Quality issues at Rolex and Tudor?

MTROIS · Jan 3, 2021

cvalue13
do you mean to say, whether the 32XXs from 2021 are more or less reliable compared to the 32XXs that were sooner out the gate?

sorry for being dense, just trying to follow the thread

No problem... since I took a little shortcut (also due to a mistake from my side when I typed 2021 in lieu of 2020!!) I will indeed clarify:
- I do believe it is established that the 31xx is a workhorse by now as it has been perfected over nearly two decades, but perhaps @Archer could also chime in if this is true. I would not be quite surprised given the large numbers produced, and despite the very strict tolerances, that every so often, a movement may have some challenges.
- may be as expected, the very first 32xx movements produced starting in 2017/2018 may have a slightly higher incidence of performance issues which seem to take two to three years to develop.
- whether Rolex has already had a chance to work these kinks out by last year, 2020, when I got my version of the DeepSea fitted with the 32xx remains to be seen.

All in all, do we think that it may take another couple of years before all the initial learnings with the 32xx have been gathered or not?

Just curious what the sentiment is.

Archer · Jan 4, 2021

lo1979
We took it to the Rome boutique, watchmaker said it was working correctly, he mentioned it may need few more weeks of wrist time to get up and running correctly.

Translation: "Please go away because I don't want to deal with what is an obvious problems right now, and I hope that when it fails next time you will take it to someone else."

Archer · Jan 4, 2021

MTROIS
No problem... since I took a little shortcut (also due to a mistake from my side when I typed 2021 in lieu of 2020!!) I will indeed clarify:
- I do believe it is established that the 31xx is a workhorse by now as it has been perfected over nearly two decades, but perhaps @Archer could also chime in if this is true. I would not be quite surprised given the large numbers produced, and despite the very strict tolerances, that every so often, a movement may have some challenges.
- may be as expected, the very first 32xx movements produced starting in 2017/2018 may have a slightly higher incidence of performance issues which seem to take two to three years to develop.
- whether Rolex has already had a chance to work these kinks out by last year, 2020, when I got my version of the DeepSea fitted with the 32xx remains to be seen.

All in all, do we think that it may take another couple of years before all the initial learnings with the 32xx have been gathered or not?

Just curious what the sentiment is.

Movements are updated throughout their life, at least if the company is doing things properly. Early adopters are beta testers...but you pay full price for the privilege.

The 32XX have known issues, as do the Tudor GMT movements, as does the 3861 early production...they will get sorted eventually.

mr_smith · Jan 4, 2021

Archer
Translation: "Please go away because I don't want to deal with what is an obvious problems right now, and I hope that when it fails next time you will take it to someone else."

Reminds me of a job I had once where I consistently got in trouble for taking the time to resolve the customers' issues/requests in one, longer phone call. Looking through the customer notes, I could see they had called several times and just passed on to the next person and the next person, nobody ever resolving the issue (I guess until it got to me) or maybe only resolving one of several issues. I didn't last long there... I quit because I couldn't stand to operate that way.
Edit: To clarify, I couldn't stand to operate in the employer's method of passing a person along - I thought my way was more efficient. 😀

vibe · Jan 5, 2021

Are the quality and supply issues related?

Fabrice M · Jan 16, 2021

I own several rolex watches, never had an issue whatsoever, and never had one services either. I had one of the first GMT Tudor which I wore daily for about a year, no issues whatsoever. However I sold an almost brand new Harrods Tudor a couple of weeks ago, and the gentleman who bought it told me his watch stopped in the middle of the night. Of course it is still under warranty, and it may be completely circumstantial, but maybe there might be issues from time to time.

spacemission · Jan 26, 2021

Archer
Movements are updated throughout their life, at least if the company is doing things properly. Early adopters are beta testers...but you pay full price for the privilege.

The 32XX have known issues, as do the Tudor GMT movements, as does the 3861 early production...they will get sorted eventually.

I agree 100%.

Caliber561 · Jan 26, 2021

vibe
Are the quality and supply issues related?

The Daytonas use the 4130 movement, which is ~30y/o. The issues brought up here are only in regard to the 32XX. It's possible that *might* be affecting production, but supposedly Rolex hasn't made any moves to fix the teething issues on the 32XX series, according to a RSC watchmaker on TRF.

dsio · Jan 26, 2021

Caliber561
The Daytonas use the 4130 movement, which is ~30y/o. The issues brought up here are only in regard to the 32XX. It's possible that *might* be affecting production, but supposedly Rolex hasn't made any moves to fix the teething issues on the 32XX series, according to a RSC watchmaker on TRF.

I think its 20 years, the Zenith was used until 99/2000 from memory.

I was speaking with a retired ex-Rolex watchmaker a few years ago who described the problems on the early 30xx series Day-dates and described them as a bit of a mess in that early 80s period but I guess it had some new tech in it they weren’t familiar with and only sufficient data that comes from people wearing them in the field can tell you everything you need to know to make those improvements.

Archer · Jan 26, 2021

dsio
I think its 20 years, the Zenith was used until 99/2000 from memory.

I was speaking with a retired ex-Rolex watchmaker a few years ago who described the problems on the early 30xx series Day-dates and described them as a bit of a mess in that early 80s period but I guess it had some new tech in it they weren’t familiar with and only sufficient data that comes from people wearing them in the field can tell you everything you need to know to make those improvements.

The 3035 series only lasted what, 10 years maybe? In contrast the 3135 series lasted from 1988 up until recently. Companies don't discontinue a new movement after 10 years for no real reason...

GadgetGuy88 · Jan 26, 2021

I agree that the watch press is basically a fanbase so they are not critical of the watch manufacturers. They let the comments sections serve that function but many self-censor. Why piss off Mr Stern and Mr Stern while you wait for your unicorn watch?

For my N of 1 experiment, I had two IWC watches that both needed service under warranty for running fast. One was a Mark XV with the modified ETA movement. The other was their in house automatic (for a 2011 Ingenieur). For a 2014 aquanaut, I had it serviced in the first year and HSNY said there was debris in the case. They fixed it fast. It also needed servicing after 5y for running fast. My Calatrava of similar age run fine and has not needed servicing. My oldest Omega Speedy Pro from 2014 is working just fine.

For a 1990s GMT-II (U series), the movement needed servicing after 10 years, and then again after 5 years.

Quality issues at Rolex and Tudor?

MTROIS

Archer

Archer

mr_smith

vibe

Fabrice M

spacemission

Caliber561

dsio

Archer

GadgetGuy88

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