Alright, so folks always ask me, “how long does a Rolex watch last?” It’s a fair question, given the price tag, right? I can only really speak from what I’ve seen and done, not some fancy manual stuff.
My Own Journey with a Rolex
I got my Submariner, I think it was for my 30th birthday. A big deal for me back then. Didn’t know much about watches, just knew Rolex was “the one.” So, I started wearing it. And I mean, wearing it. Daily. Didn’t matter if I was at my desk, tinkering in the garage, or even that one time I accidentally wore it swimming in the ocean for a bit longer than I should have – don’t recommend that, by the way, even if it says “Oyster Perpetual”!
Years went by. I’d knock it against door frames, got a few scratches on the bracelet, the usual stuff. But the thing just kept on ticking. Never missed a beat. I didn’t even think about “servicing” it or anything like that. It just worked. It was part of my arm, you know?
Then, maybe, oh, I don’t know, twelve or thirteen years into owning it, I was chatting with a buddy who’s really into watches. He asked when I last had it serviced. I just kinda looked at him blankly. “Serviced? Why? It’s working fine!” He chuckled and told me these things, while tough, do need a bit of a check-up now and then, like a car.
Looking Into It (Finally)
That got me thinking. I did a bit of digging around, not too much, just some casual searching. And I found out that, yeah, Rolex themselves say you should probably get ’em looked at about every ten years. Ten years! I was already past that. They mentioned it depends on the watch and how you use it, and older ones might need it more often, maybe even need some parts replaced.
So, I figured, okay, maybe I should get this done. Took it to a proper place. They opened it up, gave it a clean, replaced a tiny gasket or something, polished it up a bit. Cost a bit, not gonna lie, but when I got it back, it felt brand new, even though it was still my old faithful watch.
Since then, it’s been, what, another five years? Still going strong. No issues. My take? These things are built like absolute tanks. My granddad had one, an old Datejust, wore it for decades. I’m pretty sure he only got it serviced maybe twice in his entire life, and it was still working when he passed it on.
So, to answer the question from my own experience: a Rolex can last a heck of a long time. Decades, easily. Maybe even a lifetime or two if you give it a little bit of care along the way, like that ten-year check-up. Even if you’re a bit rough with it, like I was initially, they seem to just keep on going. It’s pretty impressive, honestly. They just keep on ticking.
