ARE YOU HAPPY TO RECEIVE A NEW LOOKING ROLEX AFTER YOU SEND YOUR OLD, VINTAGE ROLEX FOR SERVICING? SOME MIGHT BE HAPPY BUT PREFER THE OLD, ORIGINAL LOOK! AS FOR DATO SRI LIOW SOON HEE, MALAYSIA'S YOUNGEST PHILANTHROPIST, HE IS ONLY 32 SO HE PREFERS TO BUY A BRAND NEW ROLEX. AS HE SAYS, "I WILL TREASURE IF I HAD OWNED AND USED MY ROLEX FOR 30 OR 40 YEARS AS IT WILL SHOW ITS AGE THAT CAN ONLY COME WITH AGE. I WILL NOT BUY A VINTAGE ROLEX AS IT DOES NOT TELL MY PERSONAL HISTORY BUT OF COURSE IF I LIKE AN OLD, DECREPIT ROLEX IN WORKING CONDITION, I WILL BUY IT!"
DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO AGREE TO RECEIVE A NEW LOOKING ROLEX AFTER SERVICING YOUR OLD, DINOSAURIC LOOKING ROLEX? WHILE THIS MAY SEEM LIKE GOOD NEWS, NOT ALL OWNERS OF VINTAGE ROLEXES AGREE AS THEY PREFER THEIR OLD, ORIGINAL VINTAGE LOOK SO PRIZED BY COLLECTORS!
Watch collectors, and Rolex, have diverging viewpoints on how a Rolex watch should look.
If you send your watch to Rolex for service, it is going to be returned with new replacement parts in place of the original parts.
These parts will often be the newest version, rather than correct pieces to match the vintage of your watch.
Collectors call these replaced parts “service” parts. You’ll sometimes see Rolex watches advertised as having service bezels or service dials. That means those parts were replaced by Rolex during service.
They aren’t original to the watch and may not be of the exact style it was originally sold with. Service parts can reduce the value of collectable watches appreciably.
Why does Rolex do this? I mean, it’s my collectable vintage watch. Why would they ruin it like that? Two reasons: to make your watch look beautiful and, in some cases, to protect the owner.
To a vintage watch collector, this is beauty:
With its faded bezel, chipped lume plots and gilt dial, this watch’s patina speaks of its age. Its imperfections make it unique and desirable. Its look says, “I took a licking and kept on ticking”. That’s what collectors are looking for in a watch.
Rolex likes their watches to look like this though:
This is the same model of watch, with service parts, giving it a “new” look. Rolex likes your watch looking tip-top, to preserve their image and the watch’s functionality.
Send them the watch in the top picture and you’ll get something like the bottom watch in return. That’s a real humbug for a collector, and the reason they won’t send vintage watches to Rolex for service.
The second reason they won’t return dials to you is for your own safety.
Watch makers used to use radioactive materials, like radium and tritium, to illuminate their dials. Over time, those plots of luminescent material will deteriorate and break free from the dial.
Loose radioactive dust doesn’t pose a serious threat when trapped inside of a watch, but giving you an old dial might not be a great idea.
Accidentally inhaling some of that dust, or putting a finger covered with dust into your eye, could be bad news. Rolex doesn’t want that kind liability, so you ain’t gettin’ that dial. Sorry.
It is Rolex’s policy to remove and replace all worn parts on a watch sent to them for service. You have to agree to this if they are going to do anything to your watch.
Agreeing is giving them permission to do so. If you don’t want this to happen, find an independent watchmaker that specializes in vintage Rolexes and they’ll take care of your needs.
Just make sure they have access to genuine Rolex parts. You don’t want them putting any old part into your vintage watch.
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