Rolex Explorer Restoration, Part 2.

 

A couple of weeks ago, we left you with images of a completely rusted-out Rolex Explorer in pieces. At first glance, it looked like a hopeless case but as any restorer knows, the real story is in the details. The process begins with carefully removing every component from the main plate. Rust, stubborn and unforgiving, is painstakingly scraped away by hand with a soft wooden stick. Each crevice is coaxed clean, then the plate is soaked in oil, scrubbed again by hand, and finally given a gentle ultrasonic bath- a sort of spa day for this weary timepiece. Next comes the delicate task of removing all broken and corroded steel screws. The main plate itself is brass, plated with rhodium to give it that signature “white” sheen, and here lies the trick: steel parts are best dissolved rather than forced out. A soak in vinegar for two to three days works like magic, leaving the brass unharmed while the rusted steel vanishes. Before this acidic bath, of course, every jewel and steel pin is carefully removed, tucked away to return later. The result? A main plate reborn, etched clean, jewels reinstalled, and ready for the next chapter. And now begins the real adventure: sourcing original vintage Rolex parts. Some will arrive as pristine new-old-stock treasures, others salvaged from donor watches -each piece a tiny victory. With 50 to 60 parts required, patience is key. Delays are inevitable, and the occasional wrong part is almost a rite of passage. But that’s all part of the journey. Restoration is never a sprint, it’s a conversation with time itself. Yet all this epic restoration could be a piece of cake if Rolex would simply release spare parts to independent watchmakers. There are millions of those spares sitting neatly stacked in Swiss bunkers. And if not, all those parts could easily be re-made, distributed, and supplied. But Rolex won’t budge. The hypocrisy and corporate greed of Swiss mega-brands is just pathetic. Not just in the corporate sense, but in their indecency, blaming watchmakers for a “lack of skills.” Ask Rolex, “Why won’t you supply spares to watchmakers?” and the answer is always the same: Only Rolex Service Centre can service a Rolex watch to Rolex standards. But that’s a lie. As I type this, our team of machinists is making superbly complex, ultra-tight-tolerance parts for the space and medical industries - fields with standards far stricter than anything in horology. Day after day, batch after batch, we produce those parts and supply them with full metrological reports as proof they meet every engineering and performance specification. Replacing a worn-out part in a watch isn’t rocket science; it’s just a job for a technician. I asked AI to generate a picture of an old watchmaker screaming “Release the parts!” And the image it produced - an old man working in a dim, primitive workshop, fixing outdated watches — is exactly the picture Rolex wants you to have in your mind. “Don’t take your watch to those old, small, untrained, unsightly, non-corporate watchmakers,” they say. “They’ll cause more damage, they’ll fit fake parts, they don’t know what they’re doing.” How about this, Rolex: just release the parts. We’ll take care of our customers to the standards they expect and demand, at a price they’re happy to pay, with turnaround times in weeks, not months. Release the parts - and shut up. (To be continued.)