Rolex 3135 Movement Restoration
- shastert
- Jan 1, 2015
- 2 min read
I found this water-damaged Rolex 3135 movement on eBay and really enjoyed bringing it back to life. Some would consider this movement a total loss - but not me! Here's a quick overview of how I saved this movement.
1) ultrasonic cleaning - before taking it apart. I needed to remove as much of the rust as possible.
2) disassembled; trying not to break-off the screw heads. Broke three screws taking it apart and two screws were rusted away.
3) using screw removing acid, I was able to get the dial screw out of the mainplate. The downside was that the Rodium plating also came off of the area in the acid (looked like a smiley face).
4) removed one post for the balance bridge. It had a broken/rusted screw inside and couldn't be removed. The post had to be replaced.
5) carefully cleaned all parts and identified those that were too far gone to be used.
6) searched the web for the required parts. All original Rolex parts used.
7) added Rodium plating to the main plate where the screw removal acid had damaged the plate. The plating actually blended well and looked great.
8) lapped the exposed face of the ratchet wheel and gold plated for cosmetics.
9) dry assembled the drivetrain and checked for gear end-play. Had to adjust one jewel to get better end-play.
10) replaced main-spring, assembled and lubricated as per Rolex specs.
11) demagnitized the movement.
12) adjusted the timing screws for best results in four positions.
After all my work, the results were unbelievable. The movement's amplitude is about 280deg and keeps time within 2 seconds per day. The timing is quite consistent and only changes slightly from one position to another. The movement was mounted in a Rolex 16234 case w/ White Gold Bezel and 78360 Oyster bracelet. As you can imagine, this is one of my favorite watches.
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