Service: Rolex Oyster Speedking

IMG_3204This great looking Oyster Speedking was found by Ian in a box of cheap jewellery. And what a nice find!

The crown doesn’t screw down, and it doesn’t run reliably. Time to take it apart and have a look …IMG_3206

The movement has a couple of deep scratches, but is otherwise looking good.IMG_3207

There is hardly any amplitude, and the watch is going way too slow.IMG_3209

I think the 0522 is the serial number, and the movement doesn’t have a calibre number. It’s just 10 1/2 ligne, and that’s that. You can see that the set lever spring is broken, and that the broken bit is left of the middle of the clutch lever.IMG_3212

The hairspring is in very good condition, but the balance is a bit wonky. Not much that I can do about that, as I don’t want to inflict further damage.IMG_3218

The set lever spring with the broken off bit. I won’t be able to find a replacement, so I will put the spring back in as it is. The only effect will be that the crown doesn’t snap into its two positions, but you will still be able to wind and set the watch without any problems.IMG_3224

After putting the case in the ultrasonic cleaner, I put a new crystal in.IMG_3225

Even after having gone through the cleaning machine, there is a slight patina on the plate and bridges. I will leave that as it is, as I will otherwise destroy the decoration.IMG_3226

The mainspring is still straight and spritely, so I put it back into the barrel. This is one of the few jobs for which I wear latex gloves, as it’s hard to avoid touching the barrel when putting the spring back in. Basically, I never touch any parts after cleaning with my fingers, so it’s gloves if something needs to be touched.IMG_3228

The escape wheel has capped jewels on both sides.IMG_3230

 

With the original mainspring and a slightly wonky balance, this is pretty good.IMG_3233

The bottom plate is back together, and you can see the two cap jewels for the balance and the escape wheel.IMG_3240

Having cleaned the thread of the pendant tube and the crown, the crown now screws down without a problem. There were lots of fibres inside the crown, and the layer was so thick that the crown couldn’t even touch the first thread of the pendant tube.

5 thoughts on “Service: Rolex Oyster Speedking

  1. Wow…what a find! Or what a loss…depending on who lost and found it.

    Really quite nice as I have a love hate thing with Rolex, I would have loved to find that one though…the owner must have been giddy for a while.

    Looks great after some lovely work Christian.

    • I think most of us here aren’t huge Rolex fans, but there are some that do look very nice, and this certainly is one.

      It’s probably all the blingy pimp watches Rolex does that spoil their image. Even though they probably want to attract that sort of customer, otherwise they wouldn’t build that crap.

  2. I think that is a great looking thing… there is something almost industrial about the design whilst still being elegant.

    I wish I could find something that nice 😉

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