Rolex

RoadRage
14

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Can of worms?

I do NOT want to start a battle about prevcentive maintenance. I will say that an authorized Rolex, Blancpain, etc dealer who sponsors here told me that routine maintenance on most mechanical watches is a waste of time and certainly money, unless the watch is misbehaving, or was not made properly or suffered some mishap during the road to the end user. This was based on his experience, and the counsel of his watchkeeper, a Euro-trained getleman with a training and applied skills resume as long as your arm, who maintained that servicing a quality watch every 3-5 years is simply a way to generate aftersale revenue. OK, flame on, but I did not want to satart a war, simply make a point.

As a mechanical engineer and physicist, I can also say that modern lubricants reduce wear dramatically, should not normally "dry up" in the internal environment of a timepiece, and have a service life extending almost indefiinitely. Some of you with BMW's may be reminded that certain drivetrain parts come "sealed for life". And I note with a raised eyebrow that when I had a Bimmer and hjad to pay for service, oil changes had to be done every 3-4k miles; but as soon as BMW started to foot the bill with "free" scheduled maintenance, oil change intervals were anywhere 10k - 15k miles and up! What had changed, other than using synoils (just as our watches use)? The record known to me was a C-series Mercedes  that was at 22,342 miles when the "service" light came on? Hmmmmm. I smell a rat.

Also, unless the parts being used are extremely soft, metal that has sheared from sliding surfaces generally does not pose a threat to itself or the general movement population. I could rattle on about wear analysis in metals, but the simple mind experiment is that the tolerances (distanmces netween 2 or more adjacent sliding surfaces) is almost always larger than the wear partcile itself. Unless the particles work together to line up just next to each other, they will just harmlessly slide through the spaces between sliding surfaces. Perhaps a clean, lube, assembly at 5 years might be reasonable just to ensure that any foreign materials are removed before they can wreak their horribe vengeance (that is, substances that somehow entered the timepiece before it was sealed and were never intended to be there ion the first place) . And on that pont, I am very iffy.

MY Blancpain dealer said I should have it serviced when it stops keeping time well. My Omega (with co-ax) says 10 years, and it is rumored they  (Omega) are hardly using any oil at all. My ATMOS clock has been patiently doing its job rather well for nearly 20 years now, and boy is it unsealed, and part of that time was spent in NYC in a 4th floor walk-up with no AC and plenty of 1970 vintage NYC "air" streaming onto its little mantle dwelling when I was a starving grad student (B4 you cry foul, the ATMOS was a graduation gift that my Dad, may he rest in peace, never understood me wanting although he had 20 of his 93 years to ruminate over it).

 I hope I have I haven't rambled too much, but when I get a head full of ideas, they have to come out, or it is time to reach for the Brainamucil.

 Cheers, RR. aka Glenn

Site Info.