + shaking action and your bracelet will come out looking great after a water rinse off.

a 16233 may not have the LEC on the crystal - unless the crystal has been replaced. turn on your smartphone's torch function and shine the light from 12 o'clock towards 6 o'clock. check out the 6 o'clock area for LEC, if any.

watch out - immersing a rolex that has not been pressure proofed may result in water ingress... seeing that your watch is okay thus far, you'll probably be alright but it is entirely possible at some point in the past the case back had not been tightened properly and/or gaskets are no longer working properly...

instead of spending $100 on authentication, $350 for service, another $150 for pressure proofing and polishing... why not spend a few hundred bucks more and let RSC do it properly? (which will include a whole bunch of parts changed - the gold crown you may request to keep if it can pass pressure test).

you need not change the dial and hands if you don't want to - let RSC know or they'll try their best to make everything like new from the AD (and charge you for it).

the extra cost is worth the sum of the parts that MAY/should require changing when serviced by an outside technician. parts that should be changed include components that have suffered from wear and tear (main spring, rotor post,etc)

finally... your DJ will have a 2 year international warranty, usable in any country with an RSC or RASC (including timing adjustments and pressure testing during that period after the overhaul)... something a $350 COA job at a 3rd party shop in singapore can never compete with.

[taxico]

i use this - which my wife keeps around my home...



and the bottom 1/3 of this juice container... (i cut it out myself - jiggling watches in this container is gentler than in a ceramic cup)



it has worked very well - so well in fact i'm slowly taking out all my watch bracelets/parts and putting it through this "free" process.

bracelets i have previously cleaned and brushed by myself actually come out looking even shinier after a soak and jiggle!

[shou.biao.kuang]

Great advice...

Great advice Taxico... didn't know we can use the Magic Clean solution

I have learned that after washing, in addition to patting the bracelet and watch head dry, it is good to blow dry the watch with a hair dryer to completely dry up watch as solution and water might have sipped through the gaps or hard to reach spots on the watch. Turn to the fan mode instead and not the ultra high heat on the dryer please!

[taxico]

i am not allowed near my wife's hair dryer and my shoe hair dryer is broken so i don't have any to use...

but i rinse my watch parts through clean water a few times before i just pat and air dry. the good thing about using bleach is - if it's still there, you can smell it. otherwise it doesn't smell of anything.

all the dirt and human rubbish that are inside hollow links comes off if you let the bracelet soak for a day or two - i know this because i washed a bracelet before sending it to to be refurbished. he took it apart and photographed it and sent them back to me by email saying it's very very clean inside.

i think it can only get cleaner if it was used with an ultrasonic cleaner - but i don't think i'm ever going to pay for one so i can live with using one hand to jiggle the (watch) parts every time i go to the toilet.

the only downside is... my wife sometimes comments on how quickly the magic clean gets finished...

[spyder_696]

use a gentle bleach solution + shaking action and your bracelet will come out looking great after a water rinse off.

a 16233 may not have the LEC on the crystal - unless the crystal has been replaced. turn on your smartphone's torch function and shine the light from 12 o'clock towards 6 o'clock. check out the 6 o'clock area for LEC, if any.

watch out - immersing a rolex that has not been pressure proofed may result in water ingress... seeing that your watch is okay thus far, you'll probably be alright but it is entirely possible at some point in the past the case back had not been tightened properly and/or gaskets are no longer working properly...

instead of spending $100 on authentication, $350 for service, another $150 for pressure proofing and polishing... why not spend a few hundred bucks more and let RSC do it properly? (which will include a whole bunch of parts changed - the gold crown you may request to keep if it can pass pressure test).

you need not change the dial and hands if you don't want to - let RSC know or they'll try their best to make everything like new from the AD (and charge you for it).

the extra cost is worth the sum of the parts that MAY/should require changing when serviced by an outside technician. parts that should be changed include components that have suffered from wear and tear (main spring, rotor post,etc)

finally... your DJ will have a 2 year international warranty, usable in any country with an RSC or RASC (including timing adjustments and pressure testing during that period after the overhaul)... something a $350 COA job at a 3rd party shop in singapore can never compete with.

hi, can you please explain what is ''pressure proofed may result in water ingress''. my wife watch water go inside (could it be after a swim - that is only time her watch gets much water) and now all needles not working. is it better I sent it to rolex at orchard to get it repaired? estimated cost.

tried but cannot post image https://www.flickr.com/photos/33973212@N02/15112277231/

[taxico]

quick hand quick leg - bring to a tech or RSC to be dried out.

immersing a rolex that has not been pressure proofed may result in water ingress...

hi, can you please explain what is ''pressure proofed may result in water ingress''. my wife watch water go inside (could it be after a swim - that is only time her watch gets much water) and now all needles not working. is it better I sent it to rolex at orchard to get it repaired? estimated cost.

what i meant was... if your watch is not tested for water resistance, water may go in. usually after the watch has been opened up, it MIGHT be no longer water resistant. the same applies to old watches that have never been serviced or not touched in a long time.

the earlier you open it up and get everything dried and cleaned, the sooner you will know the price and also likely fewer items that will become beyond repair.., because it is not salt water, most of the parts will clean up quite well if done so quickly.

[spyder_696]

Date just up to 100m right.
Any idea why go swimming pool also soaked
Thanks

[taxico]

crown not tight, gaskets deteriorated and no longer able to seal properly, case back not tightened... tube/crown wear... etc.

your guess is as good as mine. i usually try to do a wet chamber test to find the exact spot in such a case. if the leak cannot be replicated, then tube/crown are probably okay to keep.

your watch can have 1000000m WR but if there's a small speck of dirt that allows water to ingress, it's as good in water as a 0m WR vintage patek.

[ohl]

i wash it with water and liquid soap everyday after taking it off from work before putting it in my winder. is there any issue?

[Bryansim]

When I told my wife that I need to bathe my GMT, she said I'm crazy and refused to let me do it. Sigh... By the way, where to get those mint clothe that I can use to wipe the chain without causing any unnecessary scratches?

[astonchow]

i use this - which my wife keeps around my home...



and the bottom 1/3 of this juice container... (i cut it out myself - jiggling watches in this container is gentler than in a ceramic cup)



it has worked very well - so well in fact i'm slowly taking out all my watch bracelets/parts and putting it through this "free" process.

bracelets i have previously cleaned and brushed by myself actually come out looking even shinier after a soak and jiggle!

Hi, can u briefly describe the cleaning process ? Sounds interesting to try on my sub nd. Thanks.