Cost of servicing a Rolex Daytona at RSC?

[TheHobbit]

The service charges at RSC Menara Dion is way too expensive. Previously I had my TT 16013 full serviced and it cost me RM5,858 (not a good number though) with replacement of new bezel, dial and hands.

But RSC in Dubai, they charged me AED1,700 for my 16570 and AED2,200 for 16520 Zenith movement. Here the mode of service for my non-working Dayto (for no reason the watch just stop tick):-

"Full service including decasing, dismantling of the movement, checking and cleaning of each components, replacing worn or damaged parts, re-assembling, lubricating and regulating the movement. Cleaning or refurbish the case and the bracelet as good as possible, water-resistant testing, observation and functional test of the product for several day."

and 2 years warranty of course 

NOTE: AED1 equal approx. RM0.86


I have a question, is all the functional test comply to COSC procedure 

I believe charges are pretty standard across rsc worldwide. The difference in prices could be dependent on the parts changed. I guess the tt you serviced is the two tone watch? Is the bezel gold? The dial is about rm 1,200 if I am not mistaken. Were they any parts changed in rsc Dubai?

And to answer your last question, from my understanding, rsc will adjust and regulate to COSC standards and requirements but basically the COSC cert you get with the watch, is now useless.

[dpkong]

The service charges at RSC Menara Dion is way too expensive. Previously I had my TT 16013 full serviced and it cost me RM5,858 (not a good number though) with replacement of new bezel, dial and hands.

But RSC in Dubai, they charged me AED1,700 for my 16570 and AED2,200 for 16520 Zenith movement. Here the mode of service for my non-working Dayto (for no reason the watch just stop tick):-

"Full service including decasing, dismantling of the movement, checking and cleaning of each components, replacing worn or damaged parts, re-assembling, lubricating and regulating the movement. Cleaning or refurbish the case and the bracelet as good as possible, water-resistant testing, observation and functional test of the product for several day."

and 2 years warranty of course 

NOTE: AED1 equal approx. RM0.86


I have a question, is all the functional test comply to COSC procedure 

how long ago did you do the service at RSC Dubai? from what i have read, RSC charges go up each year just like the MSRP.

maybe the service charges are higher for TT watches compared to stainless steel?

[keeekeee]

well.. to answer my own question, I called up the RSC and a very nice lady told me it will cost minimum RM2,420 for a basic service. the actual cost will be quoted if I send in the watch for an inspection which will take about 30 minutes.

service time is 2 weeks but can be up to 2 months if additional parts required need to be sourced from Geneva.

Good information shared, dpkong.    But can you give out the phone number that you called. Was trying to look for it also. 

Question : does the basic service include polishing the case and bracelet to as new conditon?  Or just the movement being serviced?

just came back from RSC few days ago. the no is +603 20722709
two watches cost me rm4xxx   

[takashi78]

Thats normal.

[kenixck]

you daytona stopped, did you try to tamper with it in anyway ? just wondering though ... 

[tonykpk]

Thanks for sharing dpkong, at least we now know the minimum price to service a daytona. Just go for the regulating n see how it goes from there..

[SeaDwellerR]

well.. to answer my own question, I called up the RSC and a very nice lady told me it will cost minimum RM2,420 for a basic service. the actual cost will be quoted if I send in the watch for an inspection which will take about 30 minutes.

service time is 2 weeks but can be up to 2 months if additional parts required need to be sourced from Geneva.

Good information shared, dpkong.    But can you give out the phone number that you called. Was trying to look for it also. 

Question : does the basic service include polishing the case and bracelet to as new conditon?  Or just the movement being serviced?

just came back from RSC few days ago. the no is +603 20722709
two watches cost me rm4xxx   

Thats a bomb man.

But im sure your watches are much better now! 

[dpkong]

well.. to answer my own question, I called up the RSC and a very nice lady told me it will cost minimum RM2,420 for a basic service. the actual cost will be quoted if I send in the watch for an inspection which will take about 30 minutes.

service time is 2 weeks but can be up to 2 months if additional parts required need to be sourced from Geneva.

