This vintage Rolex was sent to me for service as its losing time – a pretty obvious signal the watch might need a service. The owner cant remember exactly when this one was last serviced but thinks it could be over 10 years ago, so its definitely due one!
Case back off and we can see the vintage Rolex 1210 calibre. Its a simple manual wind movement, and its probably over 60 years old!
Movement removed from the case and I line the hands up at 12 in preparation for their removal.
The ‘roulette’ date wheel, called so due to the alternating red and black numbers.
With the date indicator disc removed we can see the dial side of the movement. Its relatively simple, just the keyless and the date work – there is no quick date on this model. Rolex didn’t use a calibre with a quick date until the 70’s, pretty late to the party compared to some other brands. The concern was the reliability of it and the damage it could cause within the movement if something went wrong.
I carefully begin removing the parts from the dial side. I need to be extremely careful with this movement, as you can imagine, parts aren’t easy to come by.
I being stripping down the top side next, ive removed the centre seconds pinion and the upper wheel that drives it.
Barrel bridge removed.
Next Ill remove the mainspring from the barrel, ill be fitting a new mainspring for this service.
Train bridge removed.
Just the pallets left to remove on this side.
I start removing the keyless works, the final stage before cleaning.
Almost there, just the setting lever and shock settings left.
Movement and all its parts are loaded into the baskets for cleaning.
All clean and ready to be rebuilt and oiled. Keyless works is first.
Train and then train bridge fitted.
Barrel bridge and crown wheel fitted.
Almost there, just the centre seconds pinion and its driving wheel.
Dial side completed and date disc fitted.
Final shot before its cased up.
The watch will then go through its usual tests before being returned to the owner. As with most vintage calibres, the 1210 is bullet proof and will run and run, hopefully for another 60 years!
Thanks for reading.
The Watch Professional
Leave a Reply