How to adjust steel linked watch band (Wenger Swiss Military waterproof)

[Rod Speed]

And even if you have to buy one to grind flat, they cost peanuts.

[Rod Speed]

Pity its not true of the screw back removers.

[Scott]

How about a used Mazda truck that cost $1,000, and gets 28 MPG?

Which is the hook.

I have a Rolex. A gold Oyster Perpetual.

It was given to me by the gent who owned the 61' Swan I crewed.

(If you want to know what hell is, just change the starter on the Volvo Penta diesel that the Swan was built around. I swear they must have suspended that engine magnetically and built the boat around it.)

It doesn't work. It's a piece of junk. But its purty.

I have an UWATEC bottom timer for diving.

I am a machinist by trade, so I don't wear watches or any other jewelry; potentially bad for the limbs.

[Frank Adam]

If you are already buying the Jaxa case opener, it comes with bits 'D', which have surrated jaws. As long as you can clamp the watch down somehow and push down real hard on the back as you turn it, that will open most Rolex cases. Problem is, if the back is very tight, it *can* slip and damage the back. Some of the other cheaper Jaxa-like sets may be ok too for a one off job, but it's a trial and error.

The proper opener should be a round ring which fits the back perfectly. On this page you can find some Rolex case tools.

As you'll see they are not exactly cheap. One could almost buy a quarter of a Rolex for the best priced one. ;-)

Thank Rolex for driving up their own prices and making it unprofitable to most watchmakers to even contemplate touching their watches. Mind you, dropped watches are not really an indication of a quality problem. Rest assured you have a fine watch there. What should be remembered is that most customers will only have their watches serviced when they stop. This could be as much as 10-15 years intervals and frankly in that time you've spent how much on servicing your car, which sits in the parking lot 70% of it's life ? :) Every 5 years, folks. Oils *are* oils.

ps: Hope this x-post is not ticking people off at rec.scuba, m.c.f and a.h.r. If so, he started it, go get him ! ;-)

[Honest John]

"whatever those "t's" mean."

Those Ts simply refer to the luminous substance used in the watch to make the hands and dots "glow in the dark". I believe the Ts stand for Tritium, the amount of Tritium used is above a certain industry established limit for this slightly radioactive substance. Sort of like a "warning label". Ts are used on other watch, also.

[dAz]

you are being generous :)

would not give him $5 after he has finished with it.

[dAz]

for the raw materials not much unless there is some gold in the case or movement, for undamaged secondhand parts you would make a bit back, but you would have to cover stripping out the parts, id them, pack and post, sell them on ebay :)

[rustydustin]

This is a good point. I'm not so sure anymore about Rolex. Certainly I'd never buy another one nor recommend it. But, I'm already sunk in the Rolex mud, so to speak.

Amortized, it's been about $100 a year for maintenance for this Rolex watch. Of course, that might not be a representative number (I have no idea). I wonder what other people pay in "typical" Rolex maintenance.

Certainly I had gone in on the watch with the assumption of it lasting forever with little to no maintenance; and just as certainly, I've had over $100 a year in unexpected maintenance & repair costs ... yet I wonder what OTHER people experience.

Maybe my experience is atypical. I don't know.

At the moment, my main problem is assessing whether its worth fixing. One thing I may do is buy the tools to open it up and to remove the band. Once I open it up the right way (I don't want to hack it again), I might see what's broken inside.

BTW, after shaking it violently yesterday, it worked for about 12 hours then stopped again. I suspect an attachment point broke but I won't know until I open it up again. Sure I can stop at a jeweler to ask him to open it but I don't mind buying the tools if I can get them at a reasonable price.

[Michael Wolf]

Hi Rusty,

How can you still consider it well made , when you already had to spent

1100$ on repairs? At this rate I would put the money aside and buy an new one instead of trying to make it 'last forever'.

Michael, who (for already quite some time) uses a 230$ Seiko when diving... (OK, I bought it duty free)

[dAz]

the cost of materials is nothing, why it annoyed me during the 70s when gold went through the roof that people were scraping gold pocket watches for the sake of a few grams of gold, many fine and compicated watches were lost during that time.

[Honest John]

"Unlikely that thats in a watch to make the hands glow"

Then what substance is in "Tritium tubes" that make several makes of watches hands glow ????

[I am nobody]

Speaking or wrist watches, what do others consider to be features of the "perfect" watch? Here's my personal criteria:

Light weight- I don't prefer a heavy watch Rugged case and band- I wear mine 24/7 Metallic Link band- easy on and off, no water problems like leather Sapphire crystal for scratch resistance Analog- I'm old and I have to think too much to use digital time Day, Date- (see above- grin) Quartz crystal accuracy- even a cheap quartz watch is more accurate than most mechanical Self energizing- no batteries to fool with Water resistant to at least 100'- if it's lower than that and I'm attached, it doesn't matter. This covers the pool, spa and shower, for me. Visible all night long without pressing any button

What this all boils down to is my Seiko Kinetic Titanium watch with the Illuminator face. Being Titanium, the watch and band are rugged, light and easy to take off or put on. The analog watch is driven by a Quartz movement for accuracy, and the charge is maintained by an actual generator in the watch- like a perpetual mechanical watch. The entire face is lighted all night, with the hands visible by the backlighting. The watch was $450 in the late 90's and is now about $300 in St. Maarten or St. Thomas.

The drawback to this is that it's not a showy watch, but at least the Titanium case and band have some gold plated areas that look great. I got mine about 1997 or so, as I recall, and it has been working great ever since.

Nobody

[the swisswatchguy]

[c_girardin]

you seem pretty much afraid of what makes mankind tick: soon you shall wish to replace your heart with a pump, your kidneys with a filter and your brains with a computer and reach for the skies: good luck!

[Alan Street]

? [e-mail] wrote: ? ? > Michael Wolf wrote: ? > ? >>How can you still consider it well made when you already had to spent ? >>1100$ on repairs? ? > ? > ? > This is a good point. I'm not so sure anymore about Rolex. ? > Certainly I'd never buy another one nor recommend it. ? > But, I'm already sunk in the Rolex mud, so to speak. ? > ? > Amortized, it's been about $100 a year for maintenance for this Rolex ? > watch. ? > Of course, that might not be a representative number (I have no idea). ? > I wonder what other people pay in "typical" Rolex maintenance. ? ? FWIW, I have a Tag 2000 automatic, and I have averaged about $20 per ? year for the past 14 years on maintenance.(not counting broken and/or ? melted crystals, which are certainly not the watches fault) ? ? But I don't take it diving...

I'm afraid to ask - how do you "melt" a crystal.

[c_girardin]

plexiglass:

and many others you can find with google

sapphire crystal: look for thread "sapphire glass types" April 11-14,

2005

[Frank Adam]

Um, i'd be extremely surprised if you could open a properly tightened Rolex Oyster with a "small" screwdriver. You could probably chisel it open but the damage to the case back would be severe.

No.

No, except for air for the person present. ;-)

[Frank Adam]

Yep, there are shallow cups of varius sizes available for that purpose, made from rubber. You simply used your brain, i'll withhold any kudos for that watchmaker though.

ps: My old boss used to open them getting the grip with fine emery paper. By the time i've become an apprentice he caught on, that one can use any soft sheet of thin rubber and a suitable die from a glass press(for the uninitiated, this looks like one half of a pulley).

[c_girardin]

- "The dumbest people I know are those who know it all." - Malcolm Forbes

[Jamie Cook]

"Now don't you think that arguing with a regular alt.horology user about these things is just plain silly ?"

Thanks, Frank ! You "saved-the day" again !