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Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

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Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#51

Post by yboris »

mryingster wrote: post #50
yboris wrote: post #28

My favorite YouTube restoration channel is My Mechanics - restoring metal objects with tremendous attention to detail and care (creating new parts as needed). I suspect many people who like the watch restorations will like this: https://www.youtube.com/c/mymechanics

He is my favorite of the restoration channels. I don't believe anyone comes close to his attention to detail. I wish he put content out more frequently!

The attention to detail is almost surely the reason the frequency of new videos is low. Meanwhile, I'm getting my machining fix with Inheritance Machining

https://www.youtube.com/@InheritanceMachining

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#52

Post by JohnBooty »

steveBK123 wrote: post #10

Old "tools" like vintage watches, cameras, etc are pretty cool. In my experience they were built to be more serviceable, but also due to less precise manufacturing, there were seemingly a lot more tolerances built into the designs. It's great watching people restore Rolexes, Leicas, etc. Similar to the video here, I have my grandfathers Rolex. He wore it while trimming hedges and doing all sorts of yard work. Why not…

    I have my grandfathers Rolex. He wore it while trimming 
    hedges and doing all sorts of yard work. Why not, it was 
    his only watch and he needed to tell the time!

    [...]

    These days you see the exact opposite behavior. Everyone 
    has just become so precious about their goods.
Well... Rolexes were a lot more affordable in previous decades!

https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex-blog/history-of-time/rolex...

In the 1950s a Rolex Submariner cost about $1,500 in inflation-adjusted dollars and were some of the most rugged watches you could buy because they were designed for actual diving use. Today Rolexes start closer to $10,000 and there are obviously far more rugged and functional choices, such a $50 Casio G-Shock.

So, I don't know. I see people wearing their pricey smartwatches for all kinds of adventure stuff. I'm not sure that people are babying their watches these days.

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#53

Post by JohnBooty »

doubled112 wrote: post #45
medellin wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also apple seemingly keeps making the factory case worse. I use to never use anything on my phone with the old iphones that had the all metal cases. Would drop it all the time and never had an issue. Now i drop my phone once and the back is shattered. Honestly getting pretty sick of the direction apple has gone with the iphone. I just want the iphone 7 with better battery life and some hardware upgrades.

Many manufacturers are headed that way. Why are we building things that are held, dropped, put into pockets, tossed, etc out of glass again? Even on the surfaces that don't need to be.

I agree with the disadvantages of glass, but there's also a huge design advantage in terms of radio reception, right?

They probably looked at the numbers and realized 98% of people put cases on their phones anyway so the disadvantages of glass weren't too bad.

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#54

Post by JohnBooty »

zuzatm wrote: post #19

I don't know why, but I find watch mechanics super fascinating. Few favorites for people with spare time (and lots of money if one wants to buy these): Tourbillon: a watch complication where the main mechanism is mounted on a rotating wheel so that gravity doesn't affect the watch in a single direction. Spring drive: A very recent mechanism that produces a perfect sweeping motion of the seconds hand. It combines both…

And for about $100, you can still buy a mechanical Seiko with a see-through caseback so you can watch everything in motion. A gateway drug for many... but also a fine stopping point because Seikos are wonderful machines in their own right.

(Although, Seiko is doing away with their most affordable mechanical models, all the newer ones are $200+)

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#55

Post by JohnBooty »

albroland wrote: post #22
coffeebeqn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the quotes? Is it similar to other collectibles like coins where you must keep the patina or it loses value? Personally I love these channels where they fix old stuff be it electronic, mechanical or paintings

>you must keep the patina or it loses value? That's exactly it, especially among vintage rolex collectors. They have a bunch of slang for describing different ways things have aged eg the tritium paint on the dial having faded into a desirable cream color (creamy lume!), the hand's lume matching (implying it is the original paint on both the dial and hands), the dial itself could have any variety of sun damage like s…

For those not involved in the watch hobby, I'd also like to point out that Rolex collecting is just one particular niche.

