How Often Should You Service Your Rolex? The Definite Answer!

How Often Should You Service Your Rolex? The Definite Answer!

Not sure how often you should service your Rolex?

Keep reading.

When people who aren’t too familiar with watches hear about Rolex, they usually think of a mechanical watch with an iconic sweeping hand that is powered when you shake your wrist.

And you would be correct to think that. Most Rolex watches use mechanical movement, however, there are Quartz watches made by Rolex, and you can learn more about the Rolex OysterQuartz here.

But no matter if it’s a mechanical or quartz watch, the movement will need a service every once in a while. But how often should you service your Rolex?

And are there any signs that tell you that your watch is in need of a service or if it’s fit for fight many years to come? What about old watches that haven’t been serviced for 20 years and still run well? 

In this article, you’ll learn how often you should service your Rolex watch and what the tells are that you need to.

How often should you service your Rolex?

Rolex has a long history with mechanical watches, and all sports models produced today by Rolex use mechanical automatic movements. With that said, all Rolex movements are automatically wound up and charged through the power reserve of the watch as soon as you start moving the watch. However, a mechanical movement, no matter what brand producing the movement, needs a service once in a while. This is also true for all mechanical objects.

Just like you service your car and change the oil, check the breaks, and so on, something similar is done with your Rolex watch when serviced, since the watches are, just like a car, a piece of mechanical engineering.

Rolex has until 2016 said that Rolex watches should be serviced every 5 years, however, after 2016 Rolex came out with a new statement that Rolex movements only need a service every 10 years. Obviously, this statement helped prove just how reliable Rolexes are, and how incredible pieces of mechanical engineering they are.

What determines if your watch is in need of service?

The thing that determines if your watch is in need of service can depend on several facts, and you should keep in mind that every person wearing a Rolex is wearing it differently from the other person. With that said, some Rolex watches need to get a service every 3 years while some watches need a service every 10 years. It all depends on how you use it! The more you use something, and the rougher you use something, the sooner it will need servicing. This is true for all pieces of mechanical engineering. For example, if you drive a car twice as much as the other person, and you drive on offroad terrain while the other person drives on asphalt, chances are, your car will need servicing sooner.

-Just like your Rolex watch!

Some people, for instance, rotate their watches, which means that they don’t only wear the same watch every day, in other words means that the movement doesn’t take as much damage as it would if you would wear it daily. But that doesn’t tell much either about the condition of the movement of a Rolex watch, does it?

For example, let’s say you play tennis twice a week and wear your watch during that training session. Obviously, you put more pressure on the movement with all that G-force coming out from your backhand than just wearing it normally at your office. With that said, your habits and lifestyle will play a big part in the watch’s service intervals. 

As such, this makes it impossible to say when you need to service your Rolex watch. If you wish to really take care of your Rolex timepiece, it doesn’t hurt to service it more frequently. The catch is that servicing your Rolex watch isn’t free due to the complexity of the movement, so you really have to consider if you want to give your watch first-class treatment by servicing it every five years or so, or if there’s no real need for that.

Servicing your watch

When servicing your watch, make sure that you always leave it to an official Rolex Dealer that uses original parts for the movement and that leaves you a warranty on the function of the watch for the upcoming 2 years.

While leaving your watch at an authorized service center your watch will be completely overhauled.

First, the bracelet is removed from the case and broken down to every link and screwed in order to clean it properly.

Then, the case is opened, and the hands are removed, as well as the dial in order to strip down the movement completely, down to every little screw and part in order to clean the parts and see what needs to be replaced.

The watchmaker then puts the movement together and replaces the damaged parts. The idea of the components of the movement is to have no friction at all, otherwise, the parts damage a lot faster, and in order to make this work, the watchmaker put different oils in the movement depending on how much resistance and friction different parts are subject to.

This leaves a simple movement to use around 5-6 different oils in the movement, how cool isn’t that? Goes to show just how much attention to detail and what an incredible piece of craftsmanship a Rolex watch really is. And with that in mind, the service cost of a  Rolex doesn’t seem too bad.

What is mentioned above is what is called full service, and this may vary in price depending on what and how many parts need to be replaced.

There are also smaller and less extensive services that can be done to your Rolex watch, also known as an overview. When this is done, the watch is put in a timegrapher that measures beat errors of the watch, more precisely that would be at what angle the balance wheel is centered and if the balance wheel rotates accurately enough to keep the time.

If the watch runs slow, they may shorten the active length of the balance wheel and change its angle of it,  and the opposite if it runs fast. This doesn’t involve new parts to the watch and is nothing we actually recommend.

After your movement has been equipped with new parts, the watchmaker puts new gaskets on the watch in order to secure its waterproofness.

And this is actually the second step of the watch when leaving it for a service. In order to secure the waterproofness of your Rolex, your watch will go through an extensive process that contains 3 different steps.

First, the vacuum test where they pressure test the watch to what it’s made for, the Rolex Submariner would, for instance, be tested at 1000ft/300m. The second step is a compression test followed by a condensation test. When all this is done, Rolex will ensure you that your watch won’t leak in and get any moisture or water inside of its Oyster case.

The last step when servicing your Rolex is to check that all the functions work just like they should on a brand-new watch, which is a must according to Rolex. No matter how old your watch is, it will when leaving the watchmaker, work like a brand new watch, no matter what.

Beyond servicing your Rolex watch when needed it’s recommended to check the waterproofness of your watch every 2 years. This is necessary and can’t really wait depending on how you use your watch since the gaskets in the watch run dry and don’t secure your watch from being waterproof anymore. Of course, Rolex watches can still be waterproof for five, ten, or even fifteen years, however, it’s a risk that you take from completely damaging your watch by submerging it in water and having it leak.

This service is necessary if you swim or dive with your watch every once in a while, but if you are the one that leaves your Rolex on the side when you enter the pool, this service is nothing that you actually have to do even though it’s recommended.

Conclusion

The conclusion of servicing your Rolex is that it’s a must for every watch every once in a while, but how often you should service your Rolex depends on how you wear it.

Do not let time pass by without servicing your watch since it, in the end, not servicing your Rolex watch regularly can end up costing you more than if regularly service it.

Don’t forget that your Rolex watch is a keeper for life that you need to take care of, just like a house or a car, but that shouldn’t stop you from wearing it every time, no matter what your intentions are. Our tip would be to use your watch and service it every once in a while because it’s worth it!