Thank be to my father in law who came up for the day to help around the house, so I could sneak off to the workshop to finish off this lovely Rolex that Alex from Australia sent in!
There are a couple of obvious problems. The pendant tube thread is shot, and so is the crown. The crystal could also do with replacing, and the watch will get a new mainspring, of course. I love the dial colour, and this is my type of watch. The right size, the right understated look, and a cool dial. Not to forget it has a date, as I tend to forget that 😉
The nicely finished calibre 1225. Click on the photo to enlarge it, and you will see some pretty bad scratches around the wheel that drives the second hand arbor. This doesn’t bode too well, as it’s the sign of unqualified intervention …
The date wheel construction of the early Oysterdates leaves some room for improvement… it works, but this could be done better.
The thread on the pendant tube is shot, and I order in a new one. I’m going for generic parts here, as the original Rolex parts are prohibitively expensive. As an example, an original crown comes in at over £150, whereas a generic one is £15. The watch isn’t worth the money to warrant such an investment, as we will need plenty of parts. Crown, pendant tube, mainspring, crystal, winding stem, …
As I said before, this looks like someone who isn’t trained had a go. Check out the bridge around the set lever screw. Someone used a screwdriver that was too large… The bridge screws show the same damage on the bridge.
The gear train is now visible. Something strikes me about the lower balance jewel setting …
Hmmm – now what has happened here? Somebody scratched the jewel setting, for no apparent reason. Functionally, we are still fine here, but it’s a shame.
With the balance jewels taken out, we’re ready for the cleaning machine.
All the parts are cleaned and dried, and ready for assembly. The barrel will need some additional cleaning.
The new mainspring goes into the barrel.
And the barrel bridge is put into place.
Then it’s time for the gear train and the wheel bridge.
The scratches under the driving wheel for the second hand arbor.
With the balance in place, the movement is ticking. Now what will the timegrapher say?
With a bit of adjusting, this is looking great. I wouldn’t expect anything less 😉
The generic crown and winding stem. $135 for a Rolex logo on the crown is a bit steep, I think. Also, if anyone ever wants the original, no harm is done here, as it’s easily replaced.
The bottom plate comes together.
And I can press on the driving wheel for the second hand arbor.
All is ready for the date ring.
The new crystal is just pressed on by hand, and then I press the bezel ring on with the case press.
Time to case the movement, and cut the winding stem to length.
The watch is back together, and looking good.
Not entirely sure about the authenticity of the dial – the letters don’t quite look right, but nevertheless, it’s a nice looking watch.
17/2/2013
Before shipping, I ran the watch through a final set of tests, and I wasn’t happy with the noise when the crown was in setting position. It sounded like a little ratchet, and even though the setting worked, it appeared that it sometimes slipped.
Nothing for it but to take the watch apart again and to have another look.
Someone has mounted an intermediate setting wheel that doesn’t belong here. The internal diameter isn’t right, and it’s not tall enough, so they put a little washer under it. I’ve put the washer to the side so you can see it in the photo. As the washer stayed in place whilst cleaning, this escaped me, as I put the watch together wearing a 3.5x optivisor, so detail that small doesn’t show up. This isn’t really an area that often causes problems, and even though I inspected the wheel itself under the microscope, I couldn’t see that the internal diameter was too wide as I inspected it on its own.
Now comes the hard part – finding a Rolex 1210 7567 setting wheel …
20/2/2013
The new setting wheel has arrived – for £50. Not cheap, those Rolex parts, if you can find them.
There is is in place, and now the setting works as smoothly as it should. I’m happy with the results, and I put the watch back together and send it out to Alex in Australia.
I had a quick question about how you replaced the pendant tube on rolex cases. I understand it threads into the case, and has an internal spline. Once it is threaded in, do you need to drill out the spline? It there a trick to removing the pendant tube from the case once you have removed the spline?
Sorry for asking a question on such an old post.
Yes, on the older Rolexes like this one, you have to drill out the inner spline after fitting it. Removing the old tubes isn’t really that problematic, as a pair of pliers will do the trick. Just squeeze the outer bit of the pendant tube oval, and then gently hold it with the pliers whilst turning.
For some reason when i go to put the stem back in, the screw that you tighten down just keeps spinning and my crown/stem keep popping out. I have no idea what is going on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
The most likely explanation is that you opened the setting lever screw too much, and the setting lever has disengaged. Off to the watchmaker I’m afraid…
Very informative….! Here in the States I come across lots of these small Rolex’s from the 1940’s-1960’s. Not only the “oysterdate’s” but also ” Oyster Royal”s”. I do buy them and also parts for the watches ( when I can find them.)
hi . goodday. what’s is the real size for few rolex models washer ( o ring )
diameter , thickness
model :
6694 ( 1225 )
1601
hope I can the reply..
Thank u very much
Hi
Pleased indeed to see the care and attention to detail. Having the same watch, including the black dial ( though with silver hands and markings ), I have some questions :
1. Watch ceased randomly, so it was taken to a watchmaker, cleaned and returned to proper functioning. Several weeks later it started to speed up ( something never happened before as it kept perfect time over the years ) same watchmaker said after inspection lower balance stone is worn and need replacing. Have my doubts since watch kept perfect timing before mentioned visit to watchmaker. Could you comment ?
2. Seems my watch is an early example as markings have arrow shape on the 6 and 9 hour. When production of the 6694 started and is the markings shape indeed an indication ?
Thank you.
Hi Christian, I found this most interesting. I’ve a 6694 birth year (1971) Oysterdate which I love and am looking to get one for my wife. I’ve my eye on one (Oyster Precision) which would need a new dial – it’s being billed as a 1225 with no date. Can I add a date wheel to the 1225 (and correct dial/crystal, natch) or is it more complicated than that?
Thanks,
Kevin
I would advise getting a complete watch. Once you have paid for the parts, your project might turn out to be more expensive. If you can find the parts at all…
Nice (well travelled) watch and a very informative write up.
I last had my 6694 serviced by Rolex exactly 11 years ago. The date on the receipt is 16/02/02. It cost £160, which is only £225 in today’s terms, and included new hands, pendant tube assembly and a crystal. The Rolex service centre even refinished the case.
Incredible that a pendant tube assembly now costs £150 alone! I wonder what a Rolex service for a 6694 comes in at these days, although my watch still keeps excellent time, so doesn’t appear to require servicing quite yet.
My mother in law gave me this watch as it was her late husbands. My wife and I found it along with another Rolex gathering dust in a cupboard in the wife’s family house in Japan. I imagine this watch hadn’t been in action for years as it was upgraded to a newer model of Rolex by my father in law. After being given this watch I felt it was up to me to get it repaired and luckily I stumbled across Christians website. He has done a fantastic job and his passion and attention to detail is clearly evident from the pictures and write up.
Coincidentally this watch was made the same year I was born: 1984.
A huge thank you to Christian.
Alex.