A fascinating insight into the quality of a Rolex Explorer 14270

[YCymro]

During my research into 1016 vintage Explorers and it’s predecessor the 6610, and in particular white dialled versions, I stumbled across this article by TimeZone.com about the quality found in the superseding model, the 14270. To sum up, it’s suggested this is a high quality case with a less than stellar movement.

https://www.timezone.com/2002/09/16/...-14270-part-1/

If you have 10 minutes free I recommend reading both parts.

[TF23]

The famous - or should I say infamous - Odets Timezone article on the 14270 and its calibre 3000 movement has been extensively discussed elsewhere. I read a long discussion on it recently but can't remember whether it was on TZ-UK or somewhere else. Although I read it recently, it might not actually have been a recent thread - I haven't time to search for it at the moment but may have a go later.

The founder of Timezone later rubbished aspects of the review and seemed to have fallen out with Odets for some reason. His somewhat self-serving dismissal of Odets' article gave the suggestion to some people (including me) that he was mostly interested in bigging himself up as having effectively set Odets up, knowing that he (Odets) was a high-end enthusiast with demanding standards and confident that he'd return a negative write-up. It didn't really make sense as Odets specifically refers in the article to his wide experience of movements of all grades.

As I say, later on I'll see if I can turn the discussion thread up as it was a moderately good read.

[markrlondon]

As I say, later on I'll see if I can turn the discussion thread up as it was a moderately good read.

It was certainly discussed here on TZ-UK but I imagine it was discussed on every watch forum around at some point.

[xellos99]

I read Rolex contacted him with threats they were going to sue him into oblivion for telling the truth about their watch lol.

[ac11111]

http://www.timezone.com/2002/09/16/p...lange-saxonia/

Just found this, a fun read

[Tokyo Tokei]

Staggering that this 20 year-old review is still doing the rounds. It must be the most-quoted online watch review in history. I remember reading it at the time, and the contrast between the author's clear disdain for the non-haut horologie finishing of the movement and his own surprise at the findings of the performance he measured:

On the electronic timer the Explorer showed excellent performance, in a class with many top-notch watches. In the adjusted five positions it showed a daily variation of three seconds per day between the fastest and slowest positions (plus one second crown left and crown up; minus two seconds dial up and dial down). A five second variation on this parameter is a widely accepted standard for high quality, fully adjusted watches.

Dial up and dial down readings were virtually identical in terms of rate, beat, and amplitude (a good measure of the condition of balance pivots and vertical centering, or flatness, of the balance spring). The unadjusted position, crown right, was well within the parameters of the adjusted positions at minus two seconds.

For years (now decades it seems) this article has been referenced by those seeking to throw shade upon Rolex manufacturing. Whereas it really shows that fine finishing and decoration is just that - decoration. It needn’t make any difference to performance.

Rolex watches of this era still perform well, are still serviceable at reasonable cost in most big cities in the world, and for owners who don't take a microscope to their timepiece, what else matters?

A review of a different movement, with brand identifiers redacted:

The … movement is a visually unassuming piece of work. … the cock for the fourth wheel and escape wheel is slightly awkward. The escape wheel rides in bearings with fixed cap jewels on both sides. Although some high-end manufacturers still indulge in settings with removable cap jewels…

… the … was poorly executed, with ill-defined edges and an uneven application of the rhodium plating. The … is not applied by the factory, but is stamped independently at a watchmaking school.

…These jewels have a flat bearing surface for the shoulder of the pivots as opposed to the convex surface of high-grade jewels of yesteryear.

Surprisingly, the movement was not as clean as one might expect, having specks on some of the jewels and numerous small fibers present. A bit of lint was even resting in the oil sink of the center wheel jewel and had leached out some of the oil.

The beveling of the bridges was very consistent if not very highly polished and the Côtes de Genève created a slightly ragged edge around the bevels and countersinks.

If you haven’t worked out which basic, lint-filled and ragged finished movement is yet, try here

I'm far from a Rolex fanboy, and no disrespect at all to the OP for referencing it once again, but this article and the absurd reverence it appears to have acquired are puzzling. I think if anything, it shows up other makers who would have you believe that the hours of meticulous hand polishing and chamfering of edges make a superior movement. In looks, of course. In one-upmanship, naturally.

But in real world performance, maintenance ease, cost and longevity? Not really.