There are a lot of folks in the hobby who are really passionate about e.g. super affordable Seikos and Casios and don't "graduate" to super pricey stuff.

For years, I'd assumed that watch collecting was sort of a money spending contest. Not so. I've found it super welcoming, accessible, and honestly not necessarily expensive. (Though you can certainly spend unlimited amounts of money if you wish

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#56

Post by JohnBooty »

ubermonkey wrote: post #35
implements wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s extremely hard to get a decent mechanical watch without the ‘date complication’ - which I thought was odd as it’s a pain to adjust it nearly every month, so much so that you can’t be sure the current display is even correct.

It's definitely true that it's harder to find no-dates, but they absolutely exist. I think one reason they persist is that not every collector is well-heeled enough to keep all their watches on winders. I know if I go to the safe to put on, say, my Omega, I might just put it right back in there if the delta between the actual date and the date when the watch stopped is too large. LOL. I've got some no-dates (mostly d…

My solution is that I literally just don't care about the day and/or date complication whatsoever, lol.

My brain just filters it right out.

I find it a valuable adaptation for folks who like to rotate between various mechanical watches and don't care to keep them all on winders.

(Which, let's face it, also adds wear and tear on the watches. Each of my mech watches gets worn maaaaybe two days per month and I expect this to really extend their lives. We'll see.)

But, watches are very personal. There's no right or wrong way to do the hobby as long as you're having fun!

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#57

Post by medellin »

JohnBooty wrote: post #53
doubled112 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many manufacturers are headed that way. Why are we building things that are held, dropped, put into pockets, tossed, etc out of glass again? Even on the surfaces that don't need to be.

I agree with the disadvantages of glass, but there's also a huge design advantage in terms of radio reception, right? They probably looked at the numbers and realized 98% of people put cases on their phones anyway so the disadvantages of glass weren't too bad.

No facts to back this up so would be interesting to hear from someone at apple but i feel they just do it because it’s pretty

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#58

Post by steveBK123 »

quartesixte wrote: post #42
steveBK123 wrote: post #10

Old "tools" like vintage watches, cameras, etc are pretty cool. In my experience they were built to be more serviceable, but also due to less precise manufacturing, there were seemingly a lot more tolerances built into the designs. It's great watching people restore Rolexes, Leicas, etc. Similar to the video here, I have my grandfathers Rolex. He wore it while trimming hedges and doing all sorts of yard work. Why not…

> and the thing has had to go in for service every 2-3 years for weeks at a time to get it to keep time properly. You can stretch this out to 5 years and get away with it. Also, most mechanical watches need some kind of servicing (usually relubrication) along that time frame. Hence why before the quartz revolution, local watchmakers were both a staple of any community and a necessary service. You should really see to…

No I can't, my wifes stupid Longines mechanical literally stops keeping time every 2-3 years. Either stops or starts running very very fast.

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#59

Post by dylan604 »

medellin wrote: post #57
JohnBooty wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the disadvantages of glass, but there's also a huge design advantage in terms of radio reception, right? They probably looked at the numbers and realized 98% of people put cases on their phones anyway so the disadvantages of glass weren't too bad.

No facts to back this up so would be interesting to hear from someone at apple but i feel they just do it because it’s pretty

I seem to recall Apple owns part of the company that manufactures the glass. It would be kind of dumb to not use it everywhere and anywhere at that point.

Re: Restoring a Vintage Rolex GMT

#60

Post by quartesixte »

steveBK123 wrote: post #58
quartesixte wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and the thing has had to go in for service every 2-3 years for weeks at a time to get it to keep time properly. You can stretch this out to 5 years and get away with it. Also, most mechanical watches need some kind of servicing (usually relubrication) along that time frame. Hence why before the quartz revolution, local watchmakers were both a staple of any community and a necessary service. You should really see to…

No I can't, my wifes stupid Longines mechanical literally stops keeping time every 2-3 years. Either stops or starts running very very fast.

That’s definitely abnormal behavior. And your local watchmaker just tells you this is how it is?
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