Good information shared, dpkong.    But can you give out the phone number that you called. Was trying to look for it also. 

Question : does the basic service include polishing the case and bracelet to as new conditon?  Or just the movement being serviced?

just came back from RSC few days ago. the no is +603 20722709
two watches cost me rm4xxx   

were you pleased with the work done, cost aside that is?

[sm]

I am quite new in this servicing thing, I have two datejust, bought new some 6 & 5 years back. I havent send it for servicing but intermittenly put it on the winder as I havent been wearing it. So far, its working fine.
There is a saying 'if it aint broken, why fix it', I thought. I dont think I am going to spend a few grands on servicing it. I think Rolex is meant for life long keeping, ie if we keep and wear it the way it ought to be worn.
I keep my fingers crossed.

Sm

[tonykpk]

Hi sm, if its still running within cosc spec i think its fine . I send a sub to Rsc after 9 yrs. n they just clean ,re lube, changed all O rings n that"s it.

[sm]

Yes, I concurred. It is such an expensive indulgence.

Sm

[takashi78]

I ALWAYS believe in preventive maintenance.
When something goes wrong its too late.

[SeaDwellerR]

I ALWAYS believe in preventive maintenance.
When something goes wrong its too late.

Takashi mind to share what is "preventive maintenance" ?
Its sounds interesting, but how do u practice it. 

I must say i would not like to send my watches for servicing if it can be.
The watch always come back with some scratches, lines, flaws...etc. Bad experience.

[dpkong]

i wonder if anyone here thinks that if the car engine still runs, no need to change motor oil???

 

[Watchnewby]

I ALWAYS believe in preventive maintenance.
When something goes wrong its too late.

Takashi mind to share what is "preventive maintenance" ?
Its sounds interesting, but how do u practice it. 

I must say i would not like to send my watches for servicing if it can be.
The watch always come back with some scratches, lines, flaws...etc. Bad experience.

I believe what Takashi meant about the "preventive maintenance" is to send the watch for servicing once every 2 or 3 years.

[takashi78]

In my case when i sent my SD in after 7yrs of daily wear the watchmaker said the oil has "almost" dried.

So that is my own measurement.

Dont wait until it stops or something is broken only send it in, and then bitch about how much the service centers is charging.

[tonykpk]

agreed, 7 yrs. a long time with daily wear ,its a tough watch . Rotational wear  should be okay ,. but better to take precaution than sorry.

[terrenceterrence]

For those who said they never bother with servicing unless something is wrong...... You've just told us not to get any watches from you should you put up your pieces on sale. Thank you for the warning.

[takashi78]

For those who said they never bother with servicing unless something is wrong...... You've just told us not to get any watches from you should you put up your pieces on sale. Thank you for the warning.

I'm with ya on this 

[Godzillaz]

That's not a very smart way to test a watch whether it's time for servicing. The water tightness could be off and your watch could still runs fine for sometime. Only later the build up of moisture will ruined the gears or worse cause corrosion inside the case.

How about the wear and tear of the rotor?
If you really wear ur watch daily this is the first thing to go. As long as u wear it daily there won't be any accuracy problem even if something happens to the automatic winding system. What happens is because the barrel is constantly being wound so there is a consistent force being feed to the balance. What we don't see is the gears and the shaft being damage day by day. Will it pass the damages to the other gears? I don't know, hopefully not.

There's an honest watchmaker I trust gave me this advice.
"As watchmaker what we try to achieve is to ensure all the parts are running coherently. In an ideal situation we love to see all the parts "aged" (wear & tear) at the same time but it's almost impossible so what we do is we try to replace as few parts as possible but really change those that have been heavily worn. The only way to do this is routine service and testing."

I ask if not then what? His reply
"Then you have a watch where some parts that by nature worn faster than others (i.e. winding gears) and when the watch is not service over a period of time then the tooth profile of the gears will change (metal grinding on metal). It'll "eat" into other gears as well damaging other gears which usually don't require much replacement."

