So, an out of warranty watch was improperly serviced by the manufacture and it was gray market dealers fault?

 

I don't think he was implying that it was the grey market dealer's fault at all. He was blaming the genuine Rolex service center that did not properly service his watch. I'd be quite angry, but I'm not sure what recourse he would have...

@dalethorn, did you ever get the issue resolved with Rolex? They essentially robbed you of gold!

 

Certainly selling out of warranty divides fault between the knowledgeable parties (grey dealer and customer, assuming both are aware).

But none of that justifies the behavior by the factory service center.

 

I did get my gold pins back, but there was no practical way to restore the tritium. Since they didn't shave any gold from the outside of the case or the band, I was spared that (but my friend's watch was ruined by the same service center, so I assume his was grey market as well), but as the watch stopped working two years later (and I had that repaired locally), and then in 1993 - 8 years after purchasing it, the entire mechanism broke loose inside and I sold it for the gold value.

I can speculate further about this, but it's just a wild guess - the watch was most likely imported without customs fees, and if that's true, anyone handling it might assume it's something the (knowing) customer would not want to raise in a legal action. Again, pure speculation.