Robert from the US sent in this Rolex Yachtmaster, which is of great sentimental value to him.
The watch doesn’t work, the second hand is stuck under the hour hand, and the movement rattles loosely in the case.
He previously sent it to a service centre in the US, which quoted him a good $1000 for a service. That’s why it’s here with me now …
The Rolex calibre 2135 movement is one of the best ladies watch movements. It beats at 28,800 bph, performs like a trooper, and is a pretty sturdy beast. It has a quick-set date, is automatic, and that’s all you need from a movement!
With the second hand dislodged, the movement starts up, but with a very feeble amplitude.
Time to take the movement apart. Here is the auto winder assembly.
A beautiful movement, and nicely decorated.
The mainspring with the usual old grease. I will of course replace it.
The bottom plate with the date ring. Note that the date ring is suspended by a large jewel. Very nice construction!
And what lurks below isn’t bad, either. Great finishes, jewels everywhere,… 
And off into the cleaning machine.
I start off with the bottom plate.
And then put together the movement until it starts beating. Note that the escape wheel is capped from both sides. 
Straight away, great performance. Very little positional variation, and a constant beat rate.
I put the dial and hands back on.
And put a new case back gasket in with a bit of silicone grease.
Now the auto winder goes back on – note the new case screw on the left.
And ticking again. Robert wants the watch to be left as original as possible, so the crystal is still the same.
Do you know what cases the 2135 movement will fit? What about the 2050 movement?
Does the 2135 movement come in different sizes to accommodate a women’s versus midsize Rolex?
The 2135 only comes in one size. The larger equivalent is the 3135.
What is the best method for replacing a balance shock spring in a 2135. Thank you for your suggestion. Phill Simon
It’s a standard KIF shock spring. You just slot the short arms into position, and that’s it.
A very interesting ladie’s watch. I have always wondered about those red gears in Rolex movements like the one on the second picture. Is there a reason why they have that deep red coloration?
I don’t think that there is a technical reason for the red colour – it’s more like a branding feature.
I read somewhere that the red autowinder wheels are Teflon coated (i.e PTFE). Why they make them red and not just clear is a mystery…
What a coincidence, today I was reading about another Rolex and found that they are indeed coated with teflon and do not require lubrication. I have no explanation for the choice of red either. Probably there was a reason in the past, but now I agree it must be branding.The article I was reading is this http://www.chronometrie.com/rolex3135/rolex3135.html
Fantastic work, how much time did this service take you to complete end to end?
Including cleaning the case and bracelet, etc. around 4 hours.
Thats strange the second hand was not attached. It was when I sent it in. It must have been very loose because it would slip and fall and sometimes catch and work fine. Its nice to see it in such good shape internally.
The joys of the postal system 🙂
Nice looking thing – twenty-something jewels does it say? Are those jewel holders a Rolex in-house thing?
You don’t see an awful lot of automatic ladies watches…
If you mean the balance and escape jewels – they look very KIF to me…
Ah, so it seems;
“The KIF system has been used extensively in Rolex watches and also in other brands such as Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, JLC etc. The main difference is the the Incabloc has two contact points on the jewel bearing, whereas KIF has three. As a result, it is better required to survive stronger impacts. The three contact points are also evenly spread so it technically self aligns itself.”
Although there is a Rolex an-house system called Paraflex and they are apparently phasing out KIF in favour of it;
http://tinyurl.com/nh6kw82
Yep, definitely KIF. They’re my worst enemy at the minute. I don’t know if its just me, but the ‘elastor’ are even more likely to leave the setting than Incabloc springs. Since the hinge is the opposite way round to Incabloc, too much sideways pressure when opening and they’re out! They don’t tend to ping off at that point, but they do when reinstalling. I’ve had to wait 6 weeks for cousinsuk to get some in stock after loosing the bottom one from my JLC Reverso! So frustrating! On the other hand, the KIF ‘Flector’ is in many Rolex movements from the 60’s and 70’s, and is one of my favourites, since I’ve never had an issue with them. Touch wood anyway! Lovely job though Christian.
I use an old oiler, that I have cut down to only a couple of mm. I have sharpened and polished it to a very fine tip (a needle), and I use that to open all shock springs. A slow and controlled process, and no more flying shock springs 😉
Is a jewel of that size on the date ring necessary? Don’t recall ever seeing a jewel of that size in a movement before.
I assumed it was plastic until I read the text 😉
Nice piece and really nice movement…