Then? I asked. His further elaborate
"Then the whole watch movement got more damages it should resulting major overhaul or major change movement parts."

While I understand some won't care what kind of movement that's in their watch as long as it's the latest and the best technology. I'm a vintage collector at heart so I would hate to see a latest state of the art automatic winding movement in my vintage manual winding chronograph. Like putting an electronic control V6 in a 1970 SL300. 

It's not my intention to frighten or push any of you to service your watch but I would hate to see any of your watch is damage due to minor servicing issues/cost. 

Routine change of oil and of O-ring don't cost that much. Maybe you won't have a extended warranty period but it guarantee the watch to have a long life. We all wish to past down our watches as heirloom. Better make sure by the time our next of kin don't suffer from a high bill of servicing the watch. 

If it cost this much now it will only cost more in the future. 

Regard
Tyler
   
 

Hi sm, if its still running within cosc spec i think its fine . I send a sub to Rsc after 9 yrs. n they just clean ,re lube, changed all O rings n that"s it.

[dpkong]

most Rolex owners hardly wear their watches daily so I suppose some of them may seem to run fine even if they don't follow the general "service-once-every-five-years" rule. the way i wear them, i think i should send it in every 3 years...

 

[Gigi]

One of the weakness in the 3 handed rolex movement is the winding is suspectable for wear and tear due to the design of it (not using ball bearing and some other factor of it). Therefore its better to ensure it was properly lubricated for it to work well over time. Rolex sort this problem by putting ball bearing on the daytona movement therefore ensure it will be more durable and more efficient.

Rolex movement is perfect in my eye but the winding section is not that good in my opinion, sure it does wind up very efficiently but then gotta makesure it was lubrcated properly (not applicable for daytona 4130 movement).

[Godzillaz]

Not entirely true on the lesser worn watch. We're dealing with metal parts. Regardless of usage the metal "age". For example, a 5 years old unused gear is not the same of a newly manufacture gears. The property of  the metal does change in time while it maybe new but is not really really new.

Even given a situation like this, let say same model, same movement, same metal. We can't say a newly manufactured watch just out of the factory is the same as the one that's laying around a shop for 4 years even if it is in the safe and practically untouched.

The "safe queen" will not be the same because it has been around for 4 years. Less worn it maybe but not new. It's better to have the watch running otherwise there are another sets of problem associated with watches where its movement that's been idle for sometime.

Regards
Tyler
 

most Rolex owners hardly wear their watches daily so I suppose some of them may seem to run fine even if they don't follow the general "service-once-every-five-years" rule. the way i wear them, i think i should send it in every 3 years...

 

[JBJB]

Just to share my recent experience on this. I sent in my uncle's Rolex (not sure what model exactly) to Menara Dion because he was complaining the watch kept time poorly. Last service, also at RSC, was in 2008 and the cost back then was about RM1.5k.

As usual the technician would inspect the watch first (20-30 mins) to assess the condition and what needs to be changed/serviced. However I was informed that there is an inspection fee of RM250 if decide not to proceed with the service. Is this a new policy? I don't recall this during the 1st service in 2008.

Anyway, I went ahead. The assessment was that apart from the usual service it also needs new rotor and balance. These 2 parts alone are almost 1k. The total quote was 3k, so that means the basic service is 2k.

Personally I find that the costs are very high. Anyway, in this thread I read some people saying that RSC will do regulation for free? Is this correct?

[The Godzilla]

Ever wonder the watchmaker in RSC, are they really "honest"?

They can say whatever they want, this need to be changed and that need to be changed...

We won't know.

Do they really dismantle all the movement and clean it and assemble back and oil it?

Or could they just found out your watch is perfectly fine but instead they bullshit you then just polish your watch, no need to dismantle and clean what so ever and left it for 2 to 3 weeks then call you up and charge you more than 2K and provide you another 2 year warranty as they know your watch is actually perfectly fine and will run for another 5 years.