Short version - my dad bought a Rolex Submariner with date in 1980 from Rolex New York (I have the box and certificate, and watch)...he gave it to me a couple years before he passed. I honestly didn't pay it too much attention until I just dug it out and took a look. Basically it really needs a service/cleaning...he wore it daily for something like 15 years, and then put it away when he got interested in Breitlings in the mid-1990s. I went the other way; I started with a Breitling in 2002 and it's been on my wrist for the last 21 years...and now I'm looking at the Submariner

Anyway - will Rolex service it, or would I be better off finding a 3rd party? The bracelet needs a couple links taken out to fit me (I could probalby figure that out though), and it really just needs a good cleaning...but since I can guarantee you it's never seen a service in it's life, it could probably stand to be gone over internally and relubed as well. The insert in the bezel is missing/gone, and the bezel itself won't turn in any direction (should be uni-directional by that point I think?) - I'd kind of like both of those issues to be fixed.

Anyone have a ballpark as to how much Rolex would want to service it, as well? I mean there is a Rolex AD about an hour away that I could bring it to for service and etc, I just don't want to drop it off only to get a call a week later saying "We won't touch anything older than 10 years, sorry" and kick it back. I'm also slightly concerned they might decide to replace original/correct parts with newer parts that won't match the generation it came from...

Send it to Rolliworks in Miami. Don’t let Rolex touch it.

This and please post some pics.

x2 there is another thread here about a guy that restored his father in laws GMT to give it back to him LINK HERE. The work Rolliworks did was outstanding! They restore it perfectly without taking away the 'age' of the watch. It's not cheap, but quality work never is.

Please post pics of it before and after!

That was where I was thinking this was heading...I'm waiting for them to get back to me about a Tudor I posted about earlier.

Oh yes, don’t let Rolex touch it.  What an utterly asinine thing to say.  

How about qualifying that a little.  Perhaps say, you need to know what you have and what you want done before you take it to Rolex because what they offer might not be what you are looking for.  

A RSC will ask you what you want to do before they service it.   If you don’t know the dial is a rare patina worth more they don’t care and will replace it if you let them. It isn’t their job to maintain any degree of collectibility it is there job to make it run to a standard.  

As I said earlier, know what you have and know what your goal with the watch is before you take it anywhere.

Wherever you take it, if it is done right you will be thrilled and proud when you have it back on your wrist.

Funny thing is, for the 12+- years I wore my Breitling before I sent it in for it's first service, mine looked in way better condition than my dad's watch did after 15 years of wear from him...then again my watch is all titanium and his has a painted (?) bezel; my crystal is sapphire and I'm pretty sure his model of Rolex still used acrylic crystals at that time...so it picked up stratches pretty easily.

"Asinine"? It's Rolex; why would I assume they wouldn't do what they're supposed to do when servicing a watch?

All I really want out of it is cleaning, lubing, and maybe having a link or two taken out so it'll actually fit me without flopping around on my wrist. And maybe fixing the bezel, which currently won't turn at all...which would probably be fixed in the cleaning if I'm honest. It's probably just gummed up. I'm not expecting it to need any mechanical replacements; it seems to work just fine.

I know at least one of the links and maybe some of the rods/screws came from my Tudor (or somewhere else) that I posted about earlier; I'm even pretty sure I found which link was the one he swapped in....if it was in fact swapped in from my Tudor. He might have just grabbed some rods from it; I don't really know what he did/had done. All I know is my Tudor bracelet is in a bunch of pieces and probably missing something, which is probably in his Rolex bracelet...as he got bigger, he had to add links to his watch to allow it to fit.

I should probably update Rolliworks and see if they're up for a two-fer...sending in both of these and seeing if they can de-fuck my Tudor while repairing it's bracelet with the parts that were stolen from it to make my dad's Rolex fit him better...

FWIW...

I've had a Submariner for over thirty years, and it just recently came back from it's third service.

The first service was performed by Rolex and they did fine, but it was expensive. The second and third services where performed by two different, local watchmakers. I was able to visit their workshops and talk to them beforehand. That first local guy seemed a bit risky but the cost savings were substantial. He did just fine. The second guy is a gem. An immigrant trained in Europe, his shop is like a laboratory, completely immaculate. And he's very fussy about his customers, it was like I had to pass a test, too!

So you might take a quick look around for a local resource. The only other thing I'll add is if you decide to look into a local guy and he starts to whine about how it might be difficult to get Rolex parts then just give him a hard pass.

A little Poly Watch and a service and it will run for another 40 years. It looks to be in great shape for its age.

That’s nice! Rolliworks can clean up that bracelet, clean up or swap the crystal with a correct/new one. I would bet the bezel just needs a cleaning. When I got my 1675 GMT the bezel wouldn’t rotate, so I popped it off and cleaned it up and it turned smooth as butter.

They can obviously service the movement as well. Anyone who is into vintage rolex knows never to let Rolex Service Center anywhere near their watches. A guy at work today was wearing a 1675 GMT from 1968 and he was saying how he’s had Rolex service every 10 years or so. The entire watch was new service parts.

Since no one has suggested it, send it to Mike.
At Rolliworks

Yeah I sent them a note earlier today about it...since some of the bracelet for my Tudor was cannibalized to fix/extend the bracelet of that Rolex...maybe they can take them both and get the Tudor's bracelet repaired since the Rolex's bracelet needs to be shortened so it'll fit me, anyway.

Other than them saying they're going to write something up for the Tudor though, I haven't heard anything back from them since...though admittedly it was only about a week and a half since I last heard from them, so I'm probably just being impatient

RSC Dallas suggested Mike or Edvi for vintage when I called about my fathers watch. It’s also the risk of trying to ensure 50 year old parts don’t break - when everyone says “don’t touch hands or dial”.

IIRC there are more parts for 55XX and 16XX watches in private hands than what Rolex has.

CW21 I know told me of several $500k-2M purchases of nos stock when the AD’s were closing up.

There were a lot of them back in the day with legit Rolex trained staff who could fix or repair watches.

Just two folks should be considered when discussing vintage service or restoration.

Rolliworks or Los Angeles Watchworks.

Top shelf outfits.

can you post more pictures of the bracelet?

The Tudor bracelet? Sure

Rik dietel at timecare in florida

The Tudor was received by Rolliworks yesterday; we'll see how it goes...

In the mean time, eyeing a Pelagos 42

A couple days ago they responded; October is the time frame estimate. No idea on the cost yet (other than > a grand when all told between the movement and the bracelet...though of course that